Sheep, Shepherding, And Sanity

August 2, 2020 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: Miscellaneous

Scripture: Acts 20:25–30

Sheep, Shepherding And Sanity

Acts 20:25–30
Sunday, August 2, 2020
Pastor Randy Smith


This sermon may appear offensive. That is not my intention. It may appear angry. That is not true. Things for some may appear insignificant. That is not the case. And a few may feel singled out. That is not deliberate. There is a lot of confusion and I felt this Congregation Meeting Week would be a good time to bring some clarity.

I begin with the foundation. As you just heard from Acts 20, the church belongs to God. Verse 28 calls it, “the church of God.” The cost of the church was quite costly. Verse 28 says God “purchased it with His own blood.” And because the church is so important to God, He cares for the church through men He appoints. Verse 28, in speaking to pastors, “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” And as pastors, it is their divine mandate to care for the church. Verse 28, “to be on guard” for and to “shepherd” the church.

And shepherding the church is not being a CEO, a pincushion for everyone’s complaints or a babysitter. It’s reproving, rebuking, exhorting and teaching with the Word of God according to 2 Timothy 4:2. That means correcting what is wrong and encouraging what is right. It means instruction – saying what God wants His people to hear and perhaps not what they want to hear. Prophets in the Bible are often outcasts, not rock stars. Teaching means enlightening the minds so God’s people might grow in Christ.

Never before in my 25 years in full-time ministry, have I witnessed in the evangelical church with more diversity of opinion, disunity, stubbornness, fear, anxiety, misinformation, personal absence and thought that ignoring the bible is acceptable – some intentionally, some unwittingly.

I believe much of it comes down to an unbiblical understanding as to what is the church.

So, this morning as we prepare for the Lord’s Table, let’s ignore feelings, pre-conceived notions and popular opinion. Let’s look at the Word of God to determine what is a church and how we should be conducting operations in the church. Remember, if I am serious about obeying God, as His appointed overseer (with the other men as well), the only loving and obedient and logical response it to present the truth and the truth is only found in Scripture.

Worldwide, every church is currently forced to deal with unusual and uncertain situations. And nowadays it seems everybody in the churches is talking about what we should be doing. I believe much of the division and confusion results from the fact that most people are not going to the Bible to God’s definition of a church and thus are not fully applying Scripture to reach their conclusions.

Remember, whatever the case, to do what we think is best absent from Scripture is the biblical definition of foolishness.

According to Proverbs the wise individual is cautious, prudent and acts with knowledge, fears God and receives counsel. Whereas the fool ignores God, is arrogant and careless, delights in airing opinions, lacks sense, despises wisdom and instruction, is right in her own eyes, ungracious and abusive and is hasty in his words.

So, let’s be wise and listen to the Word of God.

The word “church” comes from the Greek word in our Bibles, “ekklesia.” It is a compound word. The prefix “ek” means “out of” and the verb “kaleo” means “to call.” So literally we can say the church is the “called out ones.” The church is not the building, but a local assembly of those who profess faith in Christ who have been called out. Called out of darkness into light. Out of the world into God’s kingdom. Out of sin into righteousness.

The church exists to glorify God. We do that individually throughout the week and corporately when we assemble together. And we glorify God by committing ourselves to the marks of the church that He has established in Scripture. Marks such as, preaching the Word, singing, observing baptism and the Lord’s Table, discipling unrepentant members, adding members and church officers, fellowship, prayer, serving one another, discipling believers and reaching the lost.

So now we get practical. If those aspects define the church, have we in the purest biblical sense been doing church? Your answer? I’d say no for the first half of COVID and close to yes for the second half.

Explanation and qualification.

For the first two months we were hit out of left field. We were experimenting with various options, trying to determine the reality of our situation and seeking to follow governmental instructions. We did our best and I regret none of our decisions.

Over the past couple months, we have come much closer to the biblical expectations of church. As of today, we are still not fully there. But just because we are not doing these things corporately, it does not mean you should be ignoring them individually. It simply means you need to think more creatively as to how you reach the lost and how you use your gifts to serve one another and how you will fellowship.

The component of church that has been most absent is simply gathering together. A family is not a church in the biblical sense. If it were, why are thousands of folks in China seeking to gather underground if being with only your family is acceptable. Likewise, watching a sermon on video is not church in the biblical sense. If it were, we’d be wise to shut things down here and simply encourage all of you to tune into your favorite Internet preacher on Sunday morning that is a thousand times better than me. Let me explain before you over-react.

Perhaps the best text in the Bible is Hebrews 10:24-25. “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Three implications from those verses: Being together in person is commanded. It is needed to stir up and encourage love and good deeds among us. And despite this command, some back then had a habit of not meeting with others.

In the book of Acts we see the church gathered together in person. Acts 2:1, “They were all together in one place.” Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together.” To the Corinthian church we read, “In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:4). 11:17 – “you come together.” 11:18 – “when you come together.” 11:20 – “when you meet together.” 14:23 – “if the whole church assembles together.” Acts 2:42, “They were continually devoting themselves [together] to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We can keep going, but you get the point.

