Title: PAINS AND GAINS
Focus: As Christians and members of Calvary, we embrace growing pains as normal and healthy in the body of Christ.
Function: To encourage the people at Calvary to adopt a faith posture of purpose and communal spiritual growth.
Text: Ephesians 4:1-16
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes, I think that kids are like elastic bands. You can stretch them and pull them in all kinds of different directions—and they love it. School, friends, cell phone conversations, emails, IPODs, internet, soccer, music lessons, supper, and a zillion other things make up the day of an average kid or teenager. I’m still trying to figure out how to set the remote control for our t.v. But our kids are amazing. Most of them love change and they are flexible in dealing with changes.
But if you are like me—35 years or older—you will be a bit weary of change. In fact, research indicates that the older we get, the more we resist change in daily routines and practices. That’s normal. The need for stability and a measure of control becomes stronger as we grow older. Resistance to changes, then, is part of human nature. I’ve got some news for all of us: Changes are coming our way in the next number of months!
I remember in my teenage years that I would periodically complain to my mother about pains. Sometimes I would have aches and pains that I could not explain: I did not fall; I did not bump into something; and I had not gotten into a fight with anyone. Yet, I would have these strange aches and pains in my legs or joints. My mother’s classic response to my complaints would be: “Oh, that’s nothing. These are growing pains. They are part of growing up.” I think that Mom was right. Growing up and maturing into adulthood comes with aches and pains.
I’ve got some news for all of us: changes are coming, and with these changes there are going to be growing pains. As Christians and members of Calvary Church, however, we shall embrace growing pains as normal and healthy in the body of Christ. And in light of the Scriptures, and in the context of growing pains, I encourage all of us to adopt a faith posture of purpose and communal spiritual growth. In the body of Christ growing pains and spiritual gains go together!
First, let’s consider the “What?”
What changes will be required from us? Consider our Children’s Ministries. Children are members of the church by virtue of their baptism. They are young and must grow up in faith. That will not change. We will continue to teach them the Word of God, the songs of the Christian faith, and the ways of the church. We will encourage them and affirm them, as much as possible, to love and serve the Lord Jesus and to be part of Jesus’ church. What will change, however, is the way we have done it in the past.
Beginning in the fall, on Sunday mornings, from 9:00-9:25 AM, Kindergartners through grade 5 will join (with their parents—that’s a change) FAMJAM for a celebrative gathering of singing, praying, and embracing the story of the Christian faith. After that, the children will go to their respective classes and they will be taught the stories of faith and the Word of truth. Young people from the Student’s Ministries will be asked and invited to be mentors and tutors and buddies of these children, assisting them in their growing up. There’s another change. Now our students and young people will have an opportunity to join in modeling the younger children to grow up in faith and love. The kids and the young people will embrace this change, I trust, with flexibility and they will find spiritual gains.
My question for you, parents, is this: Will you be willing to change your habits from dropping the kids off and doing your own thing at that hour, and will you join them in the FAMJAM? Will you change your habit and join in growing spiritually by attending adult classes? Will you model to your children and our youth the importance of growing in faith, even if that means some pain or adjustments on your and my part?
Another change that’s coming our way is the manner in which we help people (such as seekers, new converts, young Christians who need to grow in faith, and regular guests, as well as transfer members from other churches) to become mature members of Calvary Church. What will not change is our commitment to help people to grow in faith. What will change, however, is the way we have done it in the past. Beginning in September, the entire church will be involved in the process of helping people to become mature disciples of Christ and to take ownership of the Christian faith and church. This congregational involvement is primarily in public worship, where we mark the journey of discipleship with rites, with prayers and encouragement, leading to baptisms, public professions of faith, and the welcoming of new members to Calvary Church. We also will need the commitment of individual members to walk alongside these various people as mentors and friends, encouraging them to continue their journey of spiritual growth in Christ.
Another change that’s coming up is our approach to the work and ministry of the church. From now on, the elders and deacons, together with you, want to work with a sense of intentionality or purpose. We must learn to answer questions such as “Why are we doing this? What is the gain, the purpose of every thing we do as elders, deacons, members, volunteers, and staff in this church?
Purpose and intentionality are the pistons that drive our mission statement: to lead people into a growing and committed relationship with Christ and his church. That’s the gain we all seek.
With that gain there will be some pain. We’ll make some mistakes in the process; we’ll need patience with each other to catch on and work together; we’ll need approaches different from the past; our learning curve will be tested, our comfort zones stretched a bit. But with the Lord’s blessing and our collective good will, the growing pains will lead to spiritual gains.
