Distinctives of a Contagious Church, Part 2

What defines an attractive church? The third distinctive of contagious churches, when tested, the body pulls closer together. When one hurts, we all hurt. You're going through a difficult time, there are folks around that care. We grieve with those who grieve, and we applaud those who laugh and enjoy moments of blessing.

Yes, we're in it together. When we read passages in the Bible that describe the first century church, it's obvious that Christians grew to understand the critical importance of community. Their walk with God was stronger.

In fact, it was accelerated by doing life together. Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll continues his series called The Church Awakening. And in this next study, we're looking for those New Testament references about Christians thriving in community. These real-life snapshots help us understand what constitutes a healthy local church.

Chuck titled this next message in the series, Distinctives of a Contagious Church. Our dear Father, we set ourselves apart for the sowing of the good seed. We pray that you will find our hearts open, supple, ready for the planting of the seed. Remove from us the cares and the concerns of the responsibilities of life that we're all living with.

Take away those things that would preoccupy our thoughts and give us the ability to focus on things eternal. You're a good father. We've never known another father like you. Because you give good gifts to your children, we learn from you to give in return. These are our gifts to you. Just as the ministry we participate in is yours, so the money we earn and so the lives we live, it's all for you. And coming from you, we return it to you with hearts full of gratitude. In the magnificent name of our Savior Jesus Christ, we pray and we give.

And everyone said, amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. To search the scriptures with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck called, Distinctives of a Contagious Church. I've said for years that the thing that makes Second Timothy come alive is when I remember it is dungeon talk. Paul says at the end, a good fight I have fought and the course I have finished and the faith I have kept. And Timothy, you be like that.

You live like that. You minister in a church like that. And so with that in mind, I suggest that we look at four timeless characteristics of a contagious church. The first one is in verse one, be strong. It is always necessary to be strong in grace. Verse one, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. A church that's contagious is strong in grace. The second distinctive I find in the second verse, those involved are faithful to mentor the young. Churches that are contagious faithfully mentor those who are coming along in the Christian life.

I love that thought, don't you? We see people as opportunities to build into their lives. Prof. Hendricks used to say to us, everyone needs a Barnabas. That's the one who handed the baton to Paul.

And every Paul needs a Timothy. We need someone before us who mentored us. We need someone beyond us whom we're mentoring.

Otherwise, we're a stagnant lake with little life. By the way, you know a profession that hasn't forgotten this? The medical profession.

I mean, they don't just graduate people from medical school and say, OK, lots of luck. Carve away. You start cutting. I mean, how'd you like to be laying there on the table? You're about ready to go into surgery.

And the guy says, you know, I never really killed anybody, but let's go. We're going to get her done here. Turn on the anesthesia.

You go, wait, wait, wait. I'd rather have somebody who's been mentored. I want to know someone who went across the country to study under the most outstanding medical man in this field or woman. And I have learned from her or from him the techniques of doing medical work correctly. And I spent years being shaped, mentored, confronted, reproved, rebuked, corrected. And finally, when I spend all of those years, I'm able to take that scalpel and make the right incision at the exact place and do precise surgery.

That's what you want. Before I go any further, I have to tell you, I believe a seminary is effective when the professors are more than simply instructors of information. They mentor the students.

You want to find a school where the profs care about your life. You're not just number 314 in the class. That's why I don't believe great seminary education can take place online. Some things can.

Information can go online. But the touch of a mentor, you've got to have a warm body up next to a warm body. Why do I say this with such conviction? I am the product of mentoring.

There have been men in my life, some of whom you would not know if I call their names, who've made the difference in my life. I was just a kid when it started. It was in primary class. I think it was third grade. And I'd already run off two teachers.

I look back on that. You know, they should have shot me, but they they just left the class kind of crying, as I recall. And so I'm sitting in the window ledge, second floor, Third Baptist Church of whatever the city was. And I got the window pulled down and I'm licking the window pane. Why?

