How can I make a positive difference in this church?

Introduction

I want us to spend some time thinking this morning about this question. What is it that makes a church effective in the work that it does for the Lord? Let me tell you why I raised that question. I want us to think about that, because it is it is painfully obvious that there are some groups of God’s people that are more effective in accomplishing the great things that God gave Christians to do together than other groups are. It may be a little uncomfortable talking about that, but it is nonetheless so. I know that a few years ago, Heidi and I were really struck with a sense of this when we were on vacation together. We had an opportunity on that vacation to visit several other congregations.

And I will tell you that there were that there were two that we visited back to back that really stuck out in our memories because of the of the sharp contrast they were to each other. One of the places that we visited, you could just sense the life of that congregation from the moment that we walked in the door. Have you been at a place like that? We came in, people had smiles on their faces, they were excited and enthusiastic, and the more that we were among them and looked around, I kind of snoop when I visit other churches. I go into their Bible classes and look around, and I try to talk to folks about what they’re doing. And the more I snooped around that place, the more excited I was about being there.

You could just see the evidence of their work for the Lord and their activity, and you could sense their enthusiasm from all of that. You didn’t have to be with them very long to see that. But it was just a few days later that we found ourselves at a place that could not have been more different than that place. I mean, other than the fact that there were a few people who showed up at the facility at the time appointed for worship, there were few signs of life. As the people came into the building, you were thought they were they were coming for a funeral. And after you went through the service, you knew why they felt that way. I mean it was one of the most discouraging experiences we’ve ever had.

There was no life, there was no enthusiasm, little evidence of much going on there. In fact, my wife who is really more of an optimistic kind of a soul as we were driving away with great concern in her voice said, David, I’m afraid that it’s not going to be very long before this group is going to die. There’s not going to be anyone here. Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d think that doesn’t happen, it does. Right there in Southeast Texas where we’re living we just got a letter in the mail from a church that had once been a thriving congregation who were writing all the churches in the area to let them know they were closing the doors. Why does that happen? Why is it that some churches seem to thrive and progress and other churches just dwindle and die.

As a gospel preacher that has been a question that has been of great interest to me over the years and in talking to folks about that, I’ll tell you I’ve heard a lot of different answers to that question. I’ve heard some folks for example who say well it’s all about the preacher. That’s what it boils down to. Have you heard folks say that I’ve heard people say you know if we could just get the right preacher in this place who would work with us and stir things up this congregation could really go somewhere. And I will tell you most of the time that was being said by some folks who were not real happy with the guy they had, and I think wanted to make a change and convinced that if they could get a different fellow, things would be better.

I suppose that it is certainly true that preachers are going to contribute something to the dynamic of an effective congregation. But ladies and gentlemen, don’t you think it’s just a bit naive to think it’s all about one guy? Whoever that guy is.

I hope you guys will speak to him before the week’s over. And I’ve had folks say that no, it’s you’re right, David. It’s not about one guy, it’s about the eldership. And if we could get the right shepherds leading this flock and taking us in the right direction, then this church could really go somewhere. And I will tell you that that usually came from somebody who wasn’t really happy with the group of shepherds they were having, and we’re hoping they could make a change in that and would convince the church could really do something if they just had better leadership. And I will tell you that I think you will rarely find a congregation that is thriving and doing well without good shepherds taking care of that flock.

But again, isn’t it a bit naive to believe that it’s even about one group of fellas and what they do that makes the difference? Do you kind of sense where this is going? It’s never been about one person or even a group of people. The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that all of us are determining what’s happening to our group. That either we help the church thrive or we help it die, but we’re contributing something. Maybe through my diligence and my passion and my efforts, I help the church move forward. Or through my apathy and indifference or my troublemaking, I helped to pull it down. But all of us contribute something. In fact, you look at churches that are doing well. I will tell you, it is rarely just because of the preacher or the elders, but more typically what you’ll find is that more and more of the individual people who make up that church have found their niche in the kingdom of God and they’ve rolled up their sleeves and they’ve gone to work doing the things that God wants them to do.

