“How To Be A Magnetic Church”
Romans
14:19-23
“There
are three kinds of churches that inhabit the North American continent (or anywhere
else for that matter). One kind is magnetic, regularly
attracting more new members each year than it loses by death, transfer or shift to
inactive status. Another kind is neutral, attracting about as many new members as
it loses, A third kind repels, losing more members each year than it gains.” [Herb Miller. How to Build A Magnetic Church.
(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987) p. 13]
I
think it is fair to say that most, if not all churches want to be a magnetic
churches. Without getting into church growth statistics and method-ology I want to look
back this evening to the wisdom of the Apostle Paul who gave us in a very concise fashion – “How to Be A Magnetic Church.”
I want to break with
tradition this evening and ask you that once you have found the scripture reference to
mark your place and look up here. I don’t want you to look on as I read, I want you
to just listen. I am going to begin reading in verse nineteen and I am going to be reading
from the modern English version called “The Message.”
“So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love. (22-23) Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.”
Let’s just think for a
moment. When is a church the most likely to act as a magnet in attracting people into
being a part. In the second half of Romans 14, Paul says building each other up and
creating an atmosphere of harmony is the secret to building a magnetic church. He says it’s
not enough to just accept – or tolerate – the people you don’t get along
with in the church. Instead, he says we need to actively build each other up. Satan would
love to destroy our church by goading one group of people into getting angry at another
group.
The Phillips Translation of
the New Testament translates Romans 14:19 as: “Let us
concentrate on things that make for harmony and the growth of our fellowship together.”
Paul says you should concentrate on two things: (1) that which makes for harmony,
and (2) that which helps the church grow. So we must always aim at those things that bring
peace and health, that strengthen one another.
According to Paul, there
were three issues causing conflict in the Roman church: diet, days, and drink. But the
principle Paul establishes in Romans 14 transcends those three examples. Paul gives five
ways that we are to build others up:
First, By Committing Ourselves To Building Each Other Up.
Can
you imagine if a small core of people in our church committed themselves to building up
everyone they came in contact with? What if just five people determined that: “From this day forward I’m going to make
it one of my goals to build up those around me.” What if just five people in our
church made it a purpose to began writing notes of encouragement – just one note a week – and send to
someone in the congregation saying, “I
appreciate you.” What kind of impact
would that have on the morale of our church?
Paul instructs us to make
this “building up” of others our goal. Life is tough, and there are enough
discouraging people in the world. We need a whole band – an army – of
encouragers! Instead of criticizing people we don’t agree with, or whose lifestyle we
don’t like, we should pray for them and encourage them.
We all need to learn from
Paul’s instructions in Romans 14. The strong believer needs to grow in love,
and the weak believer needs to grow in knowledge. Now, when Paul talks about a weak
believer, he’s talking about a legalistic Christian who, rather than seeing the
relationship with Christ as the key element, sees the rules, regulations, and rituals as
the key to a Christian life. The only problem is my list rarely matches yours. Legalistic
Christians need to grow in knowledge of God’s grace.
On the other hand, those Christians who say, “I’m not hung up on rules and regulations”
need to grow in their love, possibly limiting some of the things they do for the benefit
of those who might be offended.
Secondly,
By Recognizing The Value Of Every Person. (v. 15b)
“Do not by your eating destroy
your brother for whom Christ died.” (Rom. 14:15b)
No matter how obnoxious or
immature or disagreeable an individual may be, Christ still died for them. And don’t
forget that! When you start to get upset with someone in your area of ministry or in the
church, just remember: Christ died for that person.
That shows how valuable and
important they are to God. What right do I have to hurt people Christ died for? The answer
is: I don’t have the right. Stay attuned to their importance to God.
Third,
By Keeping Our Focus On What’s Really Important. (v. 16)
“Don’t allow what you
consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating
and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit because anyone who
serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and is approved of men.” (Rom. 14:16 NIV)
Paul is saying that food and
drink are not the burning issues of life. The essence of Christianity is not external but
internal. By focusing on the things that are internal – eternally important – we
can then put up with a lot of external quirks, and faults.