Why didn't they just push me out and just get it done? You know what? They brought in a third teacher. He was a veteran from several landings in World War Two.

A Marine. I didn't lick the window anymore. But you know what? Truth be told, he never raised his voice. He spoke just like not what he said. I'm not going to tell you, but he spoke very softly. You know what's more important than that?

You know what I learned quickly? He loved me. He loved me.

He saw something in this kid. And I was an opportunity for him. Time passed and I get into high school and there's another man you would never know who taught me how to overcome stuttering. I stuttered so badly I couldn't get a sentence out. And Dick Neamey said to me one day, I want you to be on my debate team. And I said, me?

You don't have time for me to be on the team. He said, oh yeah, I'm going to teach you how to speak. Did he make a contribution in my life?

When I did his eulogy, I'll never forget the moving moment when I realized what he had meant to me. Mentors. He taught me that my mind was outrun in my mouth. Now I have the opposite problem, but he helped me pace my words.

And to this day, when I come to some words, I want to stutter. I remember the technique he taught me. You see, mentoring is not walking around quoting verses to each other. God forbid.

How dull is that? What verse are you claiming? Well, I'm claiming this. What verse do you have?

I'm doing this. We're going to have a meal. Let's have a verse.

Well, I'm kind of hungry. Let's quote a verse. Rain on that. That's not mentoring. That's driving people away with the Bible.

Mentoring is loving people, building into their lives, helping them with things they struggle with, seeing value that they don't see in themselves. Timothy is a better man. He's timid. And so Paul says to him rather frequently, come on, buck up, Timothy.

Get at it, man. Don't be timid about this. Timothy just is forever grateful for his mentor. A church that's contagious cares enough about people to build into their lives. Let's remember that. Let's remember that. There's a third distinctive.

Don't miss this. It says suffer hardship with me. The third distinctive of contagious church is when when tested, the body pulls closer together. When one hurts, we all hurt. Nobody hurts solo.

You don't live in a silo at Stonebriar Church. You're going through a difficult time. There are folks around that care. We even have a group called Soul Care. Who live to help you in times like that. We have divorce care. We have those who work with those who are victims of rape. We have people who struggle with addictions.

Churches, some churches kick you out when you have addictions. We welcome you in. We want to help you get over it, get past it.

It takes time. We suffer with you. See the word with? That's at the beginning of the verb. Literally, the text reads, with suffer hardship, me.

The with is first. That's the secret of contagion. It's a good time for me to mention that if you're looking for a place to find comfort and ease, stay away from a church. This church is in for hard times. We as a body are facing challenges that we couldn't right now imagine in the years ahead.

But it's going to pull us together. It's like the early church. Who would have ever thought so many of them would have been martyred? I mean, they buried families because of the persecution. They pressed right on their ranks, grew. And the spirit, the electric spirit of enthusiasm grew.

You don't find that in the world system. Testing comes, they scatter like rats on a sinking ship. The church, you pull together, you find out so-and-so is going through it. A phone call is made. A contact is made. Somebody shows up at your door.

Somebody brings a meal. You're suffering with people in that way. Look at the three metaphors he uses. Verse three, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Verse five, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rule.

Look at verse six, hardworking farmer. Aren't those great analogies? Who ever heard of a soldier doing a deal in the business world while carrying a weapon on foreign field?

He can't do that. There's a fight to fight. I love the way Warren Wiersbe put it. Christian service means invading a battleground, not a playground. And you and I are the weapons God uses to attack and defeat the enemy. When God used Moses rod, he needed Moses hand to lift it. When God used David's sling, he needed David's hand to swing it. When God builds a ministry, he needs somebody surrendered body to get the job done. Contagious church is made up of people who get a big, tough, hard job done. We grieve with those who grieve and we applaud those who laugh and enjoy moments of blessing. We're in it together.

The world never heard of such a place. You're on your own. You'll hear that a lot of times when you move into the real world.

