Gospel Prism

Why are you a part of this local church? What draws you each Sunday to say, ‘Wellspring Church is my church?’ One person gives these 10 reasons why they go to church:

1. It is the will of God.
2. I go out of habit.
3. My family needs to be in church.
4. I enjoy the services.
5. I like the fellowship.
6. I go to meet business contacts.
7. It’s required for salvation. Isn’t it?
8. My family or friends would think badly of me if I didn’t go.
9. I help in the nursery.

But if you think about those reasons, they all fall short of producing joy. Committing and serving and loving as a part of a local church can easily become nothing more than a mark of obligation. And usually such reasons do not last too long to one’s commitment. When I was at my parents’ home in NJ this past summer, I took a look through my old high school yearbook. One thing is for certain, I’m glad none of you had a chance to see this book. But in looking through the book, there is this one section on extra-curricular activities and sports. The activities I joined, which were few, I joined because I had to in order to look as though my education and experience was diverse. And so I volunteered for this program, and took part in this activity, not because I wanted to, but simply because I wanted to look like I wanted to. And in the end, I think the Admissions Committees of colleges could see that I was trying to pad my stats, hence the thin rejection letters I received.

How many of us come to church, even become a member of a church because that is what a Christian should do? We want to look like a Christian, and yet, our heart “really aren’t in it.” Our intent at a certain level might be to honor God, but perhaps at another level, it really is to look good to ourselves and to others. And when our motivations are self-centered and self-focused, eventually our commitments to anything, even the church, will wane. That which we were once so excited for, becomes duty, an obligation. The Homegroup we were once so enthusiastic about suddenly becomes drudgery. The Sunday we longed for to “fill us up for the week” becomes unnecessary and important. The ministry we were once completely dedicated to becomes a chore. Shouldn’t it be different?

Justin Buzzard, he spoke at our church a couple of weeks ago when I wasn’t here, wrote these words for his church members to commit to:

The local church stands at the center of God’s design to redeem the world. Every Christian is called to be involved in a church (not a twenties ministry), a body of people of all ages who travel through life together and meet regularly to worship God, hear the gospel preached, practice the sacraments of baptism and communion, and submit to the leadership of elders. We love our church—being a part of it and serving it.

And he is right. The church is the place where we are not to serve to be “better Christians” or to “do God’s will” or even to “enjoy good fellowship.” No, it’s the place to see God’s active grace revealed, where the cross is significant to sinners like me and you. It’s the place of gathering where sinners are not merely ‘edified,’ but also the place where sinners exalt the Savior of the world. And because of such love, we love the church. And it is for this reason, that Paul loves the church and works with all of his might for it.

The Core Foundation: The Gospel

To understand Paul’s hopes for the church, you need to first know why Paul works so hard for the church and that answer rests in Colossians 1:15-23:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

To summarize Paul here, if God the Son, Jesus Christ, who is truly the all-powerful God, would come to this world to suffer and die so that all who believe in Him might be reconciled to Himself despite their complete lack of desire for such a relationship, then Paul’s passion and desire to minister is only a natural effect of the thankfulness and joy and delight of this wondrous grace of God. How could Paul not act with this type of love for the church? This is the core foundation of Paul’s heart for the church. And my friends, it must be the same for us as well.

I hope that your fundamental desire to be an attender of Wellspring or a member of Wellspring would never be for the fellowship of people who look, think, talk like you. May your desire for comfort with those who are of your same age, or ethnicity, or common language, or life stage never be what determines your love for the local church. May the location of the church never be what determines your love for the church. Please, may your trust in any person, or your admiration of any skill or talent cause you to love the church. May your love for this church spring from the fact that this church will always press you to remember Christ and Him crucified. If you ever focus on anything other than Christ as the primary reason you care and love this church, I don’t care who you are, even if you have much passion and excitement for the church, even if your role is deacon, elder, pastor, janitor, Gospel Train teacher, you will eventually grow weary of this church. Then, what keeps one in love with the church? What sustains a love for the Body of Christ IS always remembering that it was Christ’s body that was broken for you. Thus in light of this foundation, that Paul is reconciled to God by the blood shed for Him by Jesus, Paul has three goals in mind for the church. And it is this foundation and three goals that give Paul joy even when there are personal sufferings he faces according to verse 24.

