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Sermon Thought: "True Spirituality"

Making Changes Without Getting People Steamed

Workin' 5 to 9

Trends Affecting You

People Principles

I John 1:5-10 - 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Two epistles are notable for their tests of the Christian faith - James and I John. James is concerned with the reality of the professor's faith and I John is concerned with the reality of the believer's experience. The key phrase of James is: "Yea, a man may say" while the key phrase in I John is "If we say..."

Profession is easy, but God never judges our experience or spirituality by our profession alone. How is true spirituality measured? I John lists six tests that judges true spirituality.

1. Do we have fellowship with God? "If we say we have fellowship with him..." (I John 1:16) This test of spirituality asks where do you walk? The "walk" is the daily life. There are only two places a believer can walk - darkness or light. The emphasis is not so much how we walk, but where we walk. Notice two men: 1) David is in the light in Psalm 51, "Have mercy on me." 2) The Pharisee is in darkness in Luke 18, "I thank thee that I am not as other men." To walk in the light is not to walk sinlessly, but it is to bring the sin instantly to God.
2. Do you walk in the Spirit? "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (I John 1:8) When a person receives the Holy Ghost, he has a new spirit, but still has the old Adamic nature. A Christian should then judge his experience by the Word, not the Word by experience. Victory lies in the fact that a child of God recognizes the fact that he must walk in the Spirit and not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16)
3. Do you claim sinless perfection or do we recognize our sins? "If we say we have not sinned..." (I John 1:10) If a child of God does not recognize his sins, he makes God a liar. How does this happen? Inattention to the Lord. God's grace has made a way of forgiveness and cleansing for confessing children of God, but His Word never permits us to lower the standard as to what sin is.
4. Do we claim a false or wrong knowledge of God? "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar..." (I John 2:4) Knowing about God is different than knowing God. Hearing brings faith, but the ultimate end is to know Him. Those who live outside the known will of God and who say, "I know God" are liars. It is not a sinless obedience, but it is a heart set to live in the known will of God.
5. Do we abide in Christ? "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." (I John 2:6)Abiding in Christ simply means having nothing apart from Him.
6. Do we love our brother? "He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness..." (I John 2:9) It is impossible to walk with God and have hatred for your brother.

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The fiercest battles are seldom fought over theology. More often, they are fought over change; sometimes even the slightest change. I've used a process that has smoothed the way for change.

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Listed are the surprises from a national survey on the work habits of pastors:

1. Who is driving pastors to work hard - Almost half of pastors surveyed said they are working too hard. (Average 55 hours per week) But, this is not primarily because of members' expectations or pressure from a church board. The reasons pastors gave were overwhelmingly self-generated: "I expect too much of myself," "I love what I do so much I don't always know when to stop, " "I find it hard to say 'NO'."
2. Where the time actually goes - Pastors estimated they spent about 14 hours each week in leading meetings and worship services, and doing administrative tasks. Time logs, however, revealed those same pastors actually spent almost 25 hours in such tasks -- nearly double what they estimated.
3. How large church pastors spend time - The only real difference in the way solo pastors and pastors with staff spend their time is this: Senior pastors spend two more hours per week leading meetings and services, while solo pastors spend an extra hour each week in pastoral care. Pastoring is pastoring, and the way time is spent shifts little based on church size.
4. How pastors learn to manage time - Most pastors have to learn "how to work smart" through painful trial and error. More than half of pastors have never had any training in time management. A third don't use time management tools.
5. How pastors feel about their work - An overwhelming 91 percent of pastors feel satisfied with the kind of work they do.

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Do you feel that ministry is harder today? Listed are seven major trends that converged during the last third of the twentieth century. These changes have complicated the role and broadened the responsibilities of the pastor.

1. Churchgoers who were satisfied with average quality and limited choices began to disappear.
2. The successor generations came with demands for excellence and attractive choices.
3. The level of competition among congregations to attract and retain new members increased.
4. The ecumenical movement of the 1960's made it relatively easy for people to switch religious traditions.
5. A disproportionate number of the churchgoers born after World War II prefer the large churches that can respond to their demands for quality, choices, and specialized ministries.
6. Congregations who used to send money to hire someone to be engaged in missions now train and support their members to do missions.
7. Many denominational systems have not been able to respond creatively and effectively to the pleas for help for congregational leaders (But, the calls for help are being answered by parachurch organizations, magazines, etc.)

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1. You cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
2. It's a fact of life that people spend the most time doing what they believe will benefit them most.
3. When you realize that people treat you according to how they see themselves rather than how you really are, you are less likely to take personally their behavior toward you.
4. If you're willing to stand apart from the crowd, you're putting yourself in a vulnerable position. Count on some degree of criticism.
5. People withhold their best efforts when they see little or no relationships between what they do and how they are rewarded.
6. The key to relating to others is putting yourself in someone else's place instead of putting them in their place.
7. Confidence is contagious.
8. A leader must be consistent in three areas -
1. People - this bulids security.
2. Principles - this provides direction.
3. Projects - this builds morale.
9. You can get everything in life you want if you help enough people get what they want.
10. Uniformity is not the key to successful teamwork. The glue that holds a team together is unity of purpose.
11. Show me a person who sees himself negatively and I will show you a person who sees others in a negative way.
12. A leader with confidence is a leader who brings about positive change in people.

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