Building a Resilient Church Culture: Part 1 - Intro

We'll spend some time today in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 11 through 17.

Ephesians 5:11–17

But you may have noticed, perhaps you have a bulletin,

that instead of a text for today's sermon, which is normative for us, there is a title,

Building a Resilient Church Culture, Part One.

A little over a year ago, I preached this sermon, and your elders now, a year later,

thought it wise to revisit the idea and develop it further.

So today, I'll re-preach that sermon, some small edits,

and then in the coming five weeks, Lord willing, we will think together about each of my five sub-points,

which I'll cover in brief this morning.

Before we get started, I want to note a few things.

Number one, as a general practice, we preach expositional sermons.

Most simply put, this means that we take for the sermon's point or points,

the main point or points of that week's text.

We exegete the text, right?

The text drives what we're doing together, it speaks to us.

We read it, explain it, and we give application from it.

But we are careful not to eisegete a text or read into the text what we want to see in the text.

And this is why we tend to preach verse by verse,

because it lends itself toward good exegesis and away from eisegesis,

although it's still possible to do so.

However, from time to time, a topical sermon has its place,

which is what I will be doing this morning.

And I just want you to know that you should be especially discerning sitting under topical preaching.

Number two, I am not trying to be an alarmist this morning.

The elders of the church don't want to come off as alarmists.

That said, we feel a burden to prepare you for challenges that we believe are coming.

It's our hope that you know us well enough to know that we love you very much,

and we want good for you,

and above that, we want glory for our God.

And thirdly, I will not have nearly enough time this morning or in the coming five weeks to exhaust this topic.

So we will need to talk more about it,

both in our formal gather times and in our informal day-to-day gathering.

This needs to be a primer for more conversation.

I've thought a lot about this, but my thinking is not done.

I do hope that you will ask questions,

that you will push at my thinking,

and that you will spend time with the Lord and His Word

as you consider the days in which we live.

So, Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 11 and following,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us,

that it was written for His glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises

and to obey its commands.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,

but instead expose them.

For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.

For anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says,

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.

Look carefully then how you walk,

not as unwise but as wise,

making the best use of the time because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be foolish,

but understand what the will of the Lord is.

So we are exhorted in this text

to not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness,

but rather to expose them.

By which he means to expose them as unfruitful works of darkness.

Show them for what they are.

Paul has previously given a sampling of the unfruitful works

that he is referring to beginning in chapter 5 and verse 3.

Sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, idolatry,

filthy talk, foolish talk, crude joking.

I don't think that Paul means for us to understand this list as exhaustive,

but to give us an idea of those things that we are meant to avoid and to expose.

He juxtaposes this kind of unfruitful living

with a living that we must assume would be fruitful,

if it's to be the opposite of the unfruitful living.

Verse 15,

Look carefully then how you walk,

not as unwise,

but as wise,

making the best use of the time because the days are evil.

Therefore do not be foolish,

but understand what the will of the Lord is.

So the fruitful life,

Paul tells us,

is in part

careful

and wise

and efficient

and informed.

And he is exhorting this kind of caution

because our time is limited

and because the days are

evil.

By God's divine appointing,

he has made us Christians

in the 21st century,

assuming that you are

in Christ.

He has made us

for this time.

So to be clear,

these are

our evil days.

This text,

originally written to these Ephesian believers,

was also written for us

and has bearing on our lives

today.

So we must ask,

what are the particular evils

of our day?

What unfruitful works of darkness

are we meant

to be exposing?

And to be clear,

there are so

many.

The list goes on

and on.

Today,

I want us to consider

a particular

rising tide

as we think about

this need

to build a resilient

church culture.

It's a rising tide

that is making

ground inland

at a steady rate.

One that we will have

to build a resilient

church children

to stand against.

We're going to have to do it

if we're going to

survive.

And this particular evil

is the evil

of the redefinition

of our

anthropology.

Who we are

and why

we exist.

This redefinition

is happening

on multiple fronts

and I'm sure

this is not

exhaustive.

It's happening

as it concerns

the unborn.

Unborn children

are defined as

babies if they are

wanted,

fetuses if they are

unwanted.

And praise be to God

that Roe and Casey

have been overturned,

but this cultural evil

still

exists.

This is happening

in the case of

men and women.

It's fine,

gender as social

constructs and not

biological

definitions.

This happens

as it concerns

minorities,

which these days

seems to be any

human who is

not white

and straight.

And these minorities

are necessarily

viewed as

oppressed.

Now,

we certainly

don't have time

today to explore

each of these ideas

and look to the

scripture for the

answers,

although it does

have the answers.

But we need to

have our eyes

open to the fact

that each of

these ideologies

stand in

contradiction

to the scripture.

