Called to equip

Everywhere we turn, there is someone telling us what a "good Christian" must not do. But what does the Bible say about what a Christian--what a follower of Jesus MUST DO? And what happens when the members of the body fail to fulfill this duty? What is your church's responsibility? What is your pastor's responsibility? And what are YOU going to do about it?  Pastor Nicole shares from Ephesians 4:11-16.

Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.

Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's the role of a disciple of Jesus? And what is the role of the pastor? Those are questions Pastor Nicole explores in her message today. I'm Pastor Jason Barnett, and this is the Dirt Pastor of My Podcast.

SPEAKER_05 1:00

Maybe do some grocery shopping. And this past week, we might have had one such evening out. We decided we wanted to figure out what to do for dinner for the rest of the week. And as we were kind of perusing the meat aisle, Jason's pushing the cart, and all of a sudden, the cart just stops. We're looking at the wheels and we're just like, what the heck is going on here? This cart's not moving. Well, Jason kind of wiggles the cart a little bit and he's here just slightly and gets the cart moving again. And as he moves past, I see what the problem was. It was a stinking rock in the middle of the aisle. Now, when I say rock, I'm being very generous. The thing was more like a pebble. If that, I mean, Hawaii has grains of sand on a paper. But, you know, so Jason and I kind of laughed at each other because Walmart carts are just so pathetic that I can't even wheel over the stinking grain of sand. But as I got to thinking about it, I realized unfortunately the church is very much like that cart. Ephesians 4, starting at verse 11, says, and he gave himself, or he himself gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. That is to build up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. A mature person attaining to the measure of Christ's full stature. So we are no longer to be children tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind, or by every wind of teaching, by trickery of people who proudly carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who was the head. From him, the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting look of it. As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love. This is the word of God for the people of God. Now, what in the world does this passage have to do with Walmart shopping cards? I can kind of see it in your faces. You're trying to make that connection. Bear with me. But if we walk back in chapter 4 of Ephesians, we will find verse 7. And it tells us, but to each one of us was given according, or grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. In other words, each one of us has been given a gift that God intends to use. And he intends to use it, not for our own gratification, but to build up the body of Christ. It isn't just the pastors. It isn't just your Sunday school teachers. It isn't just your board members. No, it's every single one of us. And God will provide the grace necessary for each and every one of us to utilize his gifts for the edification of the body. But in order to use these gifts, we have to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the gift. We have to be willing to commit. We have to put our own wants and needs aside for the benefits of someone else. But we're too busy. We have enough on our place. What if I don't want to commit? What if I don't want to put myself aside? I like my life just the way it is. I don't want to change it. And I know that answering God's call means that I have to change something, and that's just too difficult. No, I'm happy just coming to church once a week, sitting in the pew, warming up for a little while, and going about my business. Changing nothing. It's a lot easier to just sit and be a cute warm. The burden of change is easy to leave at the altar. You hear a sermon, you feel committed, and you come to the altar, and you're like, okay, I'm good now. And then you sweep it now. I went to the altar, I'm good. And that's if we actually go to the altar. But we don't want the extra work that comes along with that conviction. We don't want to change. We don't want to have to do anything beyond attending church once a week. And the reason why is because we haven't really left our old lives behind.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Okay, time for a kid.

SPEAKER_03 7:28

We must have attended church for 30 years.