Paul’s Goals

First, since Paul keeps the Gospel as His foundation, he works so hard and is willing to even suffer so that he can present everyone mature in Christ. He says in verses 28-29: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” If you look at verse 29, Paul uses the word ‘toil.’ It’s a word in the original Greek that can mean a ‘beating’ or a ‘weariness.’ According to commentator P. T. O’Brien this weariness is “as though one had been beaten.” (P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon¸ WBC, 90) To understand what Paul has been through because of his love for the church, we need to turn to 2 Cor 11:23-27 where Paul tells us:

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

What a list? It makes me say that I don’t really know what it truly means to be busy and tired in ministry. Why would this man go through so much displeasure, pain, and suffering? Was Paul a religious masochist? No, he certainly did not invite pain into his life. What drove Paul’s energy and zeal and toil, the weariness one felt as if beaten, was his absolute love for the church. And what drove that love was the foundation of the Gospel, where Christ showed him love when he wanted nothing to do with Jesus. And what was Paul’s goal then in working so hard in light of this truth? It was to present everyone mature IN CHRIST.

This maturity in Christ according to the Bible’s view of maturity is that of a person whose whole heart, whose whole disposition, whose whole desire and delight is fixed on Christ and nothing else. It’s a word in Genesis 6:9 that described someone like Noah. In 1 Kings 8:61, Solomon commands Israel to be a people whose whole life was wholly committed to God, though later we would see Solomon would forget his own words.

But how does one become such a “mature person”? The key is the phrase “in Christ.” Paul isn’t saying he’s going to work hard to get people to be more moralistic so that they can eventually be mature and perfect. He isn’t talking about mere outward behavior. His vision of the church is not that the church would be a place where there would be no sin, no failure, no disappointments, no conflict. That’s not the Paul that was on the road to kill Christians and was struck by the grace of God in Christ on the Damascus Road. No, Paul would strive with all his toil to present a people, a church who would mature IN CHRIST, in the person and work of Jesus Christ, Redeemer and Savior. Remember verse 20: “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” The mature person is the one who remembers and encounters Christ as Reconciler and Redeemer, and knows this as his source of strength. And everything that Paul teaches and writes has this as his goal.

Second, since Paul keeps the Gospel as His foundation, he works so hard and is willing to even suffer so that the church may united in their growth in the Gospel. He writes in 2:2: “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ.” Again, you can hear the language of Paul’s labor in the Gospel. This time, he moves from a desire to present the church as individuals to maturity, but now he is laboring for unity in love and the means is through God’s mystery WHICH IS CHRIST. Paul tells us quite plainly that unity in the church will not be achieved by some sort of common mission statement like that of a corporation. Our desire to help orphans and widows in Africa will not bring about lasting unity. I’m sorry to say my dear friends but just because we are in the same life stage will not bring lasting unity. Events like WitP and our retreat with Jerry Bridges will not bring lasting unity. Homegroups won’t do it. Joining Sovereign Grace won’t do it. My charisma or lack-there-of won’t do it. Don’t get me wrong. You’ll feel some camaraderie. A retreat can bring about a starting point to think about unity. It can even make one feel united. But for lasting unity, there needs to be much more and the much more is Christ. Unless you deeply understand how much you need Christ, and how gracious He has been to you by bearing the punishment that sinners deserve, unity for any other reason will always be short-lived. It makes sense because when unity is based on some sort of common purpose, common stage of life, common personality, when that commonality passes, so does the bond that it brings. If you have ever had a childhood friend whom you have lost touch with as the years have passed, you might have noticed your once deep friendship faded not because of conflict, but simply because your common circumstances of life, whether that is from a move, or a different social network, has changed. Unity can only be lasting when it is based not on the temporary, but on the eternal. And Paul struggles to remind the church that to trust in Christ and what He has done is THE only way true unity in heart and purpose can ever be achieved.