Moving from the “What?”we now must consider the “Why?” We do so in light of the Scriptures. In Ephesians 4 the apostle Paul begins with a call to the church: “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” That calling centers on Christian unity and maturity. One commentator (John Stott) has pointed out that this Christian unity arises from the unity of the Triune God: The Tri-unity of God comes out in such statements as: “There is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (vs.6). “There is one Lord” (vs.4) who creates within us one faith, who calls us to “one hope” and who gives us identity in “one baptism.” “There is one Spirit” (vs.4) who gathers and forms God’s people into a body, the church of Christ. Listen again to vs. 4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all….” Clearly, Christian unity arises from the Tri-unity of God—Father, Son, and Spirit.
Christian unity is also enriched by the diversity of our gifts. In verses 7-12, we learn that the church of Christ is not made up of “cookie-cutter” Christians, who think alike, speak alike, look alike, or act alike. In fact, the church of Christ is international, catholic, world-wide or universal. We also learn that it is the ascended Lord Jesus who gives members of the church various abilities for the benefit of the entire church (and world). Listen: (vs.10-12) “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” Clearly, Christ’s spiritual gifts and abilities to various members of the church must lead to the wholeness, the building up, the benefit of the whole church. Christ’s grace and gifts to the church ought not to divide the church, but rather, to unite the church.
Christian unity also demands spiritual growth. When a baby does not grow, the parents become worried; when a six-year old does not advance to become a teenager, and when teenagers stop growing into young adults, we all know there is a problem. It is a given, a normal thing to expect that all people grow and mature as they advance in age.
That process of growth is also normal for the church. This is why Calvary has said that we all seek to lead people into a growing and committed relationship with Christ and the church. When you become part of the church, you are like a nut that gives birth to a sapling which, in turn, takes years to advance into a mature, strong, vibrant oaktree. Every Christian—young and old alike—is called to become a mature oaktree by seeking to grow spiritually as we live a life worthy of the calling we have received from King Jesus.
So why these changes? Why must we endure growing aches and pains? Simple:to realize the gains.
The apostle Paul makes it very clear in the text. The church of Christ must always go for the wins, the gains of the Christian faith as purposed by Christ himself. Listen: (vs. 12-13) Christ gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelist, and some to be pastors and teachers (Why?) “to prepare God’s people for works of service, (Why?) so that the body of Christ may be built up (Why? For what intent or purpose?) “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” You see, as the apostle calls us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received, he holds before us the wins. The building up of the church, the unity in the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, and spiritual growth and maturity—these are the wins we must pursue and pray for and work for. To get to these wins, however, we must work through the aches and pains.
And that leads me to the “How?” How will you and I live and embrace the pains so that we, as a church, may celebrate the gains?
Today, I appeal to you, especially those of us who are older and thus wiser and hopefully spiritually more mature, to set the example and to embrace the growing pains of change with a gentle and encouraging spirit of faith, purpose, and unity. Here’s how:
Scriptures tell us that we may express our feelings—but always in love; we may be passionate about our understanding of truths and principles, but we may not tear down, we may not destroy fellow members of the church. We shall be informed by Scriptures and by keeping in close touch with the leadership of the church. Information and communication are an important means to deal with, cope with, and manage the aches and pains of change.
Here’s another “how? to pursue the gains in the context of change:
The same thing happens in many churches also: A few people tend to do the work; another segment of the church tends to stand by and show up when it works for them; and then there is a small segment functioning as a squeaky wheel, refusing however to contribute to finding helpful solutions and ways to realize the gains. Calvary has many people who do a tremendous amount of work for the good of the entire community. But some of us do well to rethink our commitment to Christ and his church—and make changes for the better, so that the entire body will flourish.
Each one of us who is a living member of this church needs to reconsider what it means to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Each one of us must hear anew the text that urges us to live “a life worthy of the calling we have received.”
Will you and I face the future with a posture of faith and communal spiritual growth? Will you and I live with and work through the pains of change, so that we may present to the ascended Lord Jesus Christ the wins, the gains he seeks from us?
In a few moments we may express our unity in Christ by participating in the Lord’s Supper. As we accept Jesus’ invitation to celebrate with him His awesome win—his wondrous gift of salvation, I want to give you an image or metaphor to take with you into this coming year. The other day I heard a wise and mature Christian who loves his wife very much, make a startling statement. He said, “You know, my wife and I fight a lot. We differ at times and we differ deeply on things. But we always fight holding hands together.”
This is the metaphor or image that I ask you and myself to accept as our own: Be a member of this church; love your brothers and sisters. Bear each other up; sustain, help and encourage each other. And when you feel like fighting, go ahead, feel free to differ and express your differences. But NEVER, NEVER shall we allow ourselves to do so without holding hands together.
Calvary Church will always experience God’s blessings and presence when we find ourselves firmly planted in the fellowship circle of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and when we hold each others hands as members of Christ’s body, working through the aches and pains, and realizing the gains that Christ has set before us.