Life of Paul Part 27 - How to Be a Redemptive Church

Well, let's open the Bible and study together, Acts chapter 15, and we'll be coming there in just a minute.

We're going to be continuing in our study on the life of the great man, the apostle Paul. But you know, when I was in high school, my homeroom class that I was in was all my buddies from elementary school, all my friends from junior high school. We'd all been together all the way through. And when we got to high school my sophomore year, I mean, my behavior wasn't so good. And one day I made my homeroom teacher so furious with me that she got permission to transfer me out of this homeroom. And they sent me over to Ewing. Now Ewing was on the other side of the school. I didn't know anybody over in Ewing. And Ewing was a tough place. I mean, all the guys in Ewing could vote already.

You understand what I'm saying? I mean, they majored in shop and made knives all day long. And here I'm over in his Ewing.

I don't know anybody. And every day when I walked in the homeroom, I felt like a complete reject. I mean, it was like there was a big neon sign above the door to my homeroom. And every morning when I walked in, it was flashing the same message at me, Solomon, you're a failure. Solomon, you're a failure.

The saddest part of all is that there was nobody over there who was offering to try to help me put my life back together. Well, today, we're going to look at a young man in the Bible, who failed just like I did miserably. And yet, thankfully, there was a man there in the story in the Bible, who was anxious to help this young man get his life back together, who was there to treat him in a restorative and redemptive way. And we want to use this story as a springboard to talk about how we as a church here in 21st century Washington can be a redemptive and a restorative center right here in this city.

So that's our plan today. Let's dig in Acts chapter 15. And let me give you a little bit of background because we haven't been here for a while. Remember, Paul and Barnabas have returned from their first missionary journey. They've returned home to Antioch here in Syria.

But before that, they had been to Cyprus, and they had been up through the southern underbelly of Turkey, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derby, all these cities, and now they had come home. And when they got home, verse one of chapter 15, there was a dispute that arose. Some men came down from Judea to Antioch, and were teaching the brothers in Antioch, unless you are circumcised according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.

You cannot have eternal life and go to heaven. Well, Paul and Barnabas didn't agree with this. And so they went to Jerusalem and convened to get together with all the leaders of the early church, Peter and James and John and Matthew and Thomas, they were all there. And this Jerusalem Council settled this issue once and for all verse 11. Peter said, No, we believe it is through the grace, the undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus, that we are saved, just as they the Gentiles are.

It's not through human performance, whether it's circumcision, or anything else. But salvation, eternal life, go into heaven, comes as a result of the undeserved mercy, the grace of our Lord Jesus, plus nothing. And we said a few weeks ago, when we were here, we noted that this is what sets biblical Christianity apart from every other ism.

And every other ology in the world is that in biblical Christianity, it's not about what we do for God. It's about what God has done for us in sending Jesus, the sinless Son of God, to shed his blood on the cross, and thereby pay for our wrongdoing in the sight of a holy God. And Jesus didn't do it because we deserved it. And he didn't do it because we merited it.

And he didn't do it because we were worthy of it. He did it as a result of his undeserved kindness, his grace that he gives you and me. Ephesians chapter two, verse eight, for it is by grace that you have been delivered through faith. This is not a function of your own performance, this deliverance, rather, it is the gift of God. And folks, this is the good news of the Bible, that God offers us undeserved mercy. God offers us grace that's free.

It's a gift. And all we have to do to close the deal and access it is to do what this verse says. We have to show faith. We have to put our reliance in what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Well, this settled. Paul and Barnabas returned home to Antioch, verse 35. And they remained there as they taught and preached the word of the Lord. Now that's where we've been. So let's pick up and see where we go from here. Verse 36. And some time later, you say how much later? Well, the Bible doesn't say a week, a month, a year, we don't know. Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, Hey, Barnabas, why don't we go back and visit all the brothers and sisters in that we led to Christ in all the towns where we preach the Lord on the first missionary journey.

Let's see how they're doing. The Apostle Paul said, Hey, you know what, let's go back and encourage these brothers and sisters in Christ. And remember, friends, the reason Paul wants to go back is not because they had such a wonderful and relaxing trip.

People tried to kill them, beat them up, stone them, lynch them. But Paul said, We have a responsibility to help these brothers and sisters go on for Christ. Let's go retrace our first missionary journey. Barnabas said, Hey, that's a great idea.

