Jump Start # 2903

1 Thessalonians 5:14 ‘And we urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men.”

I certainly like this verse. I use it often, very often, when I teach about shepherding. And, every time I look at this verse, there is yet another layer of insight and instruction that I’ve never seen before. Let me share some thoughts from this passage.

First, God designed the church as a self-sufficient and closed system. Here is what I mean by that. When we do not feel well, the first thing we do is go to our medicine cabinet and take what we think we need. But a day or two later, if we are getting worse, we realize that there is nothing in our medicine cabinet that can help us, so we make an appointment with our doctor. He looks us over and often prescribes some medicines that we didn’t have at home. If we still do not get better, it’s back to the doc, more tests. Sometimes all of this involves going to the hospital for even more procedures, IVs and tests. We are limited at home at what we can do.

The same goes for our cars. There was a time when many of us changed our own spark plugs and oil. But cars are so complicated today, using advanced computer chips, that when something goes wrong with our car, we have to take it to the shop. It is beyond what we can do.

But here within the Thessalonian church, the unruly, the fainthearted and the weak could and would be cared for by the members there. All within that church was the tools necessary to help. Paul didn’t call upon them to reach out to the Philippian church for help. Paul didn’t tell them to send out the word to others and find experts who could help them. No. Everything they needed was among them. That is how God designed the church. When it is functioning well, it is capable of taking care of itself.

Second, for this to be effective and practical, disciples have to step up and get connected and be involved. You notice that our passage is not addressed to shepherds. Much like Galatian 6, the restoration of lives is being done by those who  are spiritual. This means people have to take the attention and focus off of themselves. It means that they have to get involved in the lives of others. It means that they can’t hide behind the idea of “it’s not my job.” There would be no outsiders coming in to help them. There would be no team of doctors, mechanics or advisors coming to repair and fix what was broken. If the Thessalonians did not do this, no one would. God was counting upon them to step up and to do what needed to be done.

Third, to get to the level of admonishing unruly and encouraging fainthearted, there would have to be some who developed spiritually, became mature and had the heart of both a servant and a leader. If everyone was unruly, there would be no one to admonish them. If everyone was fainthearted, there would be no one to encourage.

And, while this passage identities that we are not all in the same place and we don’t all need the same things, some among us must be leaders who are not afraid to admonish nor encourage. They care for these people and they care for the church. The role of admonishing and encouraging is very different. One is to warn and the other is to build up. In doing that powerful work, others may be developed these to later serve. Not only are we not all in the same place at the same moment, but it is essential that leaders are able to distinguish and recognize the characteristics of one who is out of step and one who is fainthearted. The outward look may seem the same. Maybe neither one is attending. The rebel says, “You can’t tell me what to do.” The scared, has worries and fears. Both are not attending, but it’s for very different reasons. Who is going to recognize that difference? It would be those at Thessalonica that were spiritually strong and in step with the Lord.

Now, what happens when no one in the congregation steps up? What happens when there is no one to warn others? What happens when there is no one to encourage others? The church suffers. It begins to fall apart. Near my house is an old barn. One can see through the sides of the barn. By and by, some of the planks are falling off the sides. The roof is sagging. It’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen down the road. One day when I pass by, there won’t be a barn standing. There will be a pile of wood and nails. Internally, this is what happens to many churches today. Too many are holding out for a preacher to come in and solve all their problems. That usually never happens. They are looking for someone to do what they are supposed to do. And, in far too many cases like this, there is no one who has stepped up spiritually. There is no one who leads. There is no one who is mature enough. The church crumbles because there was no one to help.

Now, all of this points to our role. Are we going along for a ride or are we helping out and doing what we can? Who will warn the unruly? Who will encourage the fainthearted? Who will help the weak? The help isn’t coming from the outside, it must come from within. It comes from us.

Roger

Jump Start # 2902

1 Thessalonians 1:8 “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.”

Here is an interesting question. “Is it possible for a church to do too much?” Someone asked me that recently. I wonder if he was talking about us. We do a lot. There are five blogs, three podcasts, daily quick quote, a Friday Five, two sermons, two classes, and daily Bible reading every week. With every Sunday sermon is a notecard for people to fill out. There is a weekly bulletin. Every week. Mixed in that are the special videos that are made for our Bible classes, as well as teen devos. We are busy. Swamped would be a better word. And, as we round the corner for the final quarter of the year, a massive blitz will take place for a theme and wrapping everything around that theme to be launched at the start of next year. That’s a lot. I’ve had some preachers tell me, “That’s too much work.”

Here is how I look at it.

First, I realize not everyone in the congregation is participating in all of these. That’s ok. Some like to read and a blog is great for them. Others like to listen and the podcasts are their thing. What we try to do is provide is a medium that will help every age bracket. We don’t want anyone left out. The carpenter will have multiple tools available and so should a church.

Second, these platforms make it convenient and easy for others to share them via social media. Our folks are doing a great job of that. That helps us spread the word. The methods of evangelism has changed through the years and using livestream and Facebook has enabled us to contact people that we may never have been able to before.

Third, we have found through these various teaching tools, that bringing everyone down to the church building at a specific hour during the week doesn’t work too well. We are to gather on Sunday. That’s commanded. We want folks to be actively involved in a Bible class and that often meets on a Wednesday. But we see that people can read the blogs, listen to the podcasts at all different hours and even days. That is very useful.

Fourth, using all of these tools has allowed us to become global. Our readership of Jump Starts is international. We know of people that are using our other tools all over the world. What a wonderful opportunity this is.

But there are some other considerations to keep in mind:

First, we have slowly added all of these things. To jump in with all of this is way too much and it overwhelms people. Keep in mind the goal and purpose of why you are introducing something. This has always been at the forefront of what we launch.

Second, it takes people to do these things. Thankfully we have two preachers. Thankfully we have skilled people who love to edit videos and understand the nature of networking and how to do all of those things. Get ideas from others and talk to others about how things are done.

Third, remember that people are busy and that they need time for family. Indeed, a church can do too much. We could have classes day and night, every day of the week. But those that teach also need to breathe and recharge their batteries. People need opportunities to serve and not just take in and learn.

Fourth, some things are expensive and a church has to stay within its budget or it might get into trouble.

Our verse today tells us that the word of the Lord sounded forth from the Thessalonians. This was done without Twitter, Facebook, livestreaming, podcasts, or blogs. No social media. No recordings. Likely, no printed papers. But what was done was members who were convinced and committed told others. They invited others. They lived as they believed. This is central to all the other things a church may do. It begins with committed hearts to the Lord.

Is it possible to sound forth the message without all the “stuff” of today? Certainly. Absolutely. That still needs to be done. The best PR campaign a church has is when one member talks to a friend about Jesus. That’s it. That’s always the best.

Some congregations sit on a pile of money but the lack vision and the people to do anything. Others have ideas but so little money that they are limited in what they do. But for those who have the resources, the staff, the vision and the drive, to whom much is given, much is required.

When someone asks that question, “Do you think a church can do too much?” it’s similar to the question, “Do you think a church can get too big?” Now, it may outgrow the church building, but TOO BIG? Never! I don’t think the Lord will be saying to us, “You did too much.”

Find what works—get help– get ideas—get going. Open the barn doors and let the Thoroughbreds run. Don’t keep the seed in the barn. Get it out where it will do good. Don’t get stuck in the old ways of doing things. Get busy and get to work for the kingdom.

Roger