To hold a

Christian worldview

of the sanctity

of human life,

the biological

assignment of

gender by our

God,

the proper

exercise of

sexuality within

a biblical

marriage,

and a God-ordered

justice,

will make us

more uncomfortable

in the coming

years than I

think most of

us are ready

for.

I think things

are going to

be tougher

than you might

imagine.

Your elders'

concern for the

church is that

we will have to

be deliberate

in our efforts

to build a

resilient church

culture as our

society swiftly

moves toward

totalitarianism.

Now,

totalitarianism

is a system

requiring

complete

subservience.

It has

at its head

some set of

ideas,

and if you

don't fall in

line with

every one of

those ideas,

then you do

not belong.

You will,

in the case of

hard totalitarianism,

be put in the

gulags of

communist Russia.

So,

hard totalitarianism

comes in the form

of these kind of

regimes,

right,

that rule and

reign over a

people.

You step out of

line,

you're punished.

Soft totalitarianism

is what we're

going to experience

in our day,

at least for

some time,

and probably

just soft

totalitarianism.

Those of you who

know me know

that I'm not

much of an

optimist,

but in this

case,

I'll say it'll

likely come just

in the form of

soft totalitarianism,

which means it

will be coerced

by the economy

and will be

policed on

social media.

Just as an

example,

think for a

moment,

since the

overturning of

Roe and Casey,

how many

companies have

morally postured

themselves as

being for

quote-unquote

feminine rights,

right?

We have to be

thinking about

what brand of

pants we wear.

I don't want to

think about what

brand of pants I

wear.

I just want to

wear the pants.

I just want a

pant company to be

a pant company

and not be

politically and

socially engaged,

right?

But in a

growing sense,

if you're not

on board,

then you're

canceled,

right?

Cut out of

society,

ostracized as

a result.

I think,

just as a

kind of high

view observation,

that the highest

value of

Americans is

comfort.

It's what

Americans generally,

it's true of us

too.

What we like

more than

anything is

our comfort.

Our second

highest value,

until it gets

in the way of

the highest

value,

is our

autonomy.

We want to

do what we

want to do,

when we want

to do it,

unless we're

uncomfortable,

and then you

can tell us

whatever you

want us to

do.

We saw this

play out

across a

recent pandemic,

right?

Able to give

up so much

if you just

keep me

comfortable,

right?

Don't cast

me out.

Don't cancel

me.

Don't call

me out on

the streets

or in the

grocery store.

We are going

to get

pressed more

and more

and more

by this

society to

toe a line

that if we're

to be biblical

Christians,

we will not

be able to

toe.

It just

won't be

possible to

do so.

If we are

to be a

people who

have been

awakened by

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ,

then we're

going to need

to look

carefully how

we walk.

We're going

to be wise,

verse 15.

We're going

to need

to make

the best

use of

the time.

Why?

Because the

days are

evil.

We ought

not be

foolish.

We need

to understand

the way

of our

Lord.

We ought

to be wise

and unfoolish

because God

has saved

us from

our foolishness.

Verse 13,

when anything

is exposed

by the light,

it becomes

visible.

For anything

that becomes

visible is

light.

Therefore,

it says,

Awake,

O sleeper,

and arise

from the

dead,

and Christ

will shine

on you.

And this

is a

citation

from Isaiah

Isaiah 60 · chapter mention

chapter 60

and verse

1,

loosely,

which says,

Arise,

shine,

for your

light has

come,

and the

glory of

the Lord

has risen

upon you.

Now,

this citation

in Ephesians

Ephesians 5:14

chapter 5,

verse 14,

many commentators

believe,

was a hymn sung

by the early

church calling

anyone in their

midst who had

not yet believed

in Christ to

repent and

place their

faith in him.

Because it's a

gospel summary.

Awake,

O sleeper,

you who are

dead in your

sin,

who have yet

to be awakened

to the light

of Christ.

Arise from

the dead

through repentance

and faith.

And God's

grace in

Christ will

shine

on you.

Because God

has saved us

from our

foolishness,

we are to be

a people who

pursue

that which is

good

and true

and beautiful.

and we are

to do so

for our

good,

loving,

kind

instructions

from our

God and

for the

glory

of our

God.

And this is

going to

cause

discomfort.

This is going

to cause

persecution.

persecution.

I have

wrongly said

in the past

that the

church has

always thrived

in the midst

of persecution.

And broadly

that's true,

right?

Capital C

church,

the church

has always

pressed on

throughout

space and

time.

But in

particular

locations,

that hasn't

always been

true.

There have

been places

in history,

in the world,

that persecution

has altogether

stamped out

the Christian

witness.

We want

this to

not be

true of

us.

We want

rather

what Thomas

Watson

once said,

this is on

your bulletin,

this is what

we want to

be true of

us.