Let's do it. So they started making plans. And that's where trouble happens. Look at this, verse 37. And Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, along with them. Now we remember John Mark.

He's a young man. He's the cousin of Barnabas. And he went along on the first missionary journey, if you remember, but he deserted Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. Acts 13. From Paphos, the capital of Cyprus, they set sail for Perga in southern Turkey, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

They were here in Cyprus on the western edge where Paphos is, and they sailed north to Perga in southern Turkey. And when they got there, John Mark said, Fellas, I'm out of here. Now, why did he leave them? Well, we don't know. Maybe the physical demands of the trip were too much. Maybe the spiritual demands of the trip were too much. Maybe he was just scared.

I don't know. But he went AWOL and said, I'm out of here, friends. And this is the guy that Barnabas wants to take back along. He comes to Paul and says, Hey, Paul, I think this kid deserves a second chance.

I mean, they wrote his mistake in the Holy Bible, for goodness sake. The whole world knows the kid messed up. He's got a big old scarlet letter right in the middle of his chest. But you know, this is a good kid, Paul. He's got a good heart. He's got a future in serving God. And I think we can redeem him from feeling like a total failure and we can get him back on track for God.

Let's take him. What did Paul think? Well, verse 38. And Paul did not think it wise to take him because John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. To sum up, Paul's attitude was not over my dead body.

Is this kid going with me again? Verse 39. And so Paul and Barnabas had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Now the word that's translated here, sharp disagreement, is a very strong word in the Greek language.

It's the word we get our English word paroxysm from this word, which literally means a violent argument. I mean, a real Donnybrook these two guys have, Paul and Barnabas, so much so that they finally just said, All right, pal, you go your way and I'll go my way. And Paul and Barnabas split up.

These two colleagues in the Lord, these two brothers that ran the first missionary journey, they split up over this. Now let me stop for a moment and say that one of the great proofs that the Bible really is from the God of truth is this very fact that it doesn't sanitize its heroes. You can take even the biggest heroes, the biggest stars of the Bible. And even when they make the worst mistakes, the Bible is honest with us about it because you know why? The Bible is not written as a piece of human propaganda to try to spin you into believing some hoax. The Bible is truth from the God of truth. And even when the truth is ugly, even when the truth is not pretty about some of the Bible's greatest heroes, you know what the God of truth always tells us the truth.

Here we have Paul and Barnabas. I mean, two of the greatest heroes of the New Testament come in almost a blows with one another and splitting up. And the Bible doesn't sanitize this. It just tells it the way it is. Friend, if you're here and you're not sure the Bible is trustworthy, this is just one of the many proofs that, hey, this is from the God of truth and you can accept it as truth.

I hope you'll remember that and think about it. Well, let's move on the end of verse 39. So Barnabas took John Mark and he set sail for Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and he left commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. And he went the other way.

Let me show you where they went. They were here in Antioch, Barnabas and John Mark. They came over here and they retraced the beginning of the first missionary journey here in Cyprus, while Paul went north through Syria and on into these cities and traced the second half of the missionary journey. They went opposite directions. And you know, the apostle Paul, bless his heart, he just thought he was going to go 100 miles, take a little circle and come home. He had no idea what God was going to do with him on this second missionary journey. God was going to use him to change the world, as we're going to see in the days to come.

But let's stop here for a second and ask a question. Who was right? Was Barnabas right? Or was Paul right?

Who was right about John Mark? Well, let's take a vote. We're going to this a raise your hand sort of vote. All right. How many of you people think that Barnabas was right?

They should have taken John Mark. Raise your hand. Okay. How many of you think that the apostle Paul was right?

That they shouldn't? Raise your hand. Some of you guys didn't vote. All right. Well, whatever.

All right. Let me tell you what I think. I think they were both right.

You say, Lon, you've been living in Washington too long, son. No, no, no, no. I think they're both right. And let me tell you why I believe they were both right. You see the apostle Paul and Barnabas were looking at John Mark from two radically different points of view.

The apostle Paul was looking at John Mark from the vantage point of spiritual leadership. He said, Hey, Barnabas, listen, man, we're going back out there into battle. We're going to the same places where people tried to kill us and stone us.

And they followed us from town to town trying to lynch us. This is not going to be a pleasure cruise up the Potomac on the dandy we're going to here. We need people who are ready to face the challenges of spiritual leadership that this trip is going to demand. And you know, the Bible says, 1 Timothy 5, do not lay hands on anyone too hastily. Paul says to Barnabas, I think we laid hands on John Mark too hastily the first time. And I don't think he's up to the challenges of spiritual leadership this time. He has no business on this trip from a spiritual leadership point of view.