SPEAKER_05 7:33

If that old life that we live Monday through Saturday, it's still there. We don't want to leave it. But Paul addresses this too. Later on in chapter 4, he says, So I say and insist in the Lord that you no longer live as the Gentiles do. In the futility of their thinking, they are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. Paul is cautioning the Ephesians church, the Ephesian church, to not live as they once had. To leave that old life behind. Elsewhere it says, I render the old man dead. Leaving that life behind is essential. Following Christ. We cannot maintain the self-focused attitude that we once had. Paul cautions us to not let the hardness of our hearts prevent us from fulfilling what God is commanding us to do. And what is God commanding? What is commanded that every believer? If you flip back to the Gospel of Matthew, the very words of Jesus, he says, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. God's command directly to his disciples is to go and make disciples. Jesus didn't call together a bunch of people that, you know, were called to be pastors and saying, okay, well, this is your job, but the rest of the church can just go and do their thing and be the people who are on this, or back then they didn't even have to, they just stood for six hours. How would you guys like that? He didn't say that this was only the job of the pastors. No, he told every single one of his disciples, every single one of his followers, go and make disciples. And what that means, what that implies, is that those disciples would go and make more disciples. And then those disciples would go and make more disciples. And then they would make more disciples. And they would just snowball. As each new generation of disciples would go and make another disciple, and another, and another. The church will grow, and the cause of Christ would advance. But I want to put something out to you. Like hold the go and make more disciples is not optional. Jesus didn't say, oh, if you want to. If you want to go and make more disciples. No. It was a direct command from their superior. You're in the military and you disobey a superior officer, you're gonna get court-martialed. I don't care. But this is the great commission. This is a great command to go and make more disciples. Therefore, making disciples is not optional for a follower of Jesus. In fact, I would argue the coming into church on a Sunday morning and being content to just warm up you, but then going back and living your daily life the same way you always did, not making disciples, not further into the kingdom, is not only not public fault, it is direct disobedience. But that is we don't want to buy into that. Because it means that we have to take responsibility. I can't tell you how many times Jason and I have gotten blame because somebody didn't come to church after the first time visiting. Or how many times we've gotten pulled away to talk on the phone to somebody because one of the friends attended our church and was like, well, you need to talk to them, pastors, because you're the pastor, you're the one who needs to do the discipleship, you're the one who needs to invite them to church, you're the one who needs to make sure that the church people stay happy and don't leave. But then the church people themselves are content to just watch everybody walk away. Or not take responsibility. They don't want to invite their friends. Personally, no. They want pastor calling. They don't want to call the guests that showed up and gave them their phone number. No, they give the phone number to the pastor and say, hey, Pastor Coleman. Discipleship's the same way. Hey, Pastor, you need to find somebody to teach BBS. Hey, hey, Pastor, we need a children's church worker. Hey, Pastor. We should start. Another Bible said, hey, Pastor. Pastor, Pastor, Pastor, you need to do all this stuff.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

Hey, I have news for you. If you're feeling the burden, maybe God's telling you to do it.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

Your pastor's job is not to do the to work for you. His job is to equip you.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

Your pastor's job isn't to run everything in the church. Her job is to help you do it. You're not a scholar.

unknown 14:32

You're not a scholar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:35

Ephesians 4 tells us the work of a pastor, the work of an apostle, the work of a prophet, the work of a teacher is to equip the saints. The work of a master. Not to do it themselves.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

I think it's going to be a good thing. This isn't my job, it's your pastors. Yeah, those are quack, quack!

SPEAKER_05 15:02

It's too equipment.

SPEAKER_04 15:06

So like you said, we'll build up a lot of price. Our job is not to school feed you the gospel and send you on the black. That's what you want. You hire from me, right?

SPEAKER_05 15:23

But whatever you go around me, you get a government showing your pastor's job is to equip you and send you out. To make disciples and build up the body. Because otherwise, why are you even here? If not to be equipped to build up the kingdom, why are you here?

SPEAKER_04 15:52

I've seen that in Minecraft. And I haven't seen it.

SPEAKER_05 15:57

You know, I grew up in a church where it was expected that you were at church every Sunday. But you know what? That's not the case that we're in 2022 when no one cares if you're at church.

unknown 16:06

I don't want to disgust me.

SPEAKER_05 16:08

No one cares if you're getting up nine to five to get up to church at 10:30. Your neighbors don't care. They're not sitting out, looking at their blinds, judging you whether you're judging whether you're at church or not.

SPEAKER_02 16:22

Your friends don't care. How do them don't go either?

unknown 16:26

Mommy, mommy, shut me.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Your parents might give you a hard time. Grandparents might give you a hard time if you don't go to church, but really you deal with in your day-to-day life cares if you come to church.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

So if you're not here to be equipped, why are you here?