He said,

how much

good comes

to the

saints

by affliction.

When they

are pounded,

they send

forth their

sweetest

smell.

Affliction

is a

bitter root,

but it

bears

sweet fruit.

we want

this to

be true

of us,

of Christ's

family

church.

So how

do we

build a

resilient

church

culture,

a church

that will

stand against

the rising

tide of

soft

totalitarianism?

And to

be clear,

we will

have to

build it.

It won't

just happen.

We will

have to

be strong

because the

tide will

be destructive.

It will

have to

be cultural,

not to

be ingrained

into who

we are

as a

church.

Not a

six-week

series and

we all

move on,

but we

have to

be thinking

about these

things

together.

And so I

want to

briefly outline

for you

five overlapping

areas that

we believe

we will

need to

work on.

This is

probably not

all of

it.

Much of

this could

be exhausted

more,

it could

be worked

out,

it could

be talked

about,

but I

think this

is a very

good place

for us

to start.

Before I

get into

them,

as a

note,

it's already

been pointed

out to me

that there's

an acronym

here,

CRASH,

and that's

not on

purpose.

Although in

thinking these

things through

and having

these particular

points,

I did notice

that they

spelled out

CRASH,

and I put

it in that

order because

it helps

me remember

it,

and I've

been talking

about this

now for

a year.

So that's

the order

that I put

them in,

but I don't

know that they

necessarily need

to build in

this order,

and I'm

not trying,

you know,

I mean,

somebody probably

would have had

some cool

graphic made,

but that's

not me.

So,

number one,

and we'll

take these in

the coming

weeks in this

order as well.

So,

number one,

clear mission.

The church

needs to know

why it

exists.

What is the

church,

and what is

the mission

meaning of

the church?

If we are

not crystal

clear on

why we

exist,

then we

will always

be distracted

by some

lesser

purpose.

Perhaps by

a gospel

implication,

but not the

gospel itself.

Why does

the church

exist?

What Jesus

said in

Matthew

Matthew 28:18

chapter 28,

verse 18,

and following,

all authority

in heaven

and on

earth has

been given

to me.

Go,

therefore,

and make

disciples of

all nations,

baptizing them,

this is how I

know that this

is a work of

the church,

because that's

a church

ordinance,

baptizing them

in the name

of the Father

and of the

Son and

of the Holy

Spirit,

teaching them

to observe

all that I

have commanded

you.

And behold,

I am with

you always

to the end

of the age.

I'm going

to develop

this next

week more.

Why does

the church

exist?

To be

heralds of

the good

news of

Jesus Christ.

We attach

some things

to that

as we carry

that message

forth,

but this

is the

thing we

need to

stay clear

about.

We have

a mission

in this

world.

We will

need to

readily identify

what battles

we ought to

engage in

and what

the war

is that

we cannot

avoid.

We need

to understand

what it

means to

be the

church

militant,

and the

church

victorious.

So that's

number one,

clear mission.

Number two,

robust

theology.

If we

do not

have a

robust,

think a

well-developed,

a thick

theology,

we will

fail to

understand

cosmology,

anthology,

and certainly

even

biology.

theology.

All other

studies are

subservient to

the study

of God.

Proverbs 1

and verse 7,

the fear of

the Lord is

the beginning

of knowledge.

Fools despise

wisdom and

instruction.

We must

humble

ourselves under

God's

word,

and we must

be a people

of it.

We have to

be thick

in our

theology.

In a

highly

psychologized

age,

we are

being

inundated

with the

message that

we are the

center of

the universe

and that

our feelings

dictate

our reality.

Feelings

seem to

rule the

day.

And beloved,

I will tell

you, this

is true in

our church

as well.

Your feelings

may or may

not be

consistent

with the

truth.

But your

feelings never

define the

truth.

God defines

the truth.

But we live

in a culture

that is

telling us

that opposite

thing all

the time.

Define your

truth.

What's good

for you

must be

good.

But our

creator knows

what's good,

what's best

for us.

Many

churches

peddle what

sociologists

Christian Smith

and Melinda

Lundquist

Denton called

therapeutic,

moralistic

deism.

And this

is not

good for

the souls

of mankind.

We do

not need

a high

view of

man.

We need

a high

view of

God.

We are

going to

have to

learn to

do

theological

triage

on the

fly.

I'm not

going to

explain

theological

triage to

you this

morning.

There's

people in the

room going,

okay,

good.

Good.

But you

need to know

how to do

it, right?

We need to

know what

to encounter,

what not

to encounter,

what battles

to fight,

what hills

we ought to

die on,

and what

things don't

matter.

It's part

of developing

a robust

theology.

We're going

to need to

develop the

ability to

hold and

communicate

nuanced

positions.