He's over his head. Now, Barnabas, on the other hand, was looking at John Mark completely differently. He was looking at John Mark simply as a person. And he said, Hey, Paul, we've got to love people redemptively, man, we can't shoot our wounded. We can't leave this young man languishing in his failure. It's our job as God's church to redeem people who have failed. I mean, if the guy can't hit a curveball, how do we help him if we sit him on the bench for the rest of his life?

How's he ever going to learn to hit a curveball? And Paul, I hate to bring this up, son, but don't forget, I did this for you. When nobody wanted anything to do with you remember that? Who was right? They were both right. The Apostle Paul was right in keeping the bar high when it comes to the qualifications for spiritual leadership, and in demanding that John Mark get over that bar before he be restored to spiritual leadership. Paul was right. Barnabas was also right. In challenging the church to bend low, when it comes to loving and restoring folks who've blown it and failed, and in demanding that we as God's people be redemptive in our approach to others, they were both right.

And a church that's getting it right today is a church that's going to be doing both of these things, keeping the bar high for spiritual leadership and reaching low to help people who've blown it and messed up. Now that's as far as we want to go in our passage, because we've got a really important question to ask. And I know some of you all forgot this question, because we haven't done this in a while. So let's see if we can all remind ourselves of our question. We need a deep breath. Ready? Here we go.

One, two, three. So what? Ah, that's great, huh? Feels good, doesn't it? Yeah.

It's like eating chocolate after you've given it up for a month. That's wonderful. All right.

You said, Lon, so what? I mean, what? I mean, that's great. Okay, fine. I accept your premise. They were both right. But Big Wolf, what difference does that make to us?

Well, I think it makes a huge difference. Let's talk about that. You know, at first light, this Wednesday morning thing that we do for men, we all sit at different tables. And one week I was sitting with the guy at one of the tables who was in Alcoholics Anonymous. And he said something that was profound that really, really got to me.

Here's what he said. He said, You know, when I go to my AA meetings, he said, I don't have to put on a mask. I can be honest about who I am. I can be open about my struggles.

I can tell everybody about my failures. And it's okay. I'm safe there. I'm acceptable to people there.

People are there to help me not to judge me. And then he said this. He said, Why is it that I can't walk into the average church in America and find this same thing?

I was depressed for days trying to think about that. I thought, you know what, this man is so absolutely right. It isn't even funny that God's intent is that church should be the ultimate AA meeting. God's intent is that we as God's family, we as a church family should be redemptive centers. Now let's define what is a redemptive center. If we or any other church were a redemptive church, what would we look like? Well, I've got three very simple characteristics. Here's what a redemptive church will look like.

Number one, it would be a place number one, where people don't have to paste on the plastic when they show up. You know, on the way in your car, we screamed at the children, we argued with our wife, or maybe we got mad at our boyfriend and threw the bracelet he gave us back across the car at him while he was driving. And then we walk into church and we're like, Hello, how are you? Oh, yes, I'm fine.

How are you? Praise the Lord. Well, praise the Lord right back at you.

Come on now, what a bunch of nonsense. Second of all, church would be a place if it were redemptive, where when we were honest about our struggles and our failures and our problems, we could still feel safe. Walk into church and be if somebody goes, How are you? And you go, How am I?

You want to know how I am? Okay, well, so far this morning, I've screamed at my children. I've argued with my wife.

So far this morning, I threw my bracelet hit my boyfriend in the head while he was driving. And frankly, I don't even want to be here. I hope Solomon's good because I don't want to be here. And we would say, Okay, well, thanks for being honest. God bless you.

Appreciate you being upfront with us. And third, a redemptive church would be a place where when people are honest, when they are open, they're greeted with compassion, and they're greeted with understanding and they're greeted with kindness. And they're greeted with real help. Instead of being greeted with judgment and fault finding and criticism and condemnation, where we put our arm around somebody and go, you know, we've got a wonderful class for couples, maybe I could walk up there and you and your wife and I, we could go to that because it sounds like your marriage could use some help. We've got a wonderful counseling center. You and your boyfriend need building lasting relationships. You know, how can we help you?

How can we help you? Now, friends, don't get me wrong. I know some of you get nervous already.

