Being willing to get your hands dirty

“The Savior moved from divine doctrine to dirty feet in a very short space of time. We would do well to remember this.”  Derick Bingham

  Earlier this past week, Jane and I were able to spend some time with my “son” and his family. Though our time was limited, it’s so fulfilling to see his love for the Lord, his wife and his two little girls. True, it wasn’t my biological son, it was my son in the faith, Dustin Rider.

  During that brief window of time when God dropped Dustin and Erin, and their two precious little girls into the Grace Church family, I was instrumental in Dustin’s salvation. I’d regularly meet with Dustin and Erin for an evangelistic Bible study to work through the basics of salvation and life in Christ. And though Dustin and Erin were just baby Christians and struggling with a boatload of concerns, like moving to a job that was better for their family, and the normal issues of young Christians, they reached out to Nicole Poltrock.

  Because of their faithfulness and testimony, Nicole came to Grace Church and more importantly, came to Christ. Erin was instrumental in Nicole’s salvation. So not only am I a spiritual father, I may be a grandfather…at least a spiritual uncle.

  Now some of you are thinking, “Well, of course you did that – that’s what we pay you to do.” Wrong answer! If you’re a believer, “that’s what you were saved to do.” And if you really know Jesus, and if you’re growing in your faith and becoming a mature Christian, you’re nearly OCD about serving and sharing your faith. It nearly drives you crazy to NOT serve, to not show gratitude, to not share the greatest news that there has ever been of how you can be forgiven, of how you can have the Spirit’s power in your life to conquer sin, and know that this temporal, empty life is not all there is – you are going to be with Jesus for all eternity!

  The simple truth is that there’s something seriously wrong with a Christian who does not want to serve, share or give. If Jesus really saved you from your sins, if you’ve accepted His free gift of salvation truly comprehending that He died for you so that you wouldn’t have to face eternal judgment, then there is overwhelming gratitude. Not only did Jesus save you from something, He gave you new life, His power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If there’s new life, there’s a new value system, a new behavior and a new worldview.

  Can you imagine a Muslim professing to having come to Christ, yet claiming that they follow both Jesus and Muhhamad? If you know anything about Christianity, you’d be dumbfounded and quickly point out to them that you can’t follow both. Jesus is Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all. The biblical reality is that you either have committed your life to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, or you haven’t and are an idolater, or you’re a spiritual adulterer. It’s as foolish as getting married but still wanting to date. It doesn’t work.

  Salvation is revolutionary. It changes everything. When you come to Christ and realize how much He loved you and gave for you, you want to give, share and serve Him. You long to. You’re driven with a passion of unbelievable gratitude.

  Anyone studying their Bible, comparing much of what is called Christianity in America to what is normal Christianity in the Bible, quickly realizes that in America our churches are filled with people who know about Jesus but probably don’t know Jesus. One of the greatest indicators of that is that most “Christians” worship at the altar of consumerism.

  This was recently illustrated in our area when a mega-church planted a multi-site church. It was a reasonable decision. They had a large percentage of people who attended their church that were driving 30 to 45 minutes each week to attend. So they logically assumed that those individuals would want to worship locally. More importantly, they knew that these same church attendees would be much more effective reaching their lost friends in their community if they had a local church.

  Think about it. While a Christian might drive some distance to attend the “right church,” a lost person isn’t going to. They might do it a time or two but for them, a church is a church.

  Here’s the shocker! Though there was now a local church, though it was the same message (though the preaching is via video feed), though the new site needed workers who could minister in the new church plant, though it would help them more effectively reach their lost friends and neighbors – a huge percentage still drive every weekend over half an hour to the “mother church” to worship there. The original obviously does it a little better, bigger and brighter than the new multi-site church. I can’t help but wonder if a possible motive is that it’s easier to attend with no responsibility to be involved. The greatest problem though is that they’re not part of reaching their community and are disobeying the Great Commission, just to satisfy their own consumer desires.  

  Some 80% of our community do not attend church anywhere. What an opportunity we have. That’s why our ministry fair is so important. First, it helps YOU get to know others in this church better. Second, it gives you an opportunity to see where you (and even your family) might plug in to serve Jesus – the one who loved you and gave His life to rescue you.

  It comes back to this. If you truly know Jesus, you love Him and are overcome with gratitude toward Him. That means that you don’t really even need to be asked to serve, you’re looking for ways to serve. You don’t have to be asked to give, you can’t help yourself. And when Jesus has revolutionized your life, unsaved people are almost ready to pay you to shut-up because you can’t help but share His love and forgiveness with them. When you realize how much Jesus has done and given for you – you want to pour your life out in giving back to Him.

  Do you really know Jesus? Show me your calendar, show me your checkbook…tell me the last time that you shared the Gospel with a lost person. If you really know Jesus, when you’re in love with Jesus – no one ever really wonders. About five minutes with you and they know that you’re in love with the Lord of life who gave His life for you!

The Gospel is everything

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain.”