And ladies and gentlemen, when that happens more and more in a congregation, when the leadership encourages that kind of thing, a church begins to thrive. The reality is that our success depends on all of us. We succeed or we fail together in this great undertaking. And when we realize that the work we’ve undertaken to do is the most important work on the planet. And we’re in the business of helping people going to heaven. Well, then certainly all of us should want to see ourselves as an asset to that, as contributing something positive to that rather than a liability. Which brings us to the question that I want us to think for a little while about this morning. And that question is this well, how then can I make a positive difference in the church where I’m a member?

If I’m going to make a difference, if I’m going to contribute either something good or something bad, and knowing that what we’re doing is so important, well, how can I contribute something good? How can I make a positive difference in the church where I’m a member? And I’d like for everybody today to sort of make that question personal. Obviously, most of the folks here today are members of this church at South Bumby, and so I want you to think about your place in this group. How can I help the South Bumbie Church to thrive? Heidi and I are going to be thinking about the Dallin Road Church, where we’re a member and what we can do. And if you’re visiting from someplace else, will you think about that church where you’re regularly a member?

1. Be a Participant

What can you do to help that congregation thrive, to make a positive difference in that church? There are four things I’d like for us to dwell on for a little while this morning, starting with this. If I want to make a positive difference where I am, then I need to be a participant.

You will remember that when my family lived here, my two boys played baseball. I have a lot of memories about that. There’s one particular game that my boys played in that is particularly burned in my memory. Oddly enough, it doesn’t have anything to do with my boys and what they did or did not do that particular game. It had to do with a mother whose name I don’t even know who was sitting in the stands that day. And as the game was being played and the umpire would make different calls. If this mother didn’t like the call, she would be quite vocal about her displeasure. In fact, typically a bad call was any call that went against her team. And if it involved her kid, it was a particularly bad call.

And this went on inning after inning after inning. Every time something happened she didn’t like, she would start a you are the worst umpire I’ve ever seen. Get this guy some, you know the sum. Some glasses, he’s doing a terrible job over and over again. Inning after inning after inning. And along about the fifth or sixth inning, as the game was beginning to awind to a close, the umpire had enough of that. And he made a call that she didn’t like, and she began to protest and make a scene, and I’ll never forget. He stood up and he raised his hand and he called time. And he turned around and he walked over to the fence and looked up into the bleachers where this woman was sitting.

Everybody got real quiet. And he held up the chest protector he was wearing and the clicker he was using to keep the cat, and he looked right into this woman’s eyes, and he said, Lady, would you like my job? And for the first time all day, she had nothing to say. And he stood there for the longest time, just staring at her, waiting for a reply. And after it seemed like an hour that she didn’t have anything to say, he just quietly went back and took his position and called the game back into play, and we finished, and she didn’t have anything else to say the rest of the day. For which we were all very grateful. Well, two kinds of people attend little league baseball games.

There are participants, the boys and the coaches and the umpires who are actually on the field participating in the play of the game, and there are spectators. Mamas and daddies and grandmas and grandpas and little sisters that get drug along because they can’t be left home alone, who sit and watch the game. And as long as everybody behaves themselves, that’s okay, because you’re supposed to have both kinds at Little League ballgames. You’re supposed to have spectators and participants. But ladies and gentlemen, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be in the Lord’s church. There aren’t supposed to be any spectators. All of us are supposed to be participants. Now, I think that’s true for a lot of reasons. Let me just offer one this morning. One of the reasons this is true is because God’s given every one of us a way to be involved.

I think about this passage in 1 Peter 4 and verse 10 where Peter said, as each one has received a special gift. Employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Have you ever thought about the fact that God has given you a gift? Some ability, some talent, some capacity to go to work and to labor in his kingdom. Who has that? Every one of us. Each person has one. Now listen, we don’t all have the same gift. We do different kinds of things. We’re good at different kinds of things. And listen, that’s great. If everybody’s gift was to lead singing, it wouldn’t make the Bible classes very interesting, would it? Everybody has different kinds of gifts, different kinds of ability that they’re good at.

