AAEVS - Putting Together a Christ-centered Community (Part 5)

Humility/Selflessness/Meekness

If we want to excel in God’s Kingdom, we must mortify the very desire that He hates and that is Pride.

Pride distracts us from God’s glory and thus robs us of our joy and effectiveness. This is why we must commit ourselves to humility in the sight of God. Humility does not mean that we degrade our worth as a human being made in the image of God, but rather it means that we accept that God is the only being that deserves the full attention and admiration of His creatures; all we have, even what we think is from our own doing, is a gift from God. 

This means that we forfeit the “right” to think only about ourselves and open ourselves up to God and what He is doing all around us as well as through us. “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Paul said in Philippians 2:3-4. This does not mean that we neglect ourselves in service to others, but it means that our delight as John Piper put it, to use his quote again, “joyfully meets the needs of others.” 

A barrier to selflessness is self-pity (which the link in the previous post covered very well.) It is hard to concentrate on and serve other people when you feel like everyone is interested only in themselves and that God’s love is directed elsewhere. The antidote of grace to the timid heart is 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”  And, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Embracing and rejoicing in these truths will grant us freedom to love and serve one another. (BBH has an sermon outline on self-pity here)

Finally, meekness is acknowledging that other people and our circumstances are under God's control, denying the desire for sympathy and justice that is humanly impossible. Bro. Matt has just this year gave a sermon on meekness here; there you can listen for what it means to be meek in the face of undesirable circumstances. So what about stubborn, unthoughtful, and perhaps even obnoxious people that confront you or that you confront yourself? It is important to remember that they cannot go beyond what God has permitted them to go. (Psalm 76:10) And what extent He will allow them to sin against Him and us, He does it for our good. (2 Samuel 16:10-12) Meekness is brought about by only His grace.

What would this look like in our church? We would not be complaining about how other people are treating us. We would value each other by listening to one another. We would be more involved in fellowship gatherings.

Enthusiastic, Hedonistic, Cheerful Service

This is derived from Romans 12:11 "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;" this means that we cannot just meet the minimum requirements of Christianity; we must be passionate and excited to serve God and one another. You may react, "Whoa! Wait a minute! I'm struggling just to obey what is stated in Scripture. How dare you overload me with more duties!" 

No, this is not to burden you beyond what you are capable. But God does have a very high standard, for our benefit. Now it is impossible for us to obtain perfection by our efforts. But He has promised that He will work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. There is no lawful excuse to not love and serve God wholeheartedly. Now granted, the enthusiasm to glorify God and enjoy Him forever does not come naturally; It's not like you have pleasure chemicals going through your brain when you worship and obey. We have to learn how to enjoy it.          

So what drains our enthusiasm? What makes us apathetic? I will give three obstacles to enthusiasm and how to respond to them.

1. Long Preparation in the "Wilderness"

When you desire to engage in something like evangelism or community service but are hindered for a long time by unfavorable circumstances or apathetic people, it will take its toil on you. Soon you will be back where you were, with run-of-the-mill activities and comforts. You would like to do this or that but you're "stuck." (This is not directed at families with small children, by the way)   

What do we do in this situation? We acknowledge God's sovereignty and providence in these circumstances and rest in the promise that everything is being worked out for the good of those who love Him. We remember James' admonishment to count it all joy when we fall into various testing, letting patience do her perfect work. We should not view our situation as a prison but as barracks where we train ourselves for our future and wait for God to open a door of opportunity. Then when He does open a door, we will be well-prepared.   

2. Hardly Any Period of Renewal and/or Preparation

When you are in the middle of doing your spiritual and physical responsibilities and your flesh bristles in rebellion, it's easy to say, "Why am I doing this? What's the point?" And we end up doing ether two of the following: we give up and put it out of sight and out of mind or we attempt to push through with little competence. 

Bro. Mike has only one post on this. You can get the big picture of what God is doing in history from his book, "The Framework of Prophecy." (Bro. Mike, the pressure is on! Get to work!) The primary place for renewal and preparation is the Lord's Day Worship; we rest and feed upon the Word of God which gives us strength for the coming week. I recommend a time for renewal and preparation after the service, and perhaps four times a year to have times of energizing our commitment to grow and excel.

If you are having trouble esteeming spiritual devotions to their proper place, here is an article from the Rebelution. And there are couple of chapters from the book, "Desiring God" by Piper on the Scriptures and prayer.  

3. Failure to Initiate

 

When you are determined to do something but you never go through with it, the energy is dulled and it will lead to more idleness as Proverbs 19:15a puts it,"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep;" This is definitely one of the most apathy-inducing habits that poisons our Kingdom Potential.

If this was a case of unrealistic expectations, there should be a time of soul-searching and circumstance-studying to discern what went wrong. If this was a case of slothfulness to obey and grow in favor with God and man, then repentance is needed here.

Beware, busyness is not always a sign of diligent activity. It could be a subtle form of idleness. 
 


So what would this look like? We would be reminding each other what a honor and a joy it is to serve Christ and advance His Kingdom. We would encourage each other to 100% Christian Hedonism, glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

Now we are not going to be excited about the Christian life 24/7, but by God's grace it will not be bland all the time.

Questions:

 

1. How do we put ourselves aside and serve one another?

 

2. What are more ways to be meek to other people?

 

3. What would it look like in our church to be humble?

 

4. How do we deal with long preparation?

 

5. How do we renew and prepare?

 

6. How do we stick with our goals and commitments with joy?

 

7. How do we get enthusiastic about Christ and His Kingdom?