« A Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving-Luke 17:11-19 | Home | Daily Devotional of 1 Peter »
Urban Legends: The Myth of the Lone Ranger Christian - Ephesians 4:1-16
By Steve Jeantet | June 12, 2008
Opening
- March of the Penguins – DVD Ch 4, 18:18-20:30
- Penguins on a march – a journey to the breeding grounds
- 2 scenes – 1 of penguin on journey alone, other of penguins on journey together
- Solo penguin
- “And for those who began their march too late, or have fallen behind due to weakness or hunger – the hope of survival is now remote. The lone penguin has no chance against the winter’s cold. He will simply fade away, absorbed by the great whiteness all around him.†- Narrator
- penguins who try to make journey alone won’t make i
- the howling winter winds and the bitter cold temperatures swallow up the lone penguin
- Penguins in group
- The penguins “only defense against the freezing cold is to group together. It is almost as if they create another organism altogether.†– Narrator
- they can survive the harsh conditions of the journey together
Transition
- Very few of the penguins who make journey alone will ever make it to the destination
- Brings us to our urban legend today: the myth of the lone ranger Christian
Intro to the Myth of the Lone Ranger Christian
- Particular relevance for us today: we live in culture that exalts and worships individualism
- If you need someone’s help, it’s because you are weak
- If you can’t do it on your own, it’s because you aren’t good enough
- Free market capitalism – pursue your dream
- You can do it on your own – don’t need anybody’s help – attain all there is to attain
- That attitude of individualism, of doing it on our own, has infiltrated our Christianity
- We try and live the Christian life on our own
- Sure, we may show up for this hour on Sunday mornings, but for the real meat of the Christian life, it’s just you, by yourself, on your own
- - when life gets really hard, you have to suck it up and get through it
- - if there is a particular sin that imprisoned you, you just have to try harder
- - when you are really hurting, you put on a mask to hide the pain because you are sure that you will be rejected by these “better Christians†around you if they know your struggles, your hurts, your pain
- That individualism and its resulting isolation have penetrated deep into our Christianity
- The result is, that like those penguins on their own, few Christians who even try to make the journey by themselves ever reach the finish line
- That is the myth of the lone ranger Christian
- Not created to be lone ranger Christian
- The lone ranger – the hero of the wild west
- - traveling the countryside protecting the people
- - yeah, he had a sidekick – Tonto – but even his sidekick highlights the fact that he was really alone – Tonto is the Spanish word for “idiotâ€
- - he was a hero on his own – and the role model of how we live as Christians
- In contrast, we were created to live the Christian life together
- “it is almost as if they create another organism altogetherâ€
- that is exactly how the Bible describes Christians
- to fight the pain and heartache and hurt in life, we come together
- we come together to form a new organism – the body of Christ – the Church
Scripture
- Eph 4:1-16
- Pause after 1st sentence – “live a life worthy of the calling you have receivedâ€
- Should perk up our ears that the message to follow is important
- Pray for illumation
Proposition
- What is that life worthy of the calling: living together as the church
- To live a life worthy of the calling you have received, you must love the church
Transition
- 3 ways we have been called to love the church
We love the church by seeking its unity
- Listen to emphasis on one
- - “one body and one Spiritâ€
- - “one hopeâ€
- - “one Lordâ€
- - “one faithâ€
- - “one baptismâ€
- - “one God and Father of all
- the unity of the church should be a driving passion
- because we serve one Lord and have one hope, we should be one
- Divisions are not supposed to occur in the Body of Christ
- - “United†in name of denomination means it is a split off someone else
- - split, divided from some other church
- - working apart from one another, not together, seeking its unity
- Division occurs in a single local congregation
- - be completely humble and gentle
- o few things divide people like pride or harshness
- - be patient
- o short tempers create animosity
- - bearing with one another in love
- o We keep telling ourselves we will never commit that sin again
- • But we do again and again and again
- • When what we need it to confess it to someone who will listen to us and love us – who will take us to the Father for forgiveness
- • James 5:16 – confess your sins one to another
- o We hide our hurts behind masks
- • We show up on Sunday like it is Halloween
- o Why? Because we are afraid that no one will love us
- John 17:20-23 – Jesus’ prayer right before arrest – prays for unity of the church
- We are to love the church by seeking its unity in humility and gentleness, in patience, and as we bear with one another in love.
We love the church by serving it
- “for works of serviceâ€
- All gifts are not for personal benefit, but for the sake of the Church!
- They weren’t intended for you, but for you to use in service to the Church
- Those gifts and abilities were given to you, but not for you
- Romans 12 says we are “members of one anotherâ€
- Church is not one hour on Sunday morning – sneak in and sneak out and say you went to church on Sunday
- This one hour is where the church gathers for corporate worship, but it is not church
- We are the Body of Christ all week long – and we are to being using our gifts to serve it
- 2 things need to be highlighted about spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:14-26)
- 1st, we depend on each other’s gifts
- without your gifts we would be incomplete
- eye can’t say to hand “I don’t need you†nor “head to feetâ€
- body of Christ needs all the gifts to serve
- 2nd, some of you feel your gifts are less important, less desirable
- I am up-front – my gifts are out there to be seen
- Maybe you wish you could speak like Byron or play guitar like Bruce
- Why are your gifts so insignificant
- some of you feel like a pinky toe in the body of Christ
- but what happens if you get rid of your pinky toe?
- You lose balance when you walk
- If that’s you, I want to honor you this morning – we, the body of Christ, need you
- Thank you for being the pinky toe b/c without you we couldn’t walk
- Pray that you would take whatever your gift is and find a way to serve the body of Christ with it that through your service you would love the church
We love the church by seeking its maturity
- “so that the body of Christ may be built up…in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christâ€
- Not infants – but growing up
- Infants believe whatever it told to them
- As a result, they are vulnerable to the cunning & craftiness of deceitful scheming
- We are not to stay as infants, we are to grow up
- Eric commenting on Hannah at first birthday – how much she has grown in past year
- Is that something that can be said about our church, about us?
- Can we look back on the journey as see how far we have come?
- Even our works of service should be for the purpose of maturity the body
- We have the job of helping the church grow up “in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of Godâ€
- That’s why our children’s’ workers are so important – those of you who work in the nursery or with the preschoolers or children’s church – you are helping grow those children “in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of Godâ€
Draw it together
- The church is not an hour on Sunday morning – we are the church, the Body of Christ
- We have been called to love the Church by seeking its unity
- To be one, not divided
- We have been called to love the Church by serving it
- To use our gifts in service
- We have been called to love the Church by seeking its maturity
- Not staying as infants, but growing in maturity
Speak to the heart
- Jesus descended from the glory of heaven to earth to die on our behalf
- Here is why this is so important
- Jesus did not die to save a bunch of individuals, but to make for himself a people
- A people with whom he will spend eternity
- Rev 21:3 – “Then the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God.â€
- We hold to the one hope that one day we will together stand in the presence of God and he will dwell with us forever. Let us pursue that one hope together, as the Church.
Pray
Topics: Ephesians |