Third, since Paul keeps the Gospel as His foundation, he works so hard and is willing to even suffer so that no one might be fooled by false teaching. Let’s look at verses 4-5: “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.” Again, Paul tells us that he works so hard for the church so that they might be firm in the church’s faith in Christ. And how does one become firm in faith? It is through teaching that teaches the Gospel truth and guards us against “plausible arguments.” This phrase in the Greek has the understanding of the “art of persuasion,” some teaching that sounds nice, sounds heart-warming but it simply doesn’t reflect Christ and Him crucified. Paul suffers for the church so that they would not be deluded by such teaching. Again, please do not take my word for it in the things that I say, if you find it inconsistent with God’s Word. God’s Word is our only source for truth. And anything, even if it is spoken by an angel from heaven as Paul writes in Galatians 1:8 that is contrary to the Gospel of Christ, must be tossed aside. Paul knows that the church’s maturity and unity rests on God’s Word that the Gospel taught is true. Anything that undermines this truth, can destroy the church and its power.

I wanted to share with you Paul’s teaching today on his passion to work for the Gospel because I have come to see his passion as the passion I also must minister with or I will not be faithful to Christ nor to you. It is with my heart’s joy and delight that I can bear your burdens in prayer, in labor. Why are you here at this church? Some of you drive quite a distance to come. Some of you are checking things out. Some of you are members. Some of you have wanted to remain attenders. Some of you are here because you like the people in your HG. Some of you like the snacks on Sunday. Some like the kids programs. Some like Linda. Some like my wife, Shua. Some of you even like me. But why are you here? If it is for any of these things, you’re stay with us will be short-lived. Eventually, I’ll disappoint you. If you’re here because you like listening to me speak, well, one day I will disappoint you. But if you’re here because you love this Gospel that this church loves to speak about and you want to live as we do, a people who lives as though this Gospel applies to all of our lives, our character, our personality, our past, our future goals, then I want you to know that I will labor with all my might to present you mature in the Gospel in Christ. I want you to know that I will labor to make certain that this church remains united IN CHRIST. I want you to know that I will toil to make sure that you will remain defended against alluring speech by humbly turning to God’s Word as I teach so that you would remain firm in your faith in Christ. And this labor is not drudgery, it is my joy. I will be there, as the Lord leads, when you rejoice, as I visit your babies born, as I attend birthday parties, as I bless a new home purchased, counsel engaged couples, preside over your weddings, preside over your children’s weddings, baptize new believers, dedicate infants, lead you in world evangelization, laugh with you in WitP dodge ball. But I will also mourn when you mourn over loved ones, pray with you when you hear tragic news, counsel you when you feel despair, remind you of His grace when financially you are feeling the crushing pressure of bankruptcy. It is my joy and delight to care for you so that you will love the Gospel of Christ. And my hope is that our gracious Lord will also make us love one another in this way as well, because of the Gospel.

And this Gospel tells you, “You are dearly loved by God.” How do you know this to be true? Because Gal 2:20 reminds us of this great news, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” You are dearly loved and the cross is proof of that every day.

So how shall you respond? We respond by loving Him before anything else. I don’t think my marriage would have ever gotten if the ground if I said to Shua, “Shua, will you marry me, oh by the way, I need this one condition fulfilled before I you say yes, I need you to agree to let me watch every Yankee game.” But how we turn to our God and the Gospel in this way.

College – research churches as much as college, if not more

Jobs – does your job cause you give you the opportunity to love and serve Christ through the church?

Romans 8:32: God gave us everything even His own Son. How can we say to Him yes but.