Many people in the church are trapped in a pathetic inconsistency!. They are being asked to treat others in a different manner than they are being taught God treats them!
It is as though God, as their heavenly Father, is saying, "Do what I say, not what I do!" Unfortunately, that undermines God's method of teaching His children as we'll see later. With this picture of God asking us to do for others what He isn't doing for us, rebellion results in the child of God under such a system.
However, as we look into God's Word, we see something totally different. In Scripture after Scripture we find that God is calling us to be like Himself (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 1:16).
The result of this very basic truth is that every commandment given in Scripture has a wealth of information about what God is like! Whatever God asks me to be, He already is!
This is the concept we want to work with: Whatever God asks me to be He already is!
Let's work together through some of His commandments and discover what we can about this God we desire to serve.
I Peter 5:2.3
I Peter 5:2,3 are verses spoken to Elders showing them the true method for leading the church. However, if we apply the concept that whatever He commands me to be, He already is, we find these commands opening up a world of information about how God leads us. What are His attitudes? Out of this section, one of the most exciting truths is that God is EAGER to shepherd me! Taking care of me is not a responsibility that tires God, but rather that He comes to with a spirit of eagerness and readiness!
See how easy it is? To think back from a commandment tracing it to our picture of God is a rewarding exercise!
Jeremiah 17:5
"Thus says the Lord, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh His strength.'"
Here we find one of the greatest areas of inconsistency as we see God asking us not to trust in ourselves . . . then hearing how much He relies upon us!
Following the previous concept, we find that God models for us what He wants us to do. He doesn't trust in mankind either! He doesn't lean on man to accomplish His task!
Whereas it's true that He works through man to accomplish His work, His ultimate trust rests in Himself! What a load this removes from the believer!
Philippians 2:3
Can it be? Does this verse really say that God views me as more important than Himself? The Creator of the universe, the Lord of all time, the King of Kings views me as more important than Himself?
Certainly your understanding is affected by how you understand the phrase "more important than yourself." However, if we take but a moment to look back at what Christ left to come and die, we will see that God does indeed see us more important than Himself! We see that in the fact that He subordinated His own desires for our needs!
The list goes on and on. Looking at some of the following commandments could change your concept of God.
This final verse, Matthew 7:12, leads us into the next consideration of this overall concept. "Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them."
Whatever God wishes us to do for Him, He will first do for us! What a beautiful picture of the way He leads us -- of His Lordship!
All too often the Lordship of Christ is pictured as Christ sitting on a throne with a megaphone shouting orders to us His servants. In John 13, 1 believe Peter would have found it easier if Christ would have said to Him, "Peter, this is what I want you to do. Go around and wash the other disciples' feet!" Peter would have done it. Instead Christ wanted to lead Peter by serving him. He waited to do for Peter first what He wanted Peter to do for the others. You know the story. Peter resisted. He didn't want Christ to serve him.
Whenever we resist Christ serving us, we short-circuit His method of teaching us. He does for us first what He asks us to do for others. This is in keeping with His principles of leadership found in Matthew 20:25-28 and I Peter 5:2,3.
We now need a new definition of what it means to make Christ Lord of our lives. "Making Christ Lord is allowing Him to lead me by serving, me in all areas_of_my life!"
To the extent that I have not allowed Him to serve me in the area of forgiveness, I will not overflow with forgiveness to others. To the extent that I have not allowed Him to serve me in the area of viewing me as more important than Himself, I will have difficulty viewing others more important than myself. In fact any area in which I am not overflowing in obedience can be traced back in part to the fact that I have not allowed Christ to fully teach me that area by His example towards me.
What a God we serve! What a Teacher! May the commandments in His Word fill you with an increasing sense of awe about His Person! As a result, may your life be one characterized not by overwork but by overflow -allowing Christ to be to you first whatever He is asking you to be to others!
After reading that particular article, several conclusions can be drawn. Growth comes in a believer's life through a process of "filling and spilling." Christ fills the believer up with what he will need to give away. If a believer is not being served by Jesus Christ, he does not have what he needs to give away. This is further supported by such Scripture as Ephesians 3:17-19, 1 John 4:7,8 and Colossians 2:6,7.
Therefore, to call for something from the life of a believer before that individual has experienced it in his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is calling for a generating of the flesh to produce that which is desired. Rather, the ministry must become a filling institution in which through accurate teaching of the Word of God, an individual is trained how to interpret his experiences so that he appreciates all that Christ is doing for him. Only then does real lasting growth occur and remain.
Additional Considerations
1. Go back in the article to the list of verses beginning with Proverbs 3:5.6 as you practice applying the concept taught in the article to those commandments.
2. What difference does this final paragraph make in the style and content of the teaching in the ministry?
Any organization spends much of its time in the area of motivating its membership. Within the ministry, this is no exception. Although the objective of motivating others is lofty (that of becoming like Jesus Christ), the means of reaching that end often are on varying levels of Biblical accuracy. How should we be motivating people to accomplish what God desires them to accomplish?
We can see in the Apostle Paul's writings the technique he used over and over again in motivating his readers. In the book of Romans, he spends eleven chapters talking about what God has done for them before he begins talking about what they can do for God. In the book of Ephesians, he spends three chapters talking about what God has done for them before he transitions in chapter four to begin talking about what they can do for God. The pattern is clear.
