Family Ministry (Part 2 of 2)

It can be easy for any of us to fall into the When you show me people who claim to be converted without being devoted, I wonder what it was happened to them. Let's have none of this silly teaching about the various stages involved in a progression of a walk with Christ as if you can have the conversion package, which includes heaven and no hell, but nothing beyond that. Or if you would like a little more, you can have the devotion package, which involves a little more commitment on your part, but it yields special benefits.

Or you can have… and so on. And so many people I talk to, they think of the Christian life just like that. Oh no, I'm just converted. I'm not devoted.

I want to say to you, if you're not devoted, it's questionable whether you're converted. Now, the interesting thing is that their devotion reveals itself in service. They devoted themselves to something. What are you doing over there? Oh, I'm just devoting.

It doesn't work like that. You know devotion in relationship to something, and they devoted themselves specifically to the service of the saints. Phillips puts it, they made up their minds to devote their lives to serving others. They imposed upon themselves a duty.

Question. What is there about your Christian life and mine that speaks to the issue of self-imposed duty? Do you realize that duty and habit are not dirty words?

We have made them dirty words, especially in relationship to Christian things. If anybody speaks to the issue of duty, the knee-jerk reaction is, the person is a legalist. Well, what about the self-imposed duty of your physical life? The self-imposed duty of brushing your teeth? The self-imposed duty of showering? The self-imposed duty of eating? The self-imposed duty of speaking civilly to other people?

None of those things are biological functions, ultimately. They are decisions, they are choices. You choose to brush, floss, shower, eat, and be civil. You choose not to, and it has radical implications, not only for yourself but for everyone who spends time with you.

Right? And the same is true in Christian terms. I ask you again, what is there—I'm being very specific here—what is there in the seven-day period of your life that is there as a result of a commitment on your part, self-imposed duty?

Is there anything there? Or do you do everything just because you feel like it? Or do you do everything just because you're coerced to it, manipulated from the outside? You see, the freedom of Christian living is the freedom which the Spirit of God brings to us to enable us to enslave ourselves to duty.

It's a self-imposed duty. I remember when I had the option in relationship to worship at church—I still do, but it has more implications if I exercise the wrong option—but I remember when I was not here but was there, that there was many a Sunday when the reason I went to church was not as a result of some kind of divine afflatus, some great surge when I wakened up in the morning. But I wakened in the morning, and I said, You know what? It's Sunday. What do I do on Sundays? I said, I go to church on Sundays.

You know what? I flat-out don't feel like going to church today. But I'm gonna go.

It's just a self-imposed duty. I just figured that if I was there, I might be able to speak a word of encouragement to someone. If I was there, I might hear a word from God that I definitely needed to hear.

If I was there, I might be able to add my voice and song. But I didn't go for points, and I didn't go for feelings. And frankly, I still don't. It's a self-imposed duty. If you only witness to people in traveling on a plane or on a train or on a bus when you feel like it, get ready for not witnessing to people.

But if you're prepared to speak a word in season for Jesus Christ as a result of a self-imposed duty, you'll have unbelievable opportunities. Just ask yourself when you're sitting there, and the person says, You know, I'm so fed up with things I can't believe why the world's in a mess. In such a mess. You say to yourself in that moment, you say, What do I do when this happens?

And the answer is, I speak a word in season. If you ask yourself the question, What do I feel like doing right now? It's probably pulling Newsweek up right around your head and ignoring the fact that the person even asked the question. Self-imposed duty. Now, notice these dear folks.

They stand out in the whole of the New Testament because they were converted and they were devoted, and they were devoted to the service of the saints. They were willing, they were spontaneous, and they were useful. They weren't waiting for an assignment. Don't you get fed up with people waiting for assignments? I mean, are you a manager or a supervisor? Do you have a factory?

Do you ever get students into your factory? And you're the supervisor, and they come in, they say, This is Fred, George, and Bill, and they're gonna be here? Don't you… Don't the guys drive you nuts that you say, Now, go over here, and then they go over there, and then they're just standing, like they're brain dead. And then you go over and you say, What's wrong, George? They said, What am I supposed to do next?

Well, we could do this next. And then, twenty minutes later, it's, Well, I don't know what to do now. I don't know what to do. Well, pick something up. There's trash on the floor. Pick that up.

Right? The thing needs swept. Sweep it. The tools need cleaned. You're a landscaper, and you came home at four, and the whole thing is covered in grass and bits. You say, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Clean the jolly tools, for one thing.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist. You have to be told everything. Do you know how many people in a church of this size are all standing around on corners going, I don't know what I'm supposed to do? What are you supposed to do in this church? I don't know what you do.

Hey, come with me. I'll show you what to do. See, in many cases, we're hiding behind the idea of I don't have the ability. We're not looking for ability. Write ability down and then put these letters in front of it.

A-V-A-I-L. The issue is not ultimately ability. The issue is availability.

