Pt3, Church Membership Matters: Service Matters

June 17, 2018                          NOTES NOT EDITED
Pt3, Church Membership Matters:  Service Matters

Philippians 2:3-11

Sermon-in-a-Sentence: Every church member should have a place of service in the church compatible with their spiritual giftedness.

I’m a stalwart independent conservative, yet, I cast my first presidential ballot for Jimmy Carter. I had just left the Navy where served on a submarine. I earned the coveted “dolphins.” Jimmy Carter was also qualified in submarines as a Navy vet. That made him a natural fit for me.   I still believe I cast my vote for a decent, principled man. History shows I cast my vote for a less than spectacular president. He remains one of my “favorite” Democrats.

The least favorite GOP president I supported was G.H.W. Bush. He was a much better president historically than Carter, but his image soured with me over the years after he was out of office. Still, he was a Navy vet, so once again I held to my tradition.

Though Bush holds different political views than I do, I do share his commitment to service. He postponed his university studies to enlist in the Navy. He became the youngest aviator in the Navy at the time. He was shot down in one mission and went on to fly 58 combat missions and earn the Distinguished Flying Cross, among other medals.  Whatever someone might think of his political views, no one should question his commitment to service—to his country and to his family. Service is an identifying trait for G.H.W. Bush.

So many church-goers seek to be served, rather than serve. I understand why. For one, mankind (and woman-kind) is basically selfish. We all lean toward narcissism. Second, service doesn’t come cheap. Bush’s service cost him an ejection from a burning plane over the Pacific. His crewmates did not survive.

Service will cost you something—it may cost you a lot. Most people will never come anywhere close to the spirit of service that was exemplified by Jesus Christ. The great tragedy is: most people won’t even make a “good faith effort” to be like Christ in regard to service.

This morning, I will be preaching on the topic, “Service Matters,” as part three of my four-part series, “Church Matters.”  LET’S READ Phil. 2:3-11.

We engage in service through our church in three ways:  by developing a servant’s heart, by discovering our spiritual giftedness, and by being equipped by the leaders of the church.

1.  By Developing a SERVANT’S Heart (5-8)

If anything should be an identifiable trait of a Christian, it should be service. Philippians 2:3-11 make it very clear that the Life of Jesus was identified by “service,” even to the point of death on the cross for others.  This is an extremely important passage in the Bible:

⁵ Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. ⁷ Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, ⁸ He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.  Underline those words:  “even to the death on a cross.”

In Christian theology, this passage describes what is called, “the Kenosis.”  Kenosis refers to the “act of emptying,” a reference to verse 7 in particular.  The Greek word translated, “emptied,” is ekenōsen (ἐκένωσεν).  A big debate among scholars is exactly how much of His Deity (heavenly privileges) did Jesus “give up (GNB), strip Himself of (Phillips) or pour out (Hawthorne, WBC).  This is not a question likely to be solved by scholars.  Suffice it to say the Jesus “gave up everything” to die on the cross for us.  Someone suggested it is a figurative, poetic way of saying “Christ put His entire being into His mission and put himself at the disposal of humanity.”  That’s seems to be near what it meant for Christ to leave heaven and come to earth to die on our behalf.

The idea of “emptying oneself” to gain the heart of a servant, like Jesus Christ, occurs earlier in the passage.  Paul admonishes Christ followers to (Verse 3):

³ Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit [empty conceit, NASB],  but in humility  consider others as more important  than yourselves.  The KJV gives a great translation of the original:  ³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.  Vainglory means, “empty boasting.”  The word, kenodoxian (κενοδοξίαν) is a compound word adding together, kenos (empty) and doxia (praise or boast, brag).  The use of the word, kenos (empty), reinforces the idea of a “servant attitude” like Christ.  In fact, verse 5 directly links our attitude to that of the Lord.  ⁵ Make your own attitude [mind, heart] that of Christ Jesus. 

Developing a “servant’s mind or heart” is absolutely elemental to being a fully functioning follower of Christ.  Service requires that we “empty our heart of ourselves to make room for others.”

Developing a “servant’s heart” takes great sacrifice.  An old beloved preacher describes a person who lacks the room in his or her heart to serve others sacrificially.  Vance Havner once said, “Wrapped up in ourselves we make a very small package.”

2.  We Serve By Discovering our Spiritual GIFTEDNESS

Let me launch from this platform of developing a servant’s heart, to the practical issue of HOW we serve.  1Pet. 4:10 tells us:

¹⁰ Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others.

Spiritual service requires spiritual power.  Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons.  God has empowered us and armed us for our spiritual mission of service by giving us spiritual gifts, as Peter says, “to use to serve others.”  Trying to serve Christ in your own ways and according to your own means makes as much sense as charging into battle with an unloaded gun.  Not only will you look foolish, you probably will perish.

God never intended for us to do His work with our resources.  As I say over and over again, “where God guides, God provides.”  How many times have we sang that line, “God will make a way where there seems to be no way!”  God provides through the Spirit.