Paul prefaces any action on our part with an intense appreciation for what God has done for us. Many in the church have spent most of their lives hearing what they need to be doing for God. All of this comes to them without an adequate, overwhelming foundation of what God stands ready to do for them and has done for them. Without that foundation, motivation must be based upon guilt, pressure or outright legalism. However, mere enforcing of the law did not produce spirituality in the nation of Israel, nor will it produce spirituality in the life of the believer.
Based upon the fact that the believer has been totally forgiven of all sins (Colossians 2:13); that he has been declared righteous in the sight of God (Romans 3:21,22); and that he need never fear condemnation or the wrath of God (Romans 8:1,31-39); there remains no other motivation available to an organization other than that of overwhelming a believer with the goodness, grace, and mercy of God Himself.
We believe that God's program is to motivate people by having them see His goodness and grace rather than the unbiblical motivation of legalism and guilt. We desire to become increasingly skilled as an organization in learning how to clearly focus a believer's attention on the boundless favor that God has freely given to him.
Additional Considerations
Using the following verses, take time to look at what motivated the Apostle Paul:
In too many churches we fear that believers leave church not motivated by those aspects of God spoken of in the previous section. Rather, they leave feeling worse about themselves, worse about God and worse about His Word. We believe that messages need to be positive in their impact. They need to produce encouragement, love , joy, peace, and other fruit of the Spirit rather than the emotions of guilt, fear, anxiety, and worry. We seek to structure our messages in such a way as to contribute to the producing of the fruit of the Spirit.
We desire the Bible Studies at this ministry to be practical in nature, clearly spoken and yet deep in their impact. Therefore, we believe that the Bible Studies must move through a series of filters in order to be successful.
Filter of Need. Does it meet a need in the lives of the participants? Are we speaking to where the people are?
Filter of God's Word. Is there a passage which has been exciting to the facilitator? Is there a passage which has not only been exciting to the facilitator but also focuses on the needs of the congregation?
Filter of Personal Experience. Has God taught this message to the facilitator personally or has s/he simply heard this spoken? Are there personal experiences that the facilitator can relate as s/he seeks to illustrate this Bible Study for the participants?
Filter of Competence. Is the facilitator able to make this Bible Study simple enough yet profound in its impact? Is the facilitator able to make the message deep and yet not technical?
Filter of Time. Is this the right time for this Bible Study in the lives of the participants? Does this Bible Study need to come after another series better lays a foundation?
Filter of Incubation. Has this Bible Study just been born? Has the facilitator had enough time to meditate upon its implications so these implications can be discovered by the participants during the Bible Study rather than merely presented by the facilitator.
Additional Considerations
1. Think back to Bible Studies you've experienced. Which one of the above was most often missing?
2. Take each one of the above filters at a time and imagine that it were not applied to a given Bible Study. What would be missing in each case?
We believe that whether it be in a service or home Bible Study, people learn best by using Discovery Learning. That which we discover for ourselves we remember and retain much longer than that which is simply told to us.
Therefore, most of the classes and many of the messages have been structured around an approach that enables the students to discover the desired truths for themselves, rather than having those truths presented in merely a lecture format,
For such teaching to be most complete there needs to be four aspects to each lesson presented. As taken from Dr. Larry Richards book Creative Bible Teaching those four aspects are:
Hook. This is the beginning of the lesson that captures the students' attention. This section answers the question "Why should I listen to this lesson?" Involving the student at this level is crucial.
Book. This is the communication of the basic information of the lesson. What does the Bible say about the subject under consideration? What is in that passage of Scripture? Here the teacher needs to strive to find an alternative to lecture in helping the students discover the content.
Look. Here we begin to ask the question "What principles do I see that apply to my life?" Often as we hear others share what principles they see, we find ourselves growing in our appreciation of the practical applications of a given passage of Scripture. It's important that the teacher allows the students to make these applications for themselves through discussion of the passage or topic.
Took. "What am I going to do about it?" is the final question as I seek to take what I have learned and place it within my own life's experiences. Again each student must decide this for themselves.
When any of these four sections are missing in a lesson, the students go away realizing something has been missed. The skill of learning how to teach creatively and meaningful is an ongoing process that we continue to pursue.
Additional Considerations
Take each of the above components one at a time and imagine them gone from a teaching time. What would the students leave without as you removed one of the above sections?
In spite of the fact that we desire to motivate through a grace oriented philosophy and that this ministry is primarily a volunteer organization; we believe that God's Word teaches that we must lovingly hold each other accountable in the lifestyle to which we have been called. Galatians 6:1 rules out simply standing by with a comment "Well it's his life. He can do with it whatever he wants."
We believe that one reason God has placed us together is so that we can monitor, encourage and lovingly reprove one another in order that we might continue to grow. Each of us has blind spots that can be clearly seen as we associate with others in the body and as they reflect to us what they see. Hebrews 3:13 must be taken seriously when it says, "But encourage one another day after day as long as it is till called today, lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."
In spite of God's grace, our God is NOT a permissive God. He exercises discipline -- not in anger, but in love to chart us in the proper direction. God desires the same discipline in His body, the church.
Additional Considerations
Looking at the following verses, seek to discover the various times God called upon the church to exercise that discipline just mentioned: