When Rights Become Wrong

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Nearly seven years ago, I took three of our high school students to a

student leadership conference in Texas

-on Sunday morning we attended the services of a new church with

a slightly different approach to ministry and worship

--I explained all of this clearly and logically

---everyone was excited about our little adventure except one

---her comment was something to the effect of: “I want to go

to a church like my church. I like our style of music and

preaching in Chillicothe.”

OK, so the morning started off a little tense

-I held firm...this would be the highlight of the trip, I’d guaranteed it

--before the service even began we had trouble

---the lone dissenter was sitting like this

-I knew I had to say something, I was her leader…I should know

exactly what to say…I’ve been to college and seminary…I’m a

sensitive guy…I know students...I certainly understand women…

this young lady just needed some guidance, some direction…she

simply needed some words of comfort and love

--I turned to her and said the six words that will cause every

teenager to roll their eyes: “Man, you need a new attitude.”

---learned that in seminary…“It’ll work every time” is what

they told me

-I discovered two things that morning: everything I needed to know I

did not learn in kindergarten or seminary...and I learned it is an

excruciatingly long drive from Waco, Texas back to Chillicothe

After a couple of weeks of the silent treatment, the eye-rolling

teenage girl spoke...and her first words were, “I think I understand.”

-“Understand what?”

--she replied, “I think I now understand about that church in

Waco…and what they were trying to do…trying to reach my

generation…and I’ve come to a conclusion.”

--anytime a 16-year-old can come to a conclusion about anything in

life, you’d better pay attention…I figured this was going to be

something really deep, but never in a million years could I have

predicted what came out of her mouth

Let’s put that story on pause for a moment and introduce our topic

It is responsible for more problems than you’ve ever imagined

-it is, to some degree, cause of wars all around the world

-it is, to some extent, responsible for our irresponsible stewardship

of the earth

-it is at the broken heart of a vast majority of marital problems and

divorces

-it is also reason many friendships go south

-this same thing is at the core of many church problems and splits

--it is often the cause of far too many churches fail to reach their

communities and world with the gospel

--therefore it is the reason many Christians don’t live up to their

full potential as disciples of Jesus Christ

What is it?

-it’s a deep, sinful selfishness

--of course, “sinful selfishness” is sorta’ redundant

-in essence all sin is selfishness…choosing my way over God’s way

--and it’s usually a sin we all choose to justify rather than confess

So what was that girl’s her profound conclusion?

-she said, “I’ve realized that it’s not about me.”

--“Huh?”

---thinking I surely misunderstood her, I asked her to repeat

herself…she did

-still not believing what I was hearing, I asked, “What do you mean?”

--this is how she answered: “It’s not about me. Church. You

know, I’ve always thought that church was here for me, but it’s

not. I can see now that I’m here for the church…that it’s all

about God and about the people He loves.”

---truly stunned by her revelation, I said, “If there were a

church with even a handful of people with that same

conviction, God could use that church to change the world.”

Think about that for a moment as you turn to 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

-this is the passage I told her to go home and read [Read]

--you see, that 16-year-old girl was right…it’s not about her…it’s

not about me…and, guess what? It’s not about you, either.

Listen again: He died for all, that those who live should no longer live

for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.

Let’s look at this text a little closer

-notice, first, that the purpose of Christ’s death is to produce a

life-transforming change in us

*Was Christ crucified so that we could continue to live any ol’ way we

please, but with the added benefit of not going to hell?

**Of course not!

-when we trust Him to save us, we find we have a new purpose

for living

--everything about us changes

--look at verse 17 à Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is

a new creation

---not an improved creation…not a creation who attends

church regularly…not a kindler, gentler creation…

---but a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come

Other passages echo this same truth

-1 Corinthians 6:19-20 à ...You are not your own; you were

bought at a price...

-Isaiah 43:1 à ...this is what the Lord says—He who created you,

O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: fear not, for I have

redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.

--Christians are still free, we can still choose to disobey, but

because we have given our lives to the One who gave His for

us, our purpose, our calling is now to do whatever God wants

…to live for Him

Q. And just what, exactly, does it mean to live for Christ?

A. It means to bring honor and glory to Him because we bear the

name “Christian”...and because the word “Christian” means

“belongs to Christ” it means our actions, our speech, our attitudes

are all a reflection of Jesus...back in 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul

tells us we are Christ’s ambassadors—we are His representatives

to a lost and dying world

It means to live like Christ. Period. No excuses. No rationalizing.

Listen to the command believers are given in Philippians 2:3-5 à

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility

consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not

only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your

attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

The attitude of Christ?

-yes, of Jesus, only person in history never to have asked, “What’s

in it for Me?”

How would that, put into practice, transform our church, your career,

your marriage, your relationship with your parents, your friendships?

That’s why this command is so scary and it’s why so few of us ever

take it seriously

-we’ve figured out early on that this is one verse to run from…and

run fast

--problem is that when we do that, we run from God, run from

the purpose He has for our lives…and if we miss this point,

then we miss the point of the Christian life…no kidding

---point of the Christian life isn’t making it to heaven…it’s

becoming more like Christ by living for Christ by living like

Christ and bringing honor to Christ

And we get to the nitty-gritty of obedience…of putting it into practice

-what does all this look like in practice?