Don't get me wrong. Here at McLean Bible Church, we want to be the kind of church where both the Apostle Paul and Barnabas would look at us and say, Hey, they're doing it right. See, we believe the Apostle Paul was right. We believe that God expects us to enforce biblical standards when it comes to spiritual leadership. And here at McLean Bible Church, we work really hard to make sure that we are faithfully following those standards with anybody that we allow to be in spiritual leadership here.

Paul was right. But on the other hand, we also believe Barnabas was right, that a Christ centered church ought to be a place where people are treated redemptively, where people, whether they're followers of Christ or whether they're not followers of Christ, can come into a safe and restorative environment where they can be honest about their problems, and where they can get help putting their life back together for God, no matter how bad they fail. Hey, when our marriage fails, where is it that we should be able to go for comfort and for sustenance and for help and in beginning again with our lives? Well, we ought to be able to go to church. Hey, when we run into crisis of any kind, or we fail in some way, when we lose our job, when our children are in trouble, when we have financial crisis, when my boyfriend and I find out that we're pregnant, where should we ought to be able to go to get help? Answer church.

Please explain to me what has happened to us in America, such that now when hurting people in America are looking for a safe place to be honest and open and get real help, church is about the last place that they're willing to go anymore. How did we mess this up? Well, I want us to talk about, in finishing up this morning, how we can do a better job of being a redemptive sinner. And don't get me wrong, frankly, I'm proud of the job we're already doing. I think we're already doing a better job than most places I've ever seen or heard of.

It's just I don't want us to rest on our laurels, friends. I want us to do better. You know, if John Mark were living in Washington, D.C., the day after he got here from deserting Paul and Barnabas, I would want McLean Bible Church to be the church he felt most comfortable attending in Washington, D.C. So how do we get to be that kind of church? How do we do better at that? Well, I've done a lot of thinking about this and a lot of praying about it.

Let me tell you what I think. I think that the key to us becoming a truly redemptive environment as a church has nothing to do with the programs we run. It has nothing to do with the classes we offer. It has nothing to do with the curriculum we use.

It has everything to do with the way we see ourselves as the people who make up this church, with the way we view ourselves as the people who come here every week. See, the people who make up AA, they see themselves as all being the same. There's no big shots in AA.

There's no first class citizens and second class citizens there. You walk in and say, hi, my name is Lon Solomon and I'm an alcoholic. And they cheer for you. They hug you. They come up and offer to help you.

You know why? Because as far as they're concerned, they're all alcoholics too. It's a level playing field there. The problem with church is that far too often we let spiritual pride and religious arrogance and Christian self-righteousness creep into our hearts and into our church. And we turn church from being a level playing field into being a pyramid where some of us are up on the top looking down at other people who aren't as spiritual down on the bottom.

And when that happens, friends, a redemptive center can't be a pyramid, can only be a level playing field. The way to make McLean Bible Church a redemptive church is for us as the members of this church to never forget who God tells us in the Bible we are. And let me remind you the three things God tells us in the Bible that we as the followers of Christ who make of this church are. Number one, the Bible says and reminds us that we are all sinners, every one of us. Romans 3 23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the word that's translated sin here literally means to miss the target, to shoot an arrow, and you just simply miss. What the Bible's trying to tell us is even as followers of Jesus Christ, every day we shoot at the target of God's perfect standards, God's perfect holiness, and every day we miss.

Robin Hood, we're not. We're target missers with all of our best efforts. We're target missers. And if you're here today and you're a Christian senator or a Christian congressperson, we're glad you're here, but your target misser. If you're here today as a Christian judge or a Christian policeman, you're a target misser. Every Christian FBI agent, every Christian CIA agent, every Christian Secret Service agent or IRS agent here today is a target misser. Every Christian doctor and dentist and military officer, stay at home mom, teacher, corporate exec is a target misser. Every member of the pastoral staff of this church, including me, we're all target missers every day.

If you're here and you're a Christian lawyer, we're just praying you remember there is a target. I'm just teasing. I'm just having a little fun. I'm so I'm just teasing, honest I am. I'm just teasing. But the point is, friends, we're all target missers.

And why is that important? Because Jesus said, Let him who's without sin, throw the first rock. Hey, you know what? I got no rocks to throw.

You got rocks to throw? I don't think so. The second thing God wants us to remember about ourselves is number two, that only by God's grace, is there any good in any of us? Romans seven, verse 18. For I know that nothing good lives in my sinful human nature. Paul wrote that after he was a believer. Jeremiah 17 nine, our hearts are more deceitful than all else and desperately wicked.