Now, one of the mistakes we make is we attach, we attach prestige to one gift as opposed to some other gift. People like to do that with public kinds of things. You know, some people come to a church of this size, and a fellow looks around and says, Well, I can’t come here. There’d be nothing for me to do. Are you kidding me? And what he means by that, well, I wouldn’t get to lead singing very much. Or, you know, with all these good teachers here, I wouldn’t get to lead or teach Bible class very often. Is that the only way to serve in the kingdom of God? How about some new converts to work with? How about some discouraged people that periodically need a phone call or a visit to lift them up and encourage them?

Is that not the work of God’s people? You bet it is. We attach prestige to one task, but folks, God doesn’t do that. God doesn’t care what your talent is. He only cares that you find it out and get busy using it. In Romans 12, verses 3, 4, or 5, and 6, Paul would talk about how the congregation is like a human body. Many members with different functions. God made it to be that way. And God doesn’t care about what my function is. He only cares that I do whatever that is and get busy serving in the kingdom of God. Now I will tell you when we get into trouble. Churches begin to die, ladies and gentlemen, the more they begin to look like little league baseball games.

When you have hard working people who are diminishing in their number and a bunch of other people sitting in the bleachers watching them work. Worse yet, some of those spectators start acting like that mother sitting in that bleacher at that game I mentioned a moment ago. Not only is she not participating, but she’s criticizing the participants. And so some of us become like that umpire. We say, lady, you want my job? Listen, if I’m going to get grief about this, and people are going to fuss and complain about what I’m doing, what do we do? I’ll just quit. I’ll just go sit in the bleachers. Let somebody else take this grief. Ladies and gentlemen, the more congregations fill up with spectators and the bleachers and fewer participants in the game, the more quickly we begin to die.

We are in the throes of the death process. Want to see this church thrive? Or the church where you’re a member, take off and really do something for the Lord. Ask yourself this question. Am I a spectator? Or am I a participant? And if I want to make a difference, stop thinking about what the preacher needs to be doing or how the elders can do their job better. What I need to think about is what can I be busy doing? What is my gift? And now let me get busy employing it in serving in the kingdom of God. That’s something that helps the church thrive. When there’s an atmosphere of work and labor among all of the people who make it up, congregations thrive in that environment.

2. Be Positive

So I need to ask myself, am I a spectator? Or am I a participant? But there’s something else we need to do. If we want to help the church where we’re a member thrive, then secondly, we need to be positive. I want to invite your attention to the book of Philippians for just a minute. In just a second, we’re going to look at Philippians chapter 1. Before we do that, let me make an observation about the man who wrote this book.

I love the writings of Paul. And one of the things I like about his writings is that he made it a point regularly to sprinkle his words with expressions of praise and commendation. Have you noticed that? Read his letters. And periodically, he will just throw in some special word of appreciation for what these brethren were doing particularly well, to sort of lift them up and give them a word of encouragement, even when he’s got a fuss about something. And he’ll have to fuss in Philippians when he gets to chapter 4 anyway. He’s got to talk about a couple of women in the congregation that were in the throes of a conflict with each other. He’ll have to deal with that. But do you notice that before he gets to that, he has some good things to say?

I’m looking at chapter 1 and verse 3. He said, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in view of your participation and the gospel from the first day until now. Listen, he’s telling them how much he appreciates them. And the good things that they’re doing for the Lord. And I think if you will go through his letters, you’ll find that that is not an uncommon practice. In fact, he often opens his letters by saying, Let me tell you a few good things about this church. And I would just suggest that I think there’s something for us to learn from that. Would you remember that it is our obligation to stimulate one another?

Hebrews 10 24, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. One of the duties we have as a Christian is to stir one another up about our work for the Lord, to motivate each other, to press on.

It occurs to me that one of the most effective ways to do that is to commend somebody’s labor in the Lord. Have you ever thought about that? How do you feel when somebody commends your work for the Lord? Maybe you’re back here teaching a Bible class. Maybe one of your ladies is back here teaching the little kids. And before class on some Wednesday night, one of the moms comes to drop off their son and grabs you by the arm and says to you, Listen, you’re doing such a great job with these kids. My 18 month old is reciting all of the books of the Old Testament. How did you ever get him to do that? You’re just such an amazing teacher. We don’t know how you pull that off, but we appreciate that so much.

