Church series - # 4

REVIEW - What is a successful church?

No church can be success in the mission of building Christ's Kingdom, unless the people in the Body are pursuing spiritual growth and applied discipleship!

Simply put - we cannot define 'successful church' without also defining 'successful Christian.'

A church is only a real success if she is producing followers of Christ who take seriously His two commands:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:

'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)

Pastor Rick Warren uses an illustration for a maturing Christian life that is very effective. Take a look.

Imagine the kind of influence that a church filled with people who are full of the Spirit, walking close to God on a daily basis, would enjoy in the town, the region; even the world?

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A True Experience, the Real Deal!

Since the message last week, more than one person has asked me questions similar to these -

"How do I know where I am on that diagram?"

"What are markers of maturity?"

"What demonstrates genuine spiritual growth?"

Those are good questions, worth considering!

In the first century, there was a church in the city of Corinth. It was a church known for many spiritual gifts, for attracting more Gentiles to Christianity earlier than most other churches. It was a church full of emotion and highly charged experiences. And, it was a sick church! People fought for position and recognition. They misused their spiritual gifts, especially their ability to speak in tongues, showing off and trying to impress others! They were not submissive to church leaders and criticized the apostles. In the name of 'love' they tolerated gross immorality in some who called themselves 'Beleivers.' And, they missed the point of Holy Communion, turning into a feast of the 'haves' and the 'have nots' and getting drunk!

Paul wrote strong letters to them, filled with correction. At the close of 2^nd Corinthians, he wrote this:

READ 2 Cor. 13:5-6, 11 Pew Bible 1808

In The Message, v.5 in that passage reads:

"Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it."

I get a kick out of doing surveys, especially those that allow me to compare myself to some national standard. How do I rank in terms of average health?

How do I compare to others in the way I manage my money?

I check my FICO credit score every month! It's a way to measure my credit worthiness.

Schools give standardized tests to measure student performance against state and national averages. I am suspicious of that whole enterprise. Teachers can skew results by teaching to the test, or even in the way the test is administered. Furthermore, and more importantly, a student's overall abilities cannot be exclusively determined by how he scores on a test.

Never the less, tests can be valuable, a way of knowing where we stand, where we can do better, where we are doing well! So the Word urges us to "test yourselves, making sure you're solid in the faith!"

Of exceeding importance in any test is the accuracy of the measure being used!

If a faulty standard is accepted, the test becomes worthless, possibly providing us with false assurance, or causing us unnecessary anxiety.

I recently read of a laboratory that did evaluations of tissue samples taken during biopsies. The lab was employing people without proper training to read the slides. It was discovered that about 25% of the results they were reporting were false! That means that some people who had cancer were given false assurance; and others who did not were being treated without need!

Several years ago, a review of a crime labs work showed that a few techs had taken short cuts or even changed results of DNA tests, resulting in men being handed convictions of crimes which they had not committed. On the flip side, the value of testing has been revealed in the last few years, as many men convicted of crimes 15 or 20 years ago and now waiting execution have been exonerated by new tests that demonstrate their innocence conclusively!

So, Believer, the Word says:

So, how can we 'test' our spiritual experience?
How do we know if our 'faith' is the 'real deal?'

A. Focus on what Christ has done for you, not your efforts to be good!

TEXT- Colossians 2:9- 3:3 Pew Bible page 1833

On PBS, a 4 hour long special titled, "The Mormons," was recently aired. I watched it with interest, as there has been some debate about whether Mormons can be considered orthodox Christians. Gov. Romney's recent Presidential bid made the issue one of interest to many people. The program made it clear to me that despite their claims, despite their official name, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," the theology of the group makes them something different than truly Christian. Their doctrine of God, Jesus Christ, and salvation are all wide of the Scripture.

But many Mormons are good people! They have a great work ethic, are good citizens, have strong family values, are moral, shun use of drugs and alcohol, and are actively involved in their church life. True enough, but those things do not make one a Christian! Yet, ask the average American to define, "Christian," and you will hear about morality, church attendance, and being 'good.'

How easily sincere people are taken in by the lie, "you can earn God's approval by your own efforts." Many make herculean efforts to be 'righteous.' They build a solid record of church attendance, kindness, and even self-denial in the vain hope of being good enough to merit Heaven. Jesus says that without a transformation of the spirit-man, which only happens through faith by the act of the Holy Spirit, any effort on our part to become holy, is like a new paint job on a mausoleum. The outside may shine brightly, but the inside is still full of death.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, says that those who want to enjoy genuine saving grace, who want to become strong, mature Believers must resist the lure of human efforts, of comparing ourselves to some religious standard, as ways of determining if they are a genuine Christian.

The amazing, wonderful, absolute Truth is that "God made you alive with Christ." Believe that, receive Him, and you gain 'imputed righteousness.' That's a theological way of saying that God will give you full acceptance as His child at Jesus Christ's expense.

So, the first question to ask as you test yourself in the faith is this:

Is my full hope set entirely in Christ and His sacrifice for sin, and in the Resurrection as evidence of His completed work?

So, some might make the leap to conclude - "So, Pastor, you're saying it doesn't matter how I live, as long as I have the right beliefs?"

B. Take a look at the ways you act and react!

Go back to Colossians with me. Lets read what the Word tells us about the way a genuine Believer lives - (READ 3:5-8, 12-14)
A holy life that results from a supernatural transformation through Christ is accompanied by joy and real delight in doing the will of God.

John makes the point in a most interesting and compelling way. He says, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:9, NIV) Let me re-phrase this verse - "When you come to Him in faith, you are born again. Your Father is God. His DNA is in you, so it is inevitable you will start to act like Him."

Ill - People who have known my Dad come up to me all the time and say, "You act just like Pastor Scott. I see a mannerism in you that is very similar to his." I've got to tell you that it is not conscious imitation. It is that Dad is 'in' me! His life has passed, via DNA, to me.

If you are born of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, you will act like your Father!
John also says that when a person is born of God, that person becomes part of the family and begins to love his brothers and sisters! "Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't love brother or sister. A simple test." (1 John 3:10, The Message)

So, you want to know if you're maturing in Christ, if you're faith is real and growing?

Start with your heart.
Is it changed by faith? Does Christ live in you through faith?

Then, consider your life.
Is there a genuine love for God and for others?

John remarks that "....if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us--perfect love! This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit." (1 John 4:11-13, The Message)

From a distance a merely good person and a Spirit-filled holy person look much the same. Up close, there is an undeniable quality of love, of devotion, of integrity, and yes; of Life that refreshes, in the one with the new heart.

Accept no substitutes for the true Gospel - the Good News of Jesus Christ who died and who lives to save us completely from our sin, which becomes evident in a genuine change of behavior!

Maxie Dunham writes -

"A relationship with Jesus Christ, not mere assent to doctrinal propositions, is the foundation of a Christian life. This does not mean that we can become sloppy in our thinking...Right thinking does not make us righteous, only the Cross can do that; but right thinking - right in the sense of being true, clear, and disciplined - is essential to living the Gospel."

Amen

Benediction -

"(May) God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

(May) you be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.

May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son."

(Colossians 1:9-13, NLT)

To God be the glory. Amen.