You're on your own here. There's competition. There's envy. Everything about the almighty dollar. You do it for the bucks and you do more because you're making more bucks. It's not ministry. I don't do weddings because I get money to do weddings. I don't bury people because I get an honorarium to do a burial.

I long since gave up that idea. I bury people because my heart's broken. I minister to people out of love.

That's what you do. I loved it when a woman came up to me right after the second survey. She had a dear son who is a special, special son, special education son. He was standing there sort of groaning and I reached out, shook his hand. She said, I want to tell you something after this message.

She said, this is the greatest church. You care about my son. You care about my boy. We do. You got a special ed child. We got a place for him.

She's got a spot here. We treat him with dignity. We suffer with you. That's not blowing smoke. We stopped doing that. We stopped being contagious. That's why people can't stay away.

What special ed, what special child, mothered by a single parent or maybe parents together, doesn't want to have a place that will help love their child. John Stott writes of Paul, he gave and did not count the cost. He fought and did not heed the wounds. He toiled and did not seek for rest.

He labored and asked for no reward. Suffered together with me as a soldier, as an athlete, as a farmer. Farmer. Does a farmer ever get applauded? I've never seen a group of people at the end of the row going, great job on the tractor. Terrific. Look how straight that thing is. Man, that is great. He does all the plowing and nobody's there and he wipes his hand off in a bandana and spits and walks inside, washes up, eats a great big meal, never gains a pound.

Why? He's a hard working farmer. That's why this new generation doesn't want to farm.

It's such hard work. I stayed at the home of a farmer years ago. I was ministering in San Joaquin Valley. It was in a little spot there.

I forget the name of the joint. And I was in their home and he happened to be an owner of an orchard, orange orchard behind the home, just loaded with oranges. So one crisp morning, I walked out back and I reach out. He's walking with me and I plucked this orange off the street. Man, look at that. You just think it just happened.

He goes, give me that orange. That did not just happen. Isn't that a great line? That did not just happen. I pruned this tree. I sprayed this tree. I watered this tree. I watched this tree. I pray over this tree.

It did not just happen. The hard working farmer gets the job done. Hard working people in ministry get the job done. We got hard work ahead of us. Great days ahead of us. But that great big old building over there, that isn't about sitting around watching the sun rise and fall in it.

That is work. But we got ahead of us. That's praying like we've not prayed before. That's getting together like we've never gotten together before. That's believing in one another like we've never believed before. This is not a cheerleading session.

This is truth. That's what makes us contagious. Folks come in thinking we're going to be bragging about how big it is. I don't want to ever hear anyone brag about how big it is. It isn't about how big it is. It's big because we can't fit people in this size joint. So we got a bigger one to put, shouldn't call it a joint, but it's a sanctuary. And we'll have all kinds of people come with all kind of expectations. You talk about parking lot problems. We will give all our parking lot attendants baseball bats to encourage people to please do as I ask you to do.

Probably not, but it just dawned on me to say that. Suffer with me. That gives new meaning to the word, doesn't it? Fourth and finally, I love this one, where we endure all. Please notice, fourth characteristic of a contagious church, enduring whatever for the benefit of others. See, the word endure, that's the key. We endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen. The word is hupo meno.

Hupo means under, meno means to abide. We abide under, we hold together, we don't quit. I don't resign. I don't walk out on you.

You don't walk out on others. We say we'll do it, we do it. We say we're going to have a vacation Bible school, we have a knockout of a vacation Bible school. We say we're going to have an adult class, we have an adult class that we just don't have room to contain the people.

Why? Because we are committed to doing whatever for the benefit of others. We make room for those who want to know about Jesus. And our church stays on message and before we know it, that won't contain it. I'll tell you the truth.

We couldn't build it big enough to contain it. Look what you put up with and you keep coming. It's all about a context. Now, how do we sustain it?