Let me give you an
illustration: Back in 1917, as the Bolsheviks grabbed the reigns of power through a
revolution in Russia, the priests in the Orthodox Church were in a heated debate. They
were debating how long the tassels should be
on their robes. They ignored the Bolshevik revolution, and instead split their
church arguing over this trivial matter!
As a pastor, I’ve been in lots
of churches. Through that, I’ve learned that most churches don’t split over
major issues. They split over trivia, foolish little things. And Paul is making the plea:
Don’t be sidetracked over minor issues.
When the world looks at a
Christian, their first thought shouldn’t be, “He’s got every jot and tittle crossed.”
Instead, they ought to be able to see righteousness, peace, and joy flowing from the Holy
Spirit out of that Christian. As the great preacher Vance Havner once said, “You can be straight as a gun barrel doctrinally, but be just as
empty spiritually.” You can avoid that by focusing on what’s really
important.
Fourth,
By Limiting Our Liberty Out Of Love For Each Other. (v. 20)
“Do not destroy the work of
God for the sake of food. All food is clean but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that
causes someone else to stumble. It’s better not to eat meat, drink wine, or do
anything else that will cause your brother to fall.” (Rom. 14:20)
When my liberty limits the
work of God, then I’ve got a problem. I have to be sensitive to how my liberty
potentially causes a weaker brother to stumble.
When I made a mission trip
to India back in 1991 I was informed that no one wore facial hair in that church as a sign
of separation from their pagan Hindu culture. I had a moustache and had worn one for over
eighteen years, my daughter, who was a teenager at the time, had never seen me without
one. So what was I to do? Didn’t I have the liberty to wear a moustache if I wanted?
It really didn’t take me but a few minutes to decide. I shaved my moustache. Even
though I had every right to wear a moustache, I limited my liberty in order to not be an
offense and have the opportunity to minister to others.
Paul’s point in Romans
is that if I need to limit the way that I dress, fine, I’ll limit the way I dress. I’m
not limiting myself out of legalism. I’m limiting myself because I want to minister
to people, who may not be mature enough to accept a different form of dress. Other people’s
souls are far more important than my liberty.
Fifth,
By Not Forcing My Opinion On Others.
I
hope that as a group of believers we will never make debatable issues a test of
fellowship. We will not say, regarding debatable matters, “Believe as I believe, think as I think, drink as
I drink, do as I do – Be like me! Only then can I fellowship with you.” Romans
14:22: “So whatever you believe about these things, keep
between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he
approves.”
Paul says, on these debatable matters, keep
them between you and the Lord. Go ahead and enjoy your freedom, but don’t flaunt it.
Enjoy your freedom but enjoy it in privacy. You can practice your freedom without parading
it.
Romans 12:18 offers a good
balance for this: While you need to look out for people who might be offended by a
legitimate “stumbling block” issue, some legalists will be upset no matter what
you do. You’ll never be able to please them. In that event, Paul says, “As far as it depends on you, if it is possible, live at peace
with all men.”
God even admits there are
some people you can’t get along with! In that case, it’s not so much your
problem as it is theirs. What you need to do is allow the Holy Spirit to help you
determine when you’re dealing with a legitimate stumbling block and when you’re
dealing with another believer who is simply impossible to please. But don't jump
to the conclusion that it’s their problem. Take it to God and see what he has to
say.
The result of building each
other up is a spirit of unity that glorifies God (15:6): “So
with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
God is glorified because unity brings glory to God. When Christians are divided, it’s
a bad testimony to the world. When Christians are united, it’s a beautiful testimony.
Chapter fifteen and verse thirteen
says a unified church is marked by joy, peace, hope, and power: “May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
That’s the kind of church I want to be a part of. FBC is not a perfect church, but it is a healthy church – and it’s growing in joy, peace, hope, and power.