God knows we not only proclaim to the world our presence, but we also derive grace that strengthens and encourages us to burn brightly for Jesus. We visibly live out the Gospel for one another through our deeds and words. Christianity is not only a personal or family experience. Don’t miss the biblical component that it is commanded to be a public thing as well – through the visible church that cannot be replicated in any other fashion.

That’s why we have a church covenant that many of you made. Clearly there are elements here that go unfulfilled if we choose not to assemble together.

Having been led, as we believe, by the Holy Spirit, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we do seek, as we are led and aided by the Holy Spirit, to practice the following guide for Christian conduct:

To walk together in Christian love; to strive earnestly for the advancement of His Church in knowledge and holiness; to promote its spiritual success; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel through all nations;

To maintain family and private devotions, to biblically educate our children; to seek the salvation of the lost; to walk cautiously in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our behavior; to avoid all gossip and excessive anger; and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Savior.

To watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the words of our Savior, to secure it without delay;

And when we remove from this place, we will, as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this guide and the principles of God’s Word.

We know coals in a fire burn brightly when they are all in contact. Much of the grace we need to burn brightly for Jesus comes from us being together. And because we should know this and because we should desire fellowship and example and accountability and because we love one another we are made to be together. And we know it is unnatural and unhealthy when we do not get it. And it is even more dangerous when we do not want it.

It might be stretching it a bit, but when we remove ourselves from the fellowship, we are in effect church disciplining ourselves – removing ourselves from the collective safety of the church and handing ourselves over to Satan’s domain.

We see Paul’s heart all over his epistles: Romans 1:11, “For I long to see you.” 2 Timothy 1:4, “Longing to see you…so that I may be filled with joy. 1 Thessalonians 3:6, “That you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you.” Philippians 1:8, “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:1, “My beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.”

What kind of relationship would it beif a man wanted to conduct a life-long romance with a woman through emails, facetime and pre-recorded YouTube videos? What is true love? Wanting to see one another and be together in person.

But what about during a virus pandemic? It kind of changes the togetherness part of it doesn’t it?

But let me ask you. Do these biblical commands no longer matter? What is your answer? Is poor spiritual health less or more dangerous that poor physical health? You answer? If God’s grace for a vibrant spiritual life comes from the local church gatherings are many of us in a position of danger? You answer?

You see, we jump to conclusions, but first we must answer these questions biblically. There are way too many proverbial carts before the horse in most churches.

My position has been clearly presented if you have been listening to the weekly COVID podcasts: Government authority is to be respected. Physical safety is important in all our decisions. If you are sick, stay away. People that are older with underling health concerns probably should stay away. Those who are healthy, but see COVID as a threat, are welcome to follow their conscience. And despite what you heard in the past 20 minutes of preaching this morning, no one is being strong-armed to go against their health convictions.

But even if you have legitimate reason for staying way and you are keeping up with us via the sermons on-line, please understand that you are in a less ideal and potentially dangerous spiritual situation. I am not saying that to discourage you because I know most of you love this church, were very faithful attendees before this and are presently “doing your best.” I am just saying, be suspicious and find additional and creative ways to fellowship, serve and feed your soul.

And for those who are just doing home church apart from health convictions, which could be laziness or reasons that go from here to the moon, please reconsider your decision. What you are doing is not good for you, the example to your spiritual family or support and encouragement to your leaders. I say all this not to discourage you but encourage you that we are seeking shepherd you because we love you and love others here and love the Lord.

And please understand that being a shepherd means leading through the tough times, but the tough times cannot primarily consist of opinions so diverse that none can be honored. Shepherding means leading the flock spiritually, not honoring bizarre convictions and entering health and political debates. And shepherding means making tough decisions, complex decisions. multi-dimensional decisions that must consider angles thatare not often considered or even known by others.

Folks, as leaders, we are so far beyond (just speaking generally), “Those masks are stupid.” “The CDC is the antichrist.” “Look at what church X is doing.” “Are you trying to kill everyone?” “The government is corrupt.” “COVID is a myth.”

In every decision, specifically at this time, there is a Spirit-filled, patient, prayerful, deliberated decision-making process considering the sensitive and often contradictory balance between:

Romans 14:1-4, Honoring personal convictions, but not trying to accommodate everyone’s convictions.

1 Timothy 3:5, Maintaining personal safety, but knowing there are inherent dangers we all take in life – like driving to the church.

Romans 13:1-7, Obeying government authorities, but Acts 5:29 when to disobey government authorities.

John 4:24, Worshipping God through the Bible, but what to do when we can’t fully obey the Bible.

1 Timothy 3:7, Maintaining a cooperative testimony before the word, but knowing we at times the world may hate us.

Hebrews 10:25, Respecting health concern and using technology, but not respecting the fact that we should not forsake assembling together.

Hebrews 13:17, Providing various options, but reminding people the biblical command is to submit to the church leaders.

And 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, maintaining all these principles in love, but acknowledging in humility that we do not have the “only right answer.” If you want an interesting read, check out the differing opinions from Mark Dever and John MacArthur.

 

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