Very simple. We remember the distinctives and we watch out for erosion. Remember the distinctives, watch out for erosion. Remember the distinctives, watch out for erosion. We are on the lookout for erosion. We're not going to drift. We're going to stay on message.

Because when you drift, you change your whole identity. For example, I came across a great true story. This guy writes, when I lived in Atlanta several years ago, I noted in the yellow pages in the listing of restaurants an entry for a place called Church of God Grill. Peculiar name aroused my curiosity, so I dialed the number. Man answered with a cheery voice, hello, Church of God Grill.

I asked how his restaurant had been given such an unusual name. He told me, well, we had a little mission down here, preaching and serving people in the church. We started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills. Well, people got to where they liked the chicken more than the preaching. We did such a good business that eventually we just cut back on the church stuff, started serving more chicken. After a while, we just closed the door to the church altogether, kept on serving chicken dinners. But we kept the name, and that's what started the Church of God Grill.

What kind of a joint is that? Stonebriar Church will not be Stonebriar Grill in the future. Now, we may serve a little chicken, yeah, but it isn't about the chicken. It's about this stuff. And men and women, we are in for the time of our lives. We are. This is the most exciting thing I've ever been a part of, and there are times I pinch myself and have to tell myself this is really going on. This is downright thrilling.

That's not hype. Where can you find guys like this to ordain in the ministry? Here. Where can you find ministries going on like here?

Rarely. We're not the only place, but we're one place worth people's time. We're just going to remember these distinctives and watch out for erosion. You have my word. Let's bow our heads together.

Will you do that with me? You may be one of the tire kickers. You came along and you have watched this crowd of people show up and you're curious and wound up here.

And before you know it, you started coming more often than not coming in. Well, you know what? You may have never even met the Savior.

So no wonder you're still pretty confused about a lot of this stuff. You know, He is available and He doesn't limit His time to 8 to 12 o'clock on Sunday. He's available 24-7.

At some point in your life, you're going to realize you can't get along without Him. And when you do, He's there. It's a simple prayer. Lord God, I acknowledge I'm a sinner. I've never trusted in your son Jesus with my life.

I'm doing that now. Thank you for that gift. I trust Him and I take Him as my own Savior.

Thank you for coming into my life. How thrilling it is, our Father, to realize what you have begun and what you have begun, you will continue. How wonderful it is that it isn't built around one person or a few people or some significant individuals who have obvious gifts that really do move us and help shape us and mentor us. But it's about the body.

It's about the healthy, caring, growing, maturing body. Even the least of us you hold in high esteem. Teach us to do that. And Lord, on this exciting day, we reaffirm our commitment to you and your son. I pray for those who are alien.

They've never really trusted you. They've gone through motions, but they're only religious. And I pray they'll become believers in Christ this day. And I trust you to cause that to happen in your time and in your way. In the name of Jesus, we pray.

Everybody say it. Amen. And then as a complement to this study called The Church Awakening, we're pointing you to a helpful biography that Chuck's written on the Apostle Paul. It's called Paul, A Man of Grace and Grit. A pioneer of the early church, Paul's contagious enthusiasm for Christ has shaped the way we gather and worship to this day.

And his dramatic story continues to shape church culture. To purchase a copy of Chuck's biography on Paul, go to insight.org slash offer. At Insight for Living, we're pleased to receive notes, letters and phone calls from friends who affirm the value of Chuck's Bible teaching.

You might be encouraged to hear this one that came from Pennsylvania. It said, Chuck, thank you for leading me for nearly 30 years. You make me smile often, laugh deeply. Even when I fell away from God, it was your familiar voice that helped me find my way back home. Well, uplifting comments like this are made possible through the financial support of listeners like you. And you can partner with us by giving us a call. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. To give a donation online today, go to insight.org slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer, inviting you to listen when Chuck Swindoll talks about de-escalating the worship wars at church.

Tomorrow on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Distinctives of a Contagious Church, was copyrighted in 2008 and 2010. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2010 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.