Available. And Stephanus and his family got converted, and they just started doing stuff. They ministered to the saints. They said, This is what we're gonna do. We're just gonna go at it. If somebody over here needs a blanket, we'll run it over to them. Somebody over here needs a cup of cold water, we'll take that to them. Somebody needs me to sit with their children, we'll go sit with them.

Somebody needs a word of encouragement, we'll give it to them. They weren't waiting for an assignment. They weren't waiting for prominence. They weren't waiting for position. They were involved in ministry. And the idea for them, given that it is a house church especially, the idea that for them ministry and Christian living would be about sitting in a lovely big auditorium like this one hour a week and then walking out and doing very little would have been completely mind-blowing to them.

They could never have conceived of that. They'd have said, I don't know what that is, but it surely isn't conversion plus devotion. Indeed, in the King James Version, the word is not devotion. The word is addiction. If you've got a King James Version, it's addiction. They were addicted to it. In an addiction, what happens? It becomes habitual activity. The more you get, the more you need, until you're at the point where if you can't have it, you can't live. That's what's Christian service had come to Stephanus. I find this phenomenally challenging, I've got to tell you.

I don't know about you. Have I reached anything approximating to this idea of habitual, addictive Christian activity? They were not workaholics, compelled to work for work's sake. They were addicted to ministry for love's sake.

They started to minister, and the more they ministered, the more they needed to, until they got to the point where they couldn't live without it. You remember that song that went, I can't live if living is without you? It went way up high, you know?

I can't live if living is without you! Now you remember it, right? You couldn't remember it.

You couldn't remember it until you did it. You're driving in the car in the sixties, they remade it now, not as good. You're driving in the car, and the guy's going, I can't live if living is without you! And you're going, if you're an average guy in love with a girl, you're going, that's exactly how I feel!

That's exactly how I feel! And what he's saying here, Stephanus and his family said, I can't live if living is without Christian service. Now, you see, it doesn't say, I can't live if I can't teach, I can't live if I can't lead, I can't live if I don't have a position.

He said, I can't live if I can't minister, serve. Conversion, devotion. Thirdly and fast, submission. Submission. I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these.

These are the kind of people to whom you need to submit, he says. This is servant leadership at his best. Instead of the Corinthians fighting for their rights and for their privileges and for their respect, they should be fighting for a chance to follow after and serve the likes of Stephanus and his family. These people were not isolators. They were co-operators.

Sunerguntai, the word that gives us synergy. There was a synergy about what they were doing. They were committed to the work.

Koppauntai. They were committed to the point of exhaustion. This was not a leadership that walks around with a clipboard. You know, you do these things like clean-up days in your neighborhood. There's always some Charlie has a clipboard, you know. Give me that job. I like that job.

Yes, I'll do that. You know, you got pine needles in here, and you got stuff all up your fingernails, takes a year and a half. You broke the chainsaw seven times as a guy up the street, and around comes Rodney with the clipboard. How's it going over here?

Yes, very good. What do you have to do to get this job? This is unbelievable. Now, it makes me want to, you know, take that clipboard and, you know, put it over on the side for a little bit and say to the guy, get some stuff up your fingernails, would you? Stop going around with a clipboard. We got clipboard leadership is killing the church. Charts and diagrams and folders and systems and analysts and goodness knows what all, and we're dying for a few folks with the stuff underneath their fingernails. Now, when I walked out, after the first service, the first person I walked into was carrying a what?

A dear girl walking the halls with a clipboard. I said, Look out. She said, What do you mean?

I said, You'll find out. Let me tell you something. The illustration she made ten times better. The key to submission in service is to wear the garment of humility. In 1 Peter 5, the garment of humility is the en comboma, the apron of sacrificial service. And the girl with a clipboard was wearing the apron of service. So I guess it's okay to have a clipboard, provided we're wearing the apron.

Clipboard without the apron—bit of a problem. Fourth and second, last word, the word inspiration. Inspiration. Where does this come from?

This is the one that is not there. He says, I urge you, brothers, to submit to such as these and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it. I was so glad when Stephanas Fortunatus and Achakas arrived, because they've supplied what was lacking from you. They've refreshed my spirits, and they've refreshed your spirits too. In other words, he says, they just inspired me.

They wound my clock, they floated my boat, they rang my bell, they unfurled my flag, they just topped up my battery. The importance of companionship. Why, years after Carole King sang the song You've Got a Friend, does a whole new generation find itself drawn to the song?

Not so much for the melody line, but for the sentiment it conveys. When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand, when nothing—nothing's going right, close your eyes. Think of me. Soon I'll be there to brighten up even your darkest night. Yeah, this is the mighty apostle Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God to write these immense letters, and yet he is a man, and that is all he is, and he is longing for companionship. And these three fellows walk in the door, and they pick up his spirits.

