Supernatural Community needs to grow up
Philippians 3:12-15
Grow up! We have heard these words spoken to us and we have probably said them to others
Sister to little brother
to which the obvious answer from a little brother is I’m a kid, I’m supposed to be annoying!
Let’s frame it a different way
How are you going to die?
I love climbing or at least I used to, and I used to think, yeh if I’ve got to go, falling thousands of feet from the rock face, smashing onto the rocks below, now that’s the way to go!!!! I know I probably need therapy!
High in the Alps is a monument raised in honour of a faithful guide who perished while ascending a peak to rescue a stranded tourist. Inscribed on that memorial stone are these words: HE DIED CLIMBING. A maturing, growing Christian should have the same kind of attitude, right up to the end of life.
The NT is clear that the Christian life is an onward upward journey. It is also clear that God has determined that we learn this in community. We call that community, ‘church’ or as we are phrasing it in this series, the Supernatural Community.
For far too long the church has endorsed the ‘club’ mentality of church membership. A good church member, says Juan Carlos Ortiz, is ‘like a good club member: he attends the club, pays his dues, and tries not to embarrass the club’, Where, however, does the New Testament speak about church-club membership? Nowhere! We are members of the body of Christ, and members of one another, both ideas steering our total commitment to Christ and to each other. Lack of commitment is marked by shallowness of fellowship, flabbiness in evangelism, absence of body ministry, neglect of spiritual gifts, sterility in worship, feebleness in prayer, and a general lack of love.
Who wants to belong to such a sick and ailing body? Yet in this meaningless world of ours, increasing numbers of people are looking for something worth living for, perhaps even dying for.
Children always want to get ‘bigger’, they want to grow. It is the eternal childhood of the Christian that causes us perhaps the most problems.
Paul told the Corinthians they were babes because they were divided. But the division Paul accuses them of is not the division we have today. All the Corinthians were in the same church, only they were divided over their leaders. For this Paul calls them babes, what would he call us today? The church has become weak, flabby.
The all too common measure of greatness is the number of people gathered for worship. If you have a packed church then some make the snap judgement ‘this is a great church’. But numbers themselves do not indicate greatness. Large groups can gather for any number of reasons, such as lynchings, mob riots or Tupperware parties! (sometimes I look out at a congregation and I’m not sure which it is). Sadly the usual reason why a church may be packed is because the pastor is talented.
Now that we can’t gather crowds how are we going to measure success? I hope it isn’t going to be by how many hits we get on youtube or facebook live!!!
Asking how many people are present has always been the wrong question, the right question is ‘what are these people like?’ What kind of families do they have, are they honest in business, are they trained to witness, do they know the bible, are they penetrating their workplaces, their neighbourhoods, reaching friends and associates for Christ? Are they making the difference in the world for Christ that he expects? These are the right questions.
We don’t reach maturity over night but we should be maturing!
- Maturity is a process
Phil 3.12 I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me
Phil 3.13 Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead
Phil 3.14 I press on towards the goal, to win the prize
Elsewhere – Eph 5.1 Be imitators of God
This process of maturity happens as we connect to God and to God’s People.
We need the right conditions
Being part of the Supernatural Community, the church ought to provide us with the right conditions, the right environment.
Equally there may be some environments that we need to get out of and avoid.
As we stay close to God or as Jesus puts it, as we remain or abide in Him so we produce fruit. (John 15)
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22
The Fruit is produced in us as we stay close to Jesus and as we are led by His Spirit. Galatians 5 continues
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22f
Were we to demonstrate these qualities in our church life, in our schools, our work place, our homes, others would see that we are Christians. It would radically transform our life and the lives of those who know us!
Growing Up in Christ is about imitating Christ. For this we use:
Scripture and Prayer (2 Tim 4) and each other!
The Scriptures tell us how to live. We cannot grow as Christians if we don’t know what we are to be like! Daily reading of the Bible will inform the Process. This isn’t just intellectual. The Bible is Living and Active. The Spirit forms us, matures us as we give ourselves to the reading of God’s word.
In prayer we have a talking and listening relationship with God. What we have read in the Bible may cause us to ask questions – we pray about it. It may have caused us to think that’s too hard – we pray about it. It may have given us hope and vision but present reality is so different – we pray about it.
Or may be it is something in life that causes us to ask the questions of life – we go to the scriptures, the bible and we pray about it.
I also said each other. We need each other. God has determined that we should not be alone in anything. God’s Supernatural Community is the ideal place to experience the process of maturity. We are in it together, we learn from each other, we encourage each other, occasionally we challenge each other.
If all you are doing right now in terms of your process to maturity is watching and listening to talks like this — it’s not enough. You still need to connect with God’s people. Zoom, Phone, We are beginning to be able to see a few people at a distance.
Connect with each other to study God’s word, to pray.
- partner’s, triplets, small groups etc.
It is vital for us to recognise the NT principle that maturing happens best in small groups. Not the crowd of a celebration. Francis Bacon said “A crowd is not company”, and we need company to mature. MAKE MORE OF THIS GIVEN GATHERING OF CROWDS IS A LONG WAY OFF
Jesus understood this, that is why he worked with the few. Eugene Peterson says “Jesus restricted nine-tenths of his ministry to 12 Jews because it was the only way to reach the whole world.
In small groups we have to be relational and authentic.
Our church structures must give priority to belonging to small groups and communities where we can mature?
Discipleship is process and crisis but more process.
2. Maturity is about Progress
I remember being asked once ‘Have you ongoing expression of your commitment to Biblical Soteriology?’
Salvation in the Bible teaches that we are saved and we are being saved.
It is therefore Process yes but also Progress.
“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which works so powerfully within me” Col 1.28-29.
Not just for the elite – HG Leaders, Deacons, Elders etc
It is for all of us
An emphasis on progress means we seek out ways to grow, we look to how others may help us grow and how we may help them.
The key to this progress is Phil 3.15, “All of us who are mature should take this view“. The immature are those who need encouraging, pushing, cajoling. Therefore Christian maturity is not about age or length of time since rebirth. It is about the recognition that we are in a process and progressing towards maturity.
One of our problems in church life in this country is that our churches are full of baby Christians. We have made the error that discipleship is for new Christians and about Christian basics. When you’ve gone through a basic course that’s it! Rubbish! It’s true that we need to keep going back to basics – Alpha – but then we must keep moving on and growing.
Can we look back over past years, months, weeks even and say Yes I have been growing. I am more like Jesus now?
There is one more obvious thing about Growth
3. Maturity comes by being Proactive
Love God and Do Something –
Being and Doing
Covenant and Kingdom
find something to do
find someone to do it with
find someone to tell what happened
repeat
However we frame it –
campaigns causes
dreams and visions
tasks and calling
Blessed in order to Bless
There are 3 birds on a tree branch, 2 of them say ‘We’re going to fly off now’ how many birds are left on the branch?
Answer – 3
There’s a huge difference between expressing an intention to do something and actually taking action and doing it. The 2 birds expressed an intention to do something but we don’t hear of them flying off the branch.
There is so much to do and God has given us Gifts, Talents and Ministries to get the job done (Eph 4, 1 Cor 12)
We will explore this in the next message.
So much better if, whatever we do, we do with someone else
Not meant to be alone
Jesus even sent two of his disciples to get a donkey
There is always something to do
I say to you then, People of the Supernatural Community
Love God and Do Something