How does it feel when someone says that to you? It makes you want to teach another class, doesn’t it? Or when someone comes up to you after services on Sunday morning and says, you know, you brought food the other night, and we appreciate that so much. We were so low after my mother died, and just having such a struggle, and just having you come by and bring that by, not having to fix dinner tonight with all the work we’ve been going through. Listen, we really appreciate that. How does that make you feel? You kind of start looking around for someone else to serve. Do you see the point I’m making? Praise and commendation is a great way to stir people up to serve the Lord. And so if we want to see our congregations thrive and move forward, one of the things we can do is get, and this is gonna cut against the grain for some of us, to get busy looking for good stuff.

Some of us are busy looking for something to gripe about. We need to get busy looking for things to praise. And then when we see them, to dish out heavy doses of commendation so others will be encouraged to work harder. Now let’s add a balance to the other side of that. Some might be tempted to suggest that what I’m saying is that we just ought to ignore what isn’t good. We ought to ignore trouble spots and just focus on the positive all the time. That there’s never a time for criticism. You did not hear me say that today. Because my example is the Apostle Paul. And would you remember that while he commended the Philippians in chapter one, he fussed at those ladies in chapter four.

He got around to that. Sometimes we need to point out things that are wrong, things that need to be done better. But what I am trying to say, well, I’m trying to say two things. First of all, be stingy with your criticism. I’m going to say something absolutely earth shattering that some of you will have never heard or appreciated before, but that is this. You don’t have to gripe about everything you don’t like. Ever thought about that? I don’t have to complain about every little thing that happens, every little thing that comes up that I don’t care for. I prefer to sing out of the supplemental book. I’ve communicated that to our song leaders back home. It’s my preference. They’re more balanced about that. But I don’t complain about that every week just because it doesn’t go my way.

3. Be Peaceful

Because we don’t sing my favorite song at every service. I don’t have to complain about every little thing that I don’t like. Secondly, well, before I leave that. Save the criticism for the stuff that matters. Because that comes up sometimes. Secondly, be generous with your praise. Be looking for good things to come in. Make sure you say more positive things than negative things. Because listen, if all you do is gripe all the time, people will stop listening. And when you’ve got something to legitimate to gripe about, you may not be heard, and that’s a terrible situation. Churches will thrive in a positive, encouraging atmosphere. And so we need to do what we can to cultivate that. Let’s move on to the third point. We can help make a positive difference in the church where we’re a member if we will make it a point to be peaceful.

You ever noticed how much the New Testament says about that? In fact, in trying to pick sort of one passage to put on the slide to define that, it really was kind of difficult. Because there are so many. I chose this one from Romans 14 and verse 19, where Paul says Paul says, So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do you realize how many times the Holy Spirit told us something like that? It’s over and over and over again in the Bible. I think those instructions, ladies and gentlemen, are there for a reason. I think the Holy Spirit understood that sometimes we would struggle to get along with each other. After all, the local church is a rather odd combination of people.

Have you ever thought about that? We come from amazingly different and diverse backgrounds. We’ve had very, very different life experiences. There are economic differences. Some people sitting in this crowd are very wealthy. Some of us may not be so wealthy, so financially fortunate. I mean, even in very simple things, we have dramatically different tastes and preferences. There are people who like opera.

And there are four or five who like bluegrass music. I yet to understand that. But what God has done is He’s taken this very, very diverse and different group of people, and He’s thrown us all together. In fact, for some of us, the only factor that would unite us, the only common thing we share is our faith in Christ. And Brother Pollard back in Beaumont would want me to say to you, and that’s the most important thing. He’s right about that. It should not shock us. That sometimes we struggle to get along with each other. Listen, my wife and me and our two kids can’t get through a mourning without fussing. What makes us think we’re all going to get through our work together without ever fussing?