He might just have a problem. Said Stephanas as he walked in, that I understand. We all need somebody to lean on. Lean on me, Paul, he said. When you're not strong, I'll give you strength. I'll help you carry on.

Now, you just stand up if you're so self-sufficient that you don't need three buddies like that. Okay. You want to be a Stephanos, a Fortunatus, and a Caicos to somebody? Do it. I'm not gonna assign you.

We're not gonna match you up. Just walk around with your eyes open and your heart in tune with Jesus, and you'll be falling over yourself with an opportunity to be an inspiration. The very opposite of a drain. There are people who drain other people's batteries.

Every time they see us coming, they're going, Oh no, here he comes again. And I know I can be that to people. You take on that idea of ability and availability. My commitment to ability, even though I don't have much ability, is so bad that people who want to make themselves available feel that if the ability's not of a certain standard, they don't want to make themselves available because they might fail. And I need to learn what it is to see people with the privilege of failing. Otherwise, you just drain them. It's not a nice thought, but when I look into the mirror of the Word of God, I can really drain people's juice.

I don't know about you. And I found myself saying, Lord, help me to be like these three guys. I'd like to recharge a few people's batteries. I'd like to be an inspiration. Togetherness builds us up, heals us, restores us. Togetherness prevents us from danger, disappointment, disaster, difficulty. Like cold water to a weary soul, says Solomon, is good news from a distant land. And these three men came walking in from a distant land, and Paul said, I was glad when they arrived. They filled me up. I was lacking.

My battery was low. They refreshed my spirit. And yours also, last word, recognition. Folks like this deserve recognition.

You want to recognize some people, he says? Incidentally, the individuals have no right to seek recognition, but we have no right to withhold recognition. Indeed, in the King James version, it puts it in the imperative, accurately, Acknowledge ye them that are such. The NIV says, These people deserve recognition. And we can say, Oh yes, they certainly do.

The King James version gets it right. Acknowledge them. Recognize them.

Go up to them and tell them that the simple words, the little things, that which was apparently inconsequential, has meant so much to you. See, it's a real disservice to God's people when we create the idea in our church that ministry is about teaching, that the real ministers are the teachers, the real ministers are the servants. Indeed, James, the brother of Jesus, gave a warning about being a teacher. Remember?

Don't let many of you, he says, become teachers, because those who teach will be judged with greater strictness. But let's become like the household of Stephanos. They were sick, and we went to them. They were in jail, and we called on them. They were hungry, and we fed them.

They were thirsty, and we gave them something to drink. Nobody saw. Nobody knew.

Oh, sorry. Jesus saw. And Jesus knows. You see, you may think that you're involved in a ministry in this church that is so inconsequential because of the profile. Nobody really knows. Nobody really sees. Indeed, you may be involved in a ministry to an individual, and the individual seems so downright unresponsive. You drive away from the house saying, I don't know why I should even go back there.

It doesn't seem—nothing seems to be happening at all. Well, do you remember the words of Jesus as he drew things in the minds of people to the thought of his return? And he said the king was going to come and separate the sheep from the goats, put one on one side, and that the king would sit on the throne, and he would draw the people together, and he would tell them that he was hungry, and they gave him something to eat and so on, and the righteous will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in or kneading clothes and clothe you? When did we see you as an overseas student, a Case Western student, totally removed from home, from family, and from friendship? When did we see you at Parkside Church and not take you home? Jesus says, inasmuch as you failed to do it to the least of these Case Western University students, you failed to do it to me. Lord, when did we see you in a jail?

Inasmuch as you went to the dear folks behind bars, you went to me. I want to tell you, loved ones, that the whole future of Parkside Church is right down all these lines. Whether this church has an impact in the coming years will not ultimately be directly related to many of the things which have the highest profile but, I believe, is going to be directly related to God's people understanding the ministry of Stephanus and his household. One of the greatest ways in which Cleveland and the environment will know that Jesus is alive is through the loving, serving, devoted lifestyle of ordinary Christian families, just like yours and just like mine. Conversion, devotion, submission, inspiration, recognition, conclusion. It is through humble service that our faith is revealed, both in the walls of our own homes and extending into the church and broader community. You're listening to Alistair Begg and this is Truth for Life. I want to tell you today about a book that we believe you'll want to add to your library. It's called Saints and Scoundrels in the Story of Jesus. It's written by Nancy Guthrie. And, of course, the title is intriguing.

You'll find the content equally intriguing. In this book, Nancy examines people or groups of people who came into contact with Jesus. Some of them rejected him. Others welcomed him.

Some did both. You can learn more about why well-known people in the Gospels responded to Jesus the way they did and how Jesus responded to them when you request your copy of Saints and Scoundrels. You can do that as you donate today. To give, click the image you see in the mobile app or visit us online at truthforlife.org slash donate. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. Whether your church has just a handful of faithful members or thousands of regulars, be sure to join us tomorrow to hear how we're all a part of something much bigger than we can imagine. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.