John Calvin

  Recently, Jane and I attended one of the classiest and sharpest churches I think we’ve ever attended. It was a mega-church in Atlanta. There are several of them in that area. The pastor is well-known internationally and is the author of several best selling books. The church averages some 25,000 people in attendance every weekend. There were parking attendants guiding us on where to park. The facility was beautiful. They even had a bookstore (always a big plus with me). When they discovered it was our first time there, a volunteer actually took us to our seats and gave us a packet of information on the church. We were seated in some of the best seats in the church, about five rows or so back…not too close but not too far away. The worship band could go on tour and probably does. The media presentation was first class. The assistant pastor who made the announcements was warm, welcoming and funny. The pastor is probably one of the best communicators in America. His message was both powerful and practical. He was very engaging. No one seemed to be checking their watch or to be bored in any way.

  There was just one major problem – there was no Gospel. In fact, the pastor even said something to the effect, “If you don’t like talk about Jesus, you’re going to be comfortable today because we’re going to be in the Old Testament and we’re not going to talk about Jesus at all,” and he didn’t.

  You must always be careful evaluating a church based on one service, but there was no Gospel that morning. No Gospel for 25,000 people…no cross, no plan of salvation. The message was timely and practical about getting advice from the right kind of people but no Gospel.

  And it broke my heart. If you have no Gospel, what do you really have? Jesus said, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Here were 25,000 people in church, in a “worship” service but on that particular day, they didn’t hear a thing that ultimately mattered. If they were all believers it might not have mattered, but in a crowd that size, statistically, I have difficulty believing that was the case.

  Tragically, in the American church we’ve often bought into a lie of what’s vital and has ultimate significance. We teach about marriage, and we should. Yet, you can have a great marriage but if you don’t know Jesus, so what? You can have a great family, wonderful relationships with your children. They may stay off of drugs and booze. They may be very successful but if they don’t know the Lord, if they’ve never accepted the Gospel…does it matter? You could be smarter than Warren Buffet with your money. Your 401K big enough to make Donald Trump turn green with envy, but if you’ve never come to the Cross, admitted you’re a sinner and need a Savior…you’re spiritually broke. If you are in great health, if your blood pressure is ideal, you’re not overweight, you have a the body of a teenager and you’re a senior citizen, but if you’re not a Christian, it’s a dead end. So you’re educated, even brilliant. You have an IQ over 150. You may have a Ph.D. Perhaps you’re the next Steven Hawking or Paul Allen, but if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you’re a fool.

  The Gospel is not just something, it’s everything. And at Grace, we’re unapologetically committed to communicating the Gospel. It’s our primary message, and without it, we have no message. The Gospel is the answer to our world’s greatest need, my greatest and your greatest need. That’s why we’re committed to “Gospel preaching.” So what is Gospel preaching?

  Gospel preaching is Bible preaching. The Bible is the one and only textbook and the preacher is a teacher or messenger delivering the Word of truth. He must be focused first of all on the only truth that ultimately matters. Every idea he uses must have a solid foundation in the Bible, no exceptions. Without Scripture, someone can perhaps give a good talk, but can't preach a Biblical sermon. Sermons are based only on the word of God." The late H. Leo Boles often told young pastors, “Boys, there is a great difference in preaching the gospel and making a talk on a Bible subject.” Let the media take care of social and economic problems, the preacher must be about the business of preaching the Gospel.

  Gospel preaching is Christ centered. The very heart and core of the gospel is good news about the Savior. The coming of Jesus into the world to save a defiled and ruined human race through the offering of Himself upon the Cross is the central theme of the Bible. That’s what Gospel preaching is all about, and to fail to point people to the Lamb of God is to fail to preach the Gospel. They must be made to understand that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins.”

  Gospel preaching is distinctive. The story of the cross and the plan of salvation God devised to save us from our sins is a very distinctive message. Gospel preaching identifies these truths and thus draws a sharp line of distinction between the Gospel and any other talk of ways to gain God’s favor, forgiveness and entry into heaven. There is only one Gospel. Our goal is not necessarily to make listeners feel good but to see themselves accurately spiritually, that apart from Jesus Christ, they are eternally doomed for their sin and guilt. We must help the lost to see that they are lost, or we have failed the Lord and our mission. We must help them see that there is hope, forgiveness and new life in Christ.

  Gospel preaching is loving and compassionate. God is a God of love and doesn’t want anyone to go to Hell. Because He loves us so much, God the Father gave His only Son to pay our sin debt by sacrificing Him on the Cross. God loves the world. If we’re going to please God, we must love the world too. When Jesus walked this earth, He wept over the blindness and sinfulness of those around Him. It broke His heart and it must break our hearts too.

  One of the most successful companies in the fast food industry is Domino's Pizza. Domino’s has a clearly defined mission statement, “To be the best pizza delivery company in the world.” Everything they do at Domino's is centered on that goal. What about us? What about Grace Church? Is everything centered on the great commission that Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:19-20? Are we centered on the Gospel? Without the Gospel, we have no mission and we have no message.