And so in Ephesians 4. Look at this text with me, please. Ephesians 4 and verse 1. Paul says, Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called. With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, verse 3. Here it is. Being diligent. We could have put this passage on the slide. To preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Let me just briefly mention about the language. This phrase, being diligent is important. The idea is that you are to make an ongoing effort. You have to work hard at it, and you have to work hard at it all the time. It is ongoing effort to be at peace with one another.

Now I will tell you the easy things to preach that. Tough part is to do it. But it will dramatically alter the way we manage our conflicts when we put this principle into practice and all of the accompanying principles that the New Testament talk about. When I’ve got a problem with a brother, when there’s a point of friction, I’m not going to stew over it and hang on to it. I’m going to go to him as Jesus taught me to do in Matthew 18. And we’re going to talk that problem out. And I’m going to be very careful about my words, because in Proverbs 12 and verse 18, the wise men warrant that we can speak rashly like the thrust of a sword. And when the problem is solved, I’m going to allow it to be solved, and I’m not going to hang on to bitterness because Paul had told me in Ephesians 4 and verse 31 to let all bitterness be laid aside.

And those are difficult things to do, aren’t they? Especially when you’re mad at someone. Why do we do it?

We do it because the work of God is more important than our selfish pride. And that’s just the simple truth about it. We do it because what we’re doing together is helping people get to heaven. And that’s more important than my petty grudge. Ladies and gentlemen, congregations cannot thrive in an atmosphere of conflict and fussing. There’s a simple reason for that. Human beings are possessed with only a limited amount of time and energy. And when we spend these fussing with each other, we cannot spend them doing the work God called us to do. Can I give you a practical example of that? I had a friend share with me one Sunday he had not too long ago. Where he was dealing with a conflict between some members of his congregation.

He serves as an elder in this place. And how for many, many hours on that Sunday, he had to devote his energy to managing this conflict. Can I tell you what he didn’t do that day? He didn’t spend time with any visitors.

He didn’t go out with any of his brethren at all who might have been encouragement to him to lift him up. In fact, the next day, I talked to him on the phone, and he was literally emotionally drained. It just didn’t take away that Sunday. It took away Monday and impacted Tuesday. It just drug him down.

The more churches fill up with that kind of thing, the less they are able to thrive and fill up with enough of it in time they will die. So what’s the point?

Next time you get mad. Next time you get mad, and you will.

4. Be Persistent

It might be sometimes. But I think if we’ll pause and think about that question, far more of the time we’ll pause and say, we got bigger fish to fry. We got bigger things to do. I can let this go and move on. We need to be peaceful because churches thrive in an atmosphere of peace. And then I’ve got one more thing. We’re going to be done this morning. The last thing we need to do is we must be persistent. And I guess that just grows out of everything we’ve already said. This thing we do together is not always easy. As we’ve already acknowledged, there are difficulties that we will encounter along the way, internal fusses and disappointments. People who fall away.

Frustrations. Offenses, wounds.

That’s reality of being in a local church. But what we need to understand is that the devil would like to take these realities of our relationship and use them to destroy us. And sadly, we have accommodated him far too often on that. He would like to take our discouragements and get us out of the game and into the bleachers. He would like to take our disappointments with others who have left the Lord and wreck our faith too. You know, one of the greatest tragedies of people falling away is they rarely go by themselves. Will you think about that next time you’re tempted? He’d like to use our frustrations with brethren to keep us angry all the time and bitter with each other, so that there’s always an undercurrent of fussing and difficulty and tension and tension among us.

He’d like to just get us to leave and go somewhere else under the delusion that I’m going to go work with another diverse group of people and none of these problems will exist. How did we ever come to believe that? Can I give you an alternate strategy? Comes once again from the writing of the Apostle Paul. This time, Galatians 6 and verse 9, where he says, do not lose heart in doing good. Think about that. For in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

He tries to do that. He tries to convince us that we’re never going to get along and nobody cares about me, and no one will listen to my concerns, and we’re never going to get this work done. I’m all alone in this. No one respects me. Have you ever said those things to yourself? If you start feeling that way, will you recognize where that comes from? That it comes from the devil, and he’s trying to destroy what God can do with you.