When a person is saved, they become a “spiritual being,” as we learned through our study of Galatians (also, Eph. 1:13).  The Holy Spirit literally, “takes up residence” in a believer’s life [heart, mind, soul, or however you wish to describe it].  Paul has a good deal to say about “spiritual gifts and spiritual giftedness.”  In 1Cor. 12:1 he says,   ¹ Now concerning what comes from the Spirit:  ^•brothers, I do not want you to be unaware.  It is crucial for a believer to discover his or her “spiritual gift.”  Ignorance is NOT bliss in this regard.  Then Paul goes on to says, using the ESV, ⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Your spiritual gift is your power for service.  Discovering your spiritual gift is the key to moving from membership to maturity.  Sadly, very, very few Christians have any clue as to what “spiritual gift” God has given to them to empower them for service in and through the church.  Therefore, very few Christians really develop their full spiritual potential.  Part of our discipleship strategy in the church is called, “Finding your S.H.A.P.E. for Service.”  There are five factors that contribute to our “giftedness for service.”

This stands for your SPIRITUAL GIFTS, your HEART’S desires, your natural ABILITIES, your PERSONALITY, and your life EXPERIENCES.  These five areas all contribute to your “giftedness”  for service. You will learn more about this as time goes on.

3.  We Learn to Serve by Being Equipped By God’s Leaders

Serving requires learning.  Learning requires work and discipline.  In the course of our study of Church Membership Matters, we have visited Paul’s strategy for a healthy church several times.  It is found in Ephesians 4:11-12:

¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (ESV).

Many people think that they hire a pastor to “do the work of the ministry.”  In fact, that is the way it works in the abundance of small churches—it is precisely the reason churches stay small.

Leaders are “equippers.”  Leaders impart knowledge and provide support for the members of the congregation to do the bulk of the ministry.  This is not how many churches operate.  The bulk of the ministry of most typical churches is done by the staff. This must change for any church to break the “small-church ceiling.”

It is not enough to have “good people” in church, which we have a healthy supply of, but we must have “well-trained, properly equipped, and sufficiently resourced workers to build up this body of Christ.”  We need givers, who are skilled in giving.  We need goers, who are skilled in going to the marketplace with the gospel.  We need nursery workers to provide care when new families bring their young children.  We need youth workers.  We need office help.  We need maintenance help.  We need skilled greeters.  We need well-trained parking attendants.  We need a skilled “security force.”  You name it—we need it!  This is what we need, if we are going to do as Paul said and, “build up the body of Christ” (v12).  Otherwise, growth is not likely. 

Any call to serve, is a call to train. Training is hard work.

It is hard to get many members to attend church faithfully—one morning a week.  Getting them to come out on another day to spend one to two hours to “be equipped,” is almost impossible.  Learning is hard work.  I know, I’ve spent many, many hours sitting in classrooms learning doctrine and theology.  Learning Hebrew nearly brought me to tears.  Being equipped requires a great sacrifice and a lot of hard work.  Paul’s Ephesian Strategy breaks down when leaders become hired hands instead of “equippers.”

I READ THIS week about a fascinating aspect of being an ant.  It is called, “Tandem Running.”  Ants, like many insects, live in colonies.  Each ant contributes to and benefits from being a part of the colony. In many species of ant, when an older ant goes out to search for food, it will take another inexperienced ant along.  The lead ant teaches the novice how to find food by a process called, “tandem running.”  As the teacher runs along the path searching for food, the student follows.  The student will often stop to locate landmarks, while the teacher waits up ahead.  When the novice ant is ready, it will run forward and tap the teacher on the back legs.  The teacher sacrifices time, and initially sacrifices efficiency.  The teacher ant could travel four times faster without a student.  Even though there is an initial sacrifice of efficiency, ultimately the colony benefits greatly by equipping more ants to find food.  Ants that have been trained through tandem running locate food 35% faster than ants that have not been so equipped.  As I said, ants benefit from the colony, and when the colony benefits, individual ants benefit.  Tandem Running results in more ants who can efficiently find food.

Becoming a well-equipped servant in the church will greatly improve the effectiveness of the church as a whole, and your blessing as an individual.

(CLOSE)  Church Membership Matters—it matters locally, globally, and eternally.  Serving in and through the church matters greatly.  I spoke earlier about the servant attitude of former president, G.H.W. Bush.  Whatever one may think in regard to President Bush’s politics, nobody can rightly argue that President Bush highly valued service to his country.   Every day men in uniform serve our country with skill, courage and at great sacrifice.  In fact, joining the military is often referred to as, “joining the service.”  The military is all about “service.”

As I was reading for my sermon this week, I googled the phrase, “joining the service.”  I was shocked when I found this tidbit on the Internet: "The Army used to offer GED assistance for recruits who wanted to join. These days, having a felony conviction is out of the question, but so are some tattoos, gauged earlobes, and taking hyperactivity medication. The Pentagon says 71 percent of America's 34 million 17-24 year old population would fail to qualify for enlistment." (time.com/youth-fail-to-qualify-military-service)

Nearly 3 out of 4 young adults in the nation are disqualified for service in the military for one reason or another!

Sadly, the situation in God’s Army, the Church, isn’t much better.  Every church member should have a place of service in the church compatible with their spiritual giftedness.  Yet, the vast majority of church-members have disqualified themselves for service because they have not developed a servant’s heart, they have not discovered their spiritual giftedness, and/or they have failed to do the hard work of being equipped by the leadership of the church.

I will repeat myself for emphasis: Church Membership Matters—it matters locally, globally, and eternally.  Since Church Membership Matters so much, serving in and through the church matters greatly.

Make a commitment today to be a servant in God’s Church.