SPEAKER_05 16:57

You know, COVID has become kind of the main reason why a lot of people are are avoiding church. And and it's a legitimate reason, huh? I understand that. But if you're looking for an excuse to not be equipped, COVID's as good an excuse as any. But if you're here on a Sunday morning, Jason and I are expecting to equip you.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

We are going to work on equipping. We're going to be preaching the hard truth. We're not going to be tickling your ears with candy covet sermons.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

And what we say can't and probably will cause offense.

unknown 17:53

Yeah. Do you know how to go?

SPEAKER_04 17:58

But if you're not wanting to be equipped, then maybe this isn't the place for you. Hey, go ahead. Yeah, it's more like some house stats.

SPEAKER_05 18:09

The fact of the matter is, eventually you're just gonna get that and leave. Votate some now. Do something. But if you don't want to be equipped, I'm pretty sure the Volk Force down the road has a country club. This is for the equipping of the saints.

SPEAKER_04 18:33

And I'm telling you right now, as long as Jason and Aaron here, we're gonna be making disciples in this church.

SPEAKER_05 18:42

So the question was, what if I don't want to? What if I don't want to go out and make disciples? What if I don't want to put myself aside? What if I don't want this? So you mean? What if I wanted to add? What if I don't want to do what God commanded?

SPEAKER_02 19:02

What if I would just rather be the lady?

SPEAKER_05 19:08

You know, first Thessalonians, Paul commands the Thessalonian church to abuse those who are adding. Some translations might use the word disorderly or disruptive, but overall the word that's used is to convey a message that the ones who are being idle, disorderly, or disruptive need to get monished or rebuked because they are not allowing the church to function as it was designed. Like that tiny little pebble, the tiny little grave stand in the Walmart idol that held up the grocery part. One idle person within the church, within the body, one disruptive person, one disorderly person.

unknown 19:49

Is everyone over here?

SPEAKER_05 20:07

Not actually in the Bible, unless you're looking at the living Bible, which is really good. But it says it says, Addle hands of the devil's workshop.

unknown 20:18

Heard it before, right?

SPEAKER_05 20:19

Idle hands on the devil's workshop. I can look at it. But it's still true. It may not be actually in the Bible, but it's still true. Because idol hands, because idol hands come from disobedience toward God, disrespect towards others, and disinterest in the lost. Idle churches, you lose interest in the command to make disciples. And the burden for the lost becomes a focus on keeping the members happy instead. The focus is taken on holy living. And instead focuses on comfort. Instead of showing love and respect towards one another, the church starts to murmur.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

The gossip ones are in there.

SPEAKER_05 21:24

Because idle hands prevent the church from being the church.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

And where the church can't be the church.

unknown 21:35

That's where you don't want.

SPEAKER_05 21:43

So Jason and I are not gonna let the shirt be honest. We're not gonna let the shirt remember. If that's what you wanted.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Sorry about the black. Because magnets is time.

SPEAKER_05 22:05

It's time to show that we love Jesus. It's not enough to just call ourselves Christian because we love Jesus and we're the church. And we don't have the answer to that. And what did Jesus say about those who love him? If you love me, you'll be my hands. I don't want our church to be disorderly. I don't want our church to be disruptive. I want our church to flourish and I want it to grow your kingdom. I want it to build up your body.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

That's not just what I want.

unknown 23:23

That's what you want.

SPEAKER_05 23:26

We are your people, God, but if we're not acting apart, if we are not fulfilling your call, then how are we really going to be bad friends? You've commanded us to go and make disciples. You've called people to help equip us to go and make disciples. Don't let us remain content to just be people of God.

SPEAKER_04 24:06

So church, I have a question. Do you love Jesus?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Oh no.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yeah, we love Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 24:19

Do you really love Jesus?

SPEAKER_05 24:26

Do you go and make disciples? Do you really love Jesus? And go and make disciples.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Our theme song is called The Dirt Path, performed by Jeremy Edwards. If you would like to share a word of testing with us for what God's been doing in your life, you can reach us at POBox 215, Greensburg, Kentucky. Zip code 42743. Or you can also find us at www.gbirdnats.com on the Greensburg Church Anatomy Facebook page or the Dirt Path Facebook page.