But then look at the second part of that verse. He says to us that we will reap if we do not grow weary. If we will just see ourselves through the adversity and overcome whatever barrier or hindrance the devil puts in our way, there’s a victory on the other side. In the summer of 1990. Heidi and I had left it, but what had been a very pleasant work for us in Huntsville, Texas, and we moved to work with God’s people in Joliet, Illinois. And then the trouble started. We were there for four months, and one person died every month. I had never conducted a funeral before. I got a quick initiation. We had been there two and a half weeks before the tornado sirens sounded. An F5 tornado tore through the town, killed 28 people, and came very close to leveling our house and the church building.

And we began to wonder if God was trying to tell us something.

It was later in the fall of that year, that one of our guys jumped up at the end of a service unannounced and without permission and rushed to the pulpit and announced this congregation is in sin. My wife and I can no longer handle it, and we’re leaving. Well, it was a dramatic end to the service that night, anyway.

And I went home that evening after visiting with the elders for a little while about our new problem and said to Heidi, Do you think they will take us back in Huntsville if we really beg? I will freely admit it was the most discouraging preaching year I’ve ever had. And there were moments that I seriously wondered if I had made a terrible mistake and thought to myself, maybe we need to try to go back home to Texas. Let me tell you something about the Christians who made up in the Church of Joliet. They were sick of that kind of stuff. And they were ready to move on. And although we were discouraged and depressed about our circumstances, they were eager to do something, and they persisted.

They hung in there, they kept doing the right things. By the end of two years, the church had grown by 25%, had seen 22 baptisms more than the entire history of the congregation. Do you hear me taking credit for that? Then let me correct you. Remember, I was discouraged. I was wondering why I was there. Those brethren persisted in the Lord’s work in spite of the setbacks of the opposition, and just on the other side of all of that adversity, there was this great harvest. A harvest, I might add, that never would have been realized if they had allowed the devil to win those battles and dragged them down and discouraged them. Isn’t that an interesting thing? That very often, just on the other side of some problem or adversity or struggle that we’re going through, just on the other side, there is a great victory.

Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, the devil doesn’t want you to get there. And there are a lot of people in a lot of churches that never experience the great victories because they let the devil win. And they grow weary and doing good. And so we need to persist. Churches thrive in an atmosphere when disciples have their mind on the prize and will not be deterred no matter what the devil throws their way. We must persist. The work is too important not to. Well, that’s the lesson. Take out your songbook, if you will, and turn to the number Lindy will lead us in is the invitation song. Thank you for your attention this morning. Josh told me that I should preach until 1215. I decided to stop early.

Each of us to think about ourselves, and that question is this. What difference am I making? Because we will all make a difference. I may be a blessing to the group that I’m a part of. I may be a blot and a discouragement to others, but ladies and gentlemen, nobody, and I mean nobody, is a blank. Everybody’s making a difference. And so, what difference are you making this morning? Maybe you’ve been spectating and not participating. Or maybe you’ve let a negative attitude discourage you and others that you have influenced, or maybe you’ve allowed a petty grudge to waste your time and the time of others, or maybe you’ve let discouraging things that have happened to you along the way get you out of the game and in the bleachers.

You want to make a positive difference today? And you come before your family here. And you say to this church family, I’m getting off the bench. I’m getting back into the game. And I’m going to start doing the things that God wants me to do. That’ll make a positive difference. If you’re not a Christian today, you need to recognize God has plans for you, big things that He needs to do with you, ways to serve in His cause. But you know what? You need Him a lot more than He needs you. If your life isn’t right with God today, if you’ve never obeyed the gospel, you bear the burden of sin. That separates you from God now and will separate you fromever if you don’t do something from Him forever, if you don’t do something about that.

But you can today. In God’s grace and mercy, there is this time, this opportunity to confess your belief in Jesus Christ. To express your determination to live for Him and to be baptized for the remission of your sins because that’s what He said to do. You could do that today. And you’ll make a difference when you do. You need to respond to the Lord. Come to the front right now while we stand and sing together.