We don't

need to be

the kind

of people

that try

to sort

out the

world's

problems

in 240

characters

on Twitter.

So,

clear mission,

robust

theology.

Third,

accurate

histories.

I must

admit that

accurate

was the

A.

I actually

put it in

there because

it made

crash.

Accurate

histories.

If we

do not

understand

where we

have come

from,

we will

not see

clearly

where we

are going

and we

will be

doomed to

repeat the

mistakes

of the

past.

We're

going to

have to

be a

people

who have

knowledge

of our

history,

local,

national,

world,

most

particularly

church

history.

Who are

we as

God's

people?

What

mistakes

have

God's

people

made

in

the

past?

I'll

tell you

right now,

we have

such a

place to

observe

soft

totalitarianism

at play

in Europe

and what's

happening to

the church

there.

Churches

that are

thriving

there,

how have

they stood

against

that tide

and those

that haven't,

how have

they failed

to do

so?

We have

much to

observe

and much

to learn

about this.

And I

will say,

as Baptists,

we need to

especially pay

attention to

Baptist church

history.

We need to

be steeped

in it.

Now,

less than

the other

things,

you may not

have to

participate in

this quite

as much,

but we'll

work to

do it

for you.

We'll

work to

bring these

things together

for you and

help you to

understand the

mistakes of the

past that we

might be better

in the future.

So,

clear mission,

robust theology,

accurate histories,

fourth,

sacrificial

hospitality.

If we do

not love

one another

as we

should,

and if we

do not

love our

neighbors as

we should,

then we

will not

have a

foundation

from which

to say

difficult

things

into a

confused

culture.

It's

important

that we

build

equity

with

people

as we

bring

correction

to

people.

John

13,

35,

Jesus

says,

by this

all people

will know

that you

are my

disciples.

If you

love to

debate

reform

theology,

if you

have love

for one

another,

the way

we love

one another

is a

witness

to the

world

around

us.

Jesus

said,

Matthew

Matthew 5:43

5,

verse 43

and following,

you have

heard that

it was

said,

you shall

love your

neighbor

and hate

your

enemy.

But I

say to

you,

love your

enemies

and pray

for those

who persecute

you.

For God's

church to

stand in

this age

of people

who will

hate us,

our response

is going to

have to be

a response

of love.

And we

have to

show that

to people

through

sacrificial

hospitality.

It means it

requires something

of us.

We have to

give something

to make it

possible.

We have to

be uncomfortable

at times.

We have to

give of our

resources to

have people

feel welcome.

And this

word

hospitality

means a

welcome

to the

stranger.

We have to

do this

amongst

ourselves,

that we

know we

have a

people,

a place

that we

belong,

and we're

going to

have to

do this

to others

as well.

If the

church is

to survive

in a

secularizing

age,

we're going

to have

to show

sacrificial

hospitality.

Clear

mission,

robust

theology,

accurate

histories,

sacrificial

hospitality.

See,

I don't

know if I

could do

this if

it

wasn't in

an acronym

that spelled

crash.

Fifth,

healthy

family.

If we

do not

have

healthy

families,

then our

church will

not hold

together,

because the

family is

the first

and foundational

institution of

all societies.

This is why

the evil

one is so

bent on

destroying

families.

Think about

the direction

from which

attacks on

the church

most readily

come in

our day.

In almost

all cases,

it's the

family.

We need

to have

healthy

biological

families.

We need

to have

healthy

adoptive

families,

both formally

and informally,

that we

would pull

people into

our family

life in

informal

ways and

also

officially,

formally,

be an

adoptive

culture.

So these

things are

things we

need to be

thinking about

and talking

about,

and we're

going to do

that over

the next

five weeks,

Lord willing,

that we

would have

as a

church,

clear

mission,

robust

theology,

accurate

histories,

sacrificial

hospitality,

and healthy

families.

It is our

prayer that

we will be

a resilient

church culture

and that we

will stand

against the

rising tide

of the

soft

totalitarianism

of our

evil age,

and that we

will do

so for

our good

and for

the glory

of God.

So in

closing,

let me read

today's text

one more

time and

ask that you

consider how

you might

be wise,

perhaps with

us in

our evil

days.

And then I'll

pray.

Take no part

in the

unfruitful works

of darkness,

but instead

expose them.

For it is

shameful even to

speak of the

things that they

do in secret.

But when

anything is

exposed by the

light, it

becomes visible.

for anything

that becomes

visible is

light.

Therefore it

says, awake,

O sleeper, and

arise from the

dead, and

Christ will

shine on

you.

Look carefully

then how you

walk, not as

unwise, but as

wise, making the

best use of the

time, because the

days are evil.

Therefore do not

be foolish, but

understand what the

will of the Lord

is.

Let's pray

together.

Thank you.