In 1997 Luaine and I attended the Billy Graham School of Evangelism in San Jose, California. among the great speakers was E.V. Hill, pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Los Angeles.
He said that all too often today churches are bowing to the world’s expectations of what a successful church is. Many are entertaining, put on great shows, preach feel good sermons, and are attracting crowds, but they are not making disciples of Christ.
Does Christ have standards for His Church? Does He have standards for our church? Of course the answer is “yes.” Let’s think about Christ’s minimum standards for our church.
Who is the head of our church? Is it the pastor, the deacons, the church administer? Who is the Boss?
Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." We have to understand that it isn’t the pastor, individual leaders, or deacons, that sets the standards for the church. The church belongs to Jesus.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus told Peter that He, Jesus, would build His church. He said, “…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Christ’s church did not belong to Peter, James, or John, nor does it belong to us.
The church is His. It belongs to Him. He has the authority, the power, and the right to set the standards for our church. This is not your church—it is not my church (in the sense of owning it)—it is Christ’s church!
Jesus was given divine, sovereign ownership and authority by God the Father of the Church, including ours.
There was a time when I was in business when all my employees were left handed. They want to change the way we kept money in the change drawer—pennies to the left instead of the right. I refused because I was the boss.
Jesus is our boss—He sets the standards. We have no choice but to do what He says. This is good for because under His authority we have His power and strength to accomplish His work. And we will accomplish great things.
2 Tim. 3:16. All Scripture is God-breathed (without error) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Every church has a constitution and bylaws. Our business meeting are roughly in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order.
But I hope you understand that our real operation’s manual is the Bible. The Bible sets our course. On a great ship the captain says to the helmsman, “Come right full rudder to course 90o.” The helmsman comes to that setting and never takes his eyes off the compass.]
Jesus sets our course, He gives us our compass and that course is found in the Bible. We are to keep our eyes on it. Among other things we are to tell people about Him. We are to minister to one another. We are to minister to our community. We are to pray. We are to give Him our heart-felt worship.
It is by the Bible that we are corrected, that we are guided, and we are spiritually fed and led. The Bible sets our direction.
It is only in the Bible that we learn that God in Jesus Christ reconciled us to Him. 2 Cor 5:18, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:"
The Bible teaches us that God did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves—make ourselves right with God. The only way is through Jesus Christ.
The Bible makes it absolutely clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Jesus was our substitute, taking our sin guilt upon Himself. (Heb. 9:26; 10:12).
The Bible teaches that “whosoever will” can become a Christian. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will be saved. All it takes is a simple profession of faith.
The Bible is our operating manual. The Bible sheds light on every S.S. quarterly, every devotional book, and every commentary. They are to be evaluated in light of the Bible.
If someone asks you, “What must I do to be saved?” everyone of you should be able to answer. That is the moment, privilege, and opportunity God has provided to you to have the joy of telling someone about Jesus.
That moment when the Holy Spirit has brought the two of you together may be lost forever if you have to tell your friend, “My pastor will tell you.” Your friend will wonder, “Don’t you know how you became a Christian? Can’t you share at least that with me?”
Sometimes church people think that it is the pastor’s job to win people to Jesus. My prayer is that no lost person would ever ask a member of this church how to become a Christian, and be told they don’t know how.
Listen very carefully—it is not my job. It is my responsibility and privilege as a Christian, just as it is yours, no matter who you are, but it is not my job.
But, you may be thinking that you don’t know how. If you knew how to become a Christian, you can tell someone else how. You should also hear how in a Sunday School class, in the pastor’s sermons. And you should know what the Bible says.
Jesus gave us the example. More than anything else Jesus ministered to the lives of people. He told the disciples, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant…for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” (Mark 10:43, 45).
Just look at Jesus’ life. He met people where they were at—He took care of their needs, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Paul told the churches of Galatia “To carry each other’s burdens…” (Gal. 6:2).
If Jesus came to serve rather than to be served, we can not, we must not do any less. Are you a servant in ministry for Jesus?
Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If Jesus makes no distinctions between people, then we can do no less. Everyone is Welcome Here. This is a minimum requirement. The church is for everybody, for every culture, race, ethnicity, economic background.
I don’t know why my skin is white and someone else’s is brown or black. I think it’s because God loves color and diversity. But because someone is black or brown or red or yellow doesn’t make them a better person, or me, being white, a better person.
We don’t really know why the different skin colors and different languages. Some say it happened at the Tower of Babel. That’s not true. The mixing of tongues at the Tower of Babel was a curse from God.
Remember the example of Christ and never elevate yourself over any other person. We are to welcome every person as being loved by God. This includes different skin colors, different languages, educational levels, economic levels, and genders.
I believe God would be very pleased if we would deliberately and intentionally go out of our way to establish relationships with people who are different than us.
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God has clearly stated that He loves everyone, and that everyone is included in His desire to be saved.
If this is true, and the Bible says it is, then the possibility of reaching everyone for Jesus is there. But we restrict ourselves and the growth of our church by looking for new members among people who are just like us.
Not only can everyone be reached for Christ, but God wants us to reach out to everyone. God wants us to be Kingdom Builders. This is a minimum requirement for our church.
Acts 2:42, They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
If a church does not have a good Bible study, it is not meeting God’s minimum requirements. If you do not participate in a good Bible study, you are not meeting God’s minimum requirements for your life.
We have a good S.S. We’re trying to make it better. It won’t be the best until you are a member. The Sunday morning Bible study …
Are the minimum requirements being met in your life?
What Christ requires of His people is simple obedience to His will as found in the Holy Scripture. In obedience you discover meaning for your life, and our church family discovers its purpose for mission and ministry.