They are beyond cure. You say, Well, now, wait a minute. When I came to Christ, I became a new creature. I became a different person. My whole life began to change from the inside out.

Yes, you're right. And you know why? It's not because your heart changed one bit. It's because God, the Holy Spirit moved into your life and began by His grace to overrule your heart in my heart to suppress your sinful nature and my sinful nature, which is why Paul wrote First Corinthians 15 10 only by the grace of God, I am what I am. But friends, I'm here to tell you as a follower of Jesus Christ for 31 years, my heart is the same nasty cesspool. It was 31 years ago when I gave my life to Christ.

It hasn't changed one bit. And apart from the grace of God's Spirit, I am capable of anything I'm capable of worse things than you ever read about in the paper. And I know it. Which means, how dare I look down on anybody? I mean, if it wasn't for the grace of God, I'd be where they are or worse.

And I know that. Third, God wants us to remember that our assignment is his followers here on earth is to help people, not to judge people. Romans 14 10 you then why do you judge your brother or why do you look down on your brother?

For we will each stand before God's judgment seat. God will take care of the judging. Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Well, we don't judge each other.

What do we do with our time? Romans 15 1. Instead, let us bear with the weaknesses of those without strength. Verse seven, let us accept one another, just as Jesus also accepted us to the glory of God.

Hey, friends, as followers of Christ here in this church, God never asked us to sit in judgment on other people. God asked us to help other people get their lives back together with Jesus Christ at the center. That's what we're here to do. And so how do we become a redemptive center as a church? I'll tell you how number one, we walk in here and say, Hey, folks, underneath all these nice suits and dresses, we're all just a bunch of target missers. And we got no grounds for throwing rocks at anybody. We walk here and say number two, it's only because of God's grace that you see any good in any of us.

And number three, we're not here to judge your friend. We're here to help you get your life back on track for God. If every single one of us walked in here like that, man, we'd have a level playing field. We'd have a redemptive center. You know, I've been reading in the paper about Enron, who hasn't been reading about Mr. Kenneth Lay. And I you know, I just got to tell you, it's so offensive to me when he allowed to happen to those faithful employees at Enron.

I don't even have a word to describe how I feel about it. But what would we do if Mr. Kenneth Lay and his family came walking in here this morning? What would we do? Well, I hope we would do what the Apostle Paul called us to do. And that is we certainly wouldn't offer him any role of spiritual leadership right away.

But I hope we'd also do what Barnabas modeled for us right here in this chapter. And that is that we would reach out to this man redemptively. And we'd say, Mr. Lay, just want you to know everybody here is a target, Mr. Two.

And some of us have missed the target a lot worse than you did. You got nothing to fear from us, sir. Number two, I hope we'd say Mr. Lay, it's only because of God's grace that every one of us isn't right where you are. We're not looking down on you, sir.

And number three, Mr. Lay, we're not here to pass judgment on you. That belongs to the courts and to the Lord. We're just here, sir, to try to help you get life back together with Jesus Christ at the center. Folks, that's what a redemptive center does. That's what church is supposed to do. And it's only by being that kind of a redemptive center that we're going to change people's lives. People don't care what we preach. They only care whether we're redemptive in our approach to their lives. It's only by being a redemptive center, we're going to make an impact on the city.

This city doesn't care what we preach. But when their lives fall apart and we're there to help them put their lives back together with Jesus at the center, well, then they might listen to us. So I want to remind us today of who we are.

Target missers. Only by the grace of God is there any good in any of us. And we're here to help people, friends, not to judge them. And I want to call you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought.

Romans 12-3. Let's stay humble. Let's remember who God says we are. And if we can remember who we are, we won't have a bit of trouble reaching out to help other people where they are. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, as we come to you this morning, we need to frankly ask you to forgive us. To forgive us for the spiritual pride and the Christian self-righteousness and arrogance that we so easily let drift into our lives.

And as you change our lives from the inside out over the years, it's very easy for us to begin thinking more highly of ourself than we ought. God, remind us today who we really are. Remind us today that this is just a level playing field. We're all in His boat together. And God grant that we might be able as a result to reach out to people in a redemptive way here in this city of Washington, D.C. Lord, my prayer is that you would change our lives and change the life of our church family because we were here today and because we learned from you. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.