-imagine entire church, or even a handful actually moving from

selfishness to genuine selflessness—imagine how this would

revolutionize everything

--seriously, it would transform everything

Think about our church

-we would come to realize that this church doesn’t exist for us, for

our ego, for our social acceptance…but for God’s pleasure

-might experience the freedom that’s found in surrendering control

to God rather than acting as if we must get our way or we’ll just go

across town

-what would happen if we would adopt the attitude expressed in 1

Corinthians 9:22 and become all things to all people that by all

possible means we might save some

--a couple of verses before, Paul communicates his commitment

to sharing the gospel regardless of the personal cost à

Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave

to everyone, to win as many as possible.

-have you ever even considered abandoning everything—your

future, your home, your career, your friends—for the lost?

--most of us aren’t there yet...many of us aren’t even close

---let me ask you two questions to prove that point

1. students—name the last time you intentionally ate lunch with

someone who is not in your closed circle of friends? You do

realize that you don’t have assigned seats...that there’s no

seating chart for lunch?

2. the rest of us—when was the last time we did anything with

someone outside of our closed circle of friends?

I’m not asking if you are ready to sell the house and move to China...

I’m simply asking if you are ready to be mildly uncomfortable in the

commons or to invite your neighbors over to watch the Chief’s game

-where could behavior lead us?

--God only knows (which is my point exactly)

What about worship?

-we would remember that it doesn’t matter whether we are a soloist,

a member of the choir or orchestra, or part of the congregation

because we realize that we sing for, play for, and pray to an

audience of One…and worship is about Him, never about us

--it’s never about our favorite songs, our preferred style of music

-and if we’d dare demand on being in the spotlight then we are on

the wrong end... our job isn’t to stand in the light, but to shine the

light on Christ

All of this is lies at the foundation of stewardship

-it’s what happens when we realize that whatever we have, we don’t

actually have—nothing’s truly ours…everything we have has been

given to us for ministry and to honor God

Can you see how much of our lives is governed by the lie that we

have a right to be happy...that we have a right to demand our own

way...that we have a right to insist the world to revolve around us

-the moment we come to faith in Jesus as Savior and as Lord we

surrender our rights...all of them...and we become a servant

dedicated to Him and to others

--anything short of that is sin

-because we are in Christ, in His Church...our rights are wrong

Be aware that contradicts the prevalent philosophy of the typical 21^st-

century American church that says, “We are here to meet your

needs, to create groups made up of people who are just like you,

and to keep your children entertained. Our gi-normous professional

staff only exists to ensure that you never have to lift a finger around

here, unless of course, lifting your finger would make you happy.”

-1^st-century Christians would never recognize our 21^st-century

churches...but what really concerns me is that it’s entirely

possible that Jesus won’t recognize us either

Will Willimon à To [be] a Christian in a church you have to waste a

lot of time doing stuff that [apparently] has no relevance to you.

He’s right

-he’s right because reality is that for a church to be a church it

means we will serve in the nursery even if we don’t have nursery-

aged children...we will give faithfully even if we know some of our

offering supports ministries that do not benefit us directly...we will

find a place to serve...we will demonstrate love to people who are

not like us...because that’s exactly what Jesus does and that’s

exactly what He calls us to do

In the latest issue of Leadership journal, twenty-somethings were

asked about their relationship to a local church...why they attend

where they do...or why they have chosen not to be involved

-Anne à I’m 22 and I attend the church I do because the pastor

there knows me by name and because people in the congregation

talk to me and actually remember what I said. If I go by myself,

someone will ask me to sit with them. It’s definitely not the most

entertaining church, nor does it have a program specifically for

people my age, but the people there actually care about me.

I showed that to Joe earlier this week and said, “Wouldn’t that be

awesome if that described us? We could be ‘The Church Where No

One Sits Alone.’ We could even expand it to: ‘The Church Where

No One Sits, Stands, Grieves, or Serves Alone.’”

-I immediately started imagining our redesigned church stationery

--but I realized yesterday that it’s not about our stationery and a

catchy slogan

--but instead, wouldn’t it be incredible if we practiced that—really

did it—and that became our reputation

---and people in town referred to us that way instead of FBC

--how cool would be if you were in Hy-Vee and overheard

someone giving directions to their house...“You go down Bryan

Street...go past The Church Where No One Sits Alone...and

we are the fourth house on the right.”

--how incredible would it be if a woman in her early 30’s walked

in by herself...her husband left her a couple of months ago

and she’s trying to rediscover her faith...she slips into a pew

toward the back, nervously glancing around trying to see if she

recognizes a familiar face...when all of a sudden, two teenage

girls ask if it would be OK if they sit with her

---somewhat surprised, she agrees...and they join her,

introduce themselves, and show her the order of worship

----when the service is over, they encourage her to come

back, they introduce her to a half-dozen other people

----one couple invites her to El Toro for lunch...one

woman about her age tells her about a Sunday

School class...and before she even dips that first chip

into the salsa, she has a strange sensation that she

is no longer alone and she wonders how in the world

God could work in her life like that...through these

people she’s just met

I’ll tell you how God could work in her life like that—it’s called the

church—and we are His ambassadors sent to those who are hurting

beyond words...and to those who are dying without Jesus

-but we can only be that kind of church—the real church God

intended—when we stop looking in the mirror...and we see God

face-to-face...and we look into the eyes and the hearts of those

around us who desperately need to see in us the compassion of

Christ