Live, Move, Be: God s Call to the IPHC

Transcription

1 [Items in brackets are for the speaker, not meant to be read aloud.] [Play video.] The questions posed at the end of our video were in the forefront of Presiding Bishop Carpenter s mind when he was preparing for his inaugural address at the 2009 General Conference. In that address, he laid out his desire for the church to be relevant, dynamic, and demonstrative. Since that time, his message has become the catalyst for further study of how to reach the cultures around us. We realized that in Athens, the apostle Paul found himself in a situation like ours. He also faced people who worshiped many gods or followed various philosophies. His audience spoke different languages, came from different cultures, and knew nothing of the God of the Bible. Paul s example in Acts17 has led the IPHC to pursue three distinct objectives in our quest to reach the diverse people of our communities. [Slide 1.] Three words lifted from verse 28 help us remember our objectives: live, move, be. Let s begin our discussion of these objectives by reading Acts 17:16 21: [Slide 2.] While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. [Slide 3.] 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, What is this babbler trying to say? Others remarked, He seems to be Page 1 5/12/2011

2 advocating foreign gods. They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. [Slide 4.] 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean. 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) From this passage, we draw our first objective: [Slide 5.] LIVE MISSIONALLY. According to Ed Stetzer in Planting Missional Churches, living missionally means actually doing mission right where you are adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound. [p. 19] [Slide 6.] Paul exemplified missional living centuries before the term was coined. Like Paul, we must understand our audience. We will be more effective in reaching our communities if we know how they think, what they need, and what they value. We must recognize the views that compete with and reject the God of the Bible. Once we understand the cultures, we will be better equipped to provide an adapted yet biblically sound presentation of the gospel. Many of us are familiar with St. Patrick s Day, but how many of us know the real story behind the legend? Patrick was kidnapped as a child and taken to Ireland, where he lived as Page 2 5/12/2011

3 a slave. Years later, he escaped and returned to his homeland of Britain. There, Patrick had a dream in which the people of Ireland begged him to return and bring the gospel to them. Here was a man who spent most of his youth as a slave, and now God was calling him back to the place of his captivity to preach freedom to his captors! Like Patrick and Paul, we need to live within and reach our culture without being absorbed by it. We need to move our congregations to understand the world s language, to engage our communities, and to welcome unbelievers. That means getting outside the four walls of the church. It means being willing to listen without leaping to judgment. It means asking God to give us missionary hearts hearts to see the hurt and to meet the need. For some of us, that s more than a little uncomfortable! But remember, God has given you everything you need to meet the challenge. Let s look now at verses 22 through 32: [Slide 7.] 22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. [Slide 8.] 24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. [Slide 9.] Page 3 5/12/2011

4 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. [Slide 10.] 28 For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring. 29 Therefore since we are God s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone an image made by man s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. [Slide 11.] 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. 32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, We want to hear you again on this subject. From this passage, we draw our second objective: [Slide 12.] MOVE BACK TO BIBLICAL BELIEFS. As we live missionally, we must also strengthen our hold on the core beliefs of our faith. If we have a firm grasp on sound biblical doctrine, we can encounter different cultures without being swayed or confused by them. Paul understood his audience and adapted his presentation, but clung to the nonnegotiable truth of the gospel message. Our method can change to fit the context, but our message cannot! Page 4 5/12/2011

5 [Slide 13.] We must affirm that the God of the Bible is the creator and king of the universe. We must explain that we have rebelled against God and are subject to his judgment. We must proclaim that the crucified and risen Jesus offers salvation to the repentant, believing heart. These beliefs must be anchored in a thorough knowledge of Scripture. An intimate knowledge of the Bible protects us from adopting unscriptural worldviews or being discouraged by the difficulties of life in a fallen world. Grounding ourselves in Scripture enables us to identify biblical principles and separate them from opinions, traditions, cultural practices, and personal preferences. Where God has not given clear instruction in his Word, we will avoid distorting the gospel with cultural clutter. [Slide 14.] The future of our faith depends on teaching biblical truth. Minister and New Testament scholar Gordon D. Fee said, The gospel is never more than a generation from extinction. What is assumed by one generation will be forgotten by the next. In order to provide a firm foundation for the future, we must be known as people who faithfully read, study, and teach God s Word. Now let s go back to verse 28: [Slide 15.] Page 5 5/12/2011

6 For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring. An understanding of this Scripture leads us to our third objective: [Slide 16.] BE AUTHENTIC. We have been doing church for a long time. It s time to step up and be the church. For us, Christianity must not be about church attendance and programs alone but about a daily relationship with a just, gracious, and loving Savior. That daily relationship with Christ transforms us from the inside out. Being authentic means that our lives reflect our beliefs. In verse 28 it is clear that all parts of our existence must be rooted in our relationship with Christ. In him we live and move and have our being. When this is true, we will demonstrate our faith not only with our lips, but in our actions. All parts of our lives will reflect his love. [Slide 17.] Theologian and writer Brennan Manning said, The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today... is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is simply what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable. An authentic Christian life lived before unbelievers will be far more effective in reaching our culture than any gimmicks, slogans, or marketing campaigns we could develop. IN CLOSING God is speaking to us. Page 6 5/12/2011

7 [Slide 18.] He is calling us to live missionally. He is calling us to move back to biblical beliefs. He is calling us to be authentic Christians. Our culture is waiting for us to answer this call. If we fail to understand the people around us, our culture will ignore us as irrelevant. If we do not know what we believe, our culture will confuse and overwhelm us. And if we fail to live consistently with our beliefs, our culture will dismiss us as frauds. Please join us as we commit ourselves to answering this call. [Slide 19.] [End with prayer.] Page 7 5/12/2011