Mark Driscoll in the sermon excerpt below states that church is a family not a restaurant, and that we should be more concerned with serving others than being served.
In the world, men and women, if they have any sort of relationship, it’s usually going to some sinful place. But in the Bible, you can love your sister. You can love your brother. You can care for one another. You can enjoy one another. You can have fun together. You can serve God together ‘cause you’re family, and it’s a category of relationship that the world knows nothing about, knows nothing about.
And see, everybody, Facebook, Twitter, “I’ve got friends. I’ve got friends. I’ve got friends.” You know what’s better than friends? Family. And God, through Christ, gives family, and God’s the Father of our church family. And Jesus is the big brother in our church family, and we’re brothers and sisters in the church family.
Some of you would say, “Yeah, but you know, Mars Hill’s hard. “I don’t feel like I’m connected. I don’t feel like I’m close. You know, some people here annoyed me, bothered me. We don’t get along.” Welcome to family! Welcome to that’s what a family is! It’s a huge, painful annoying mess! That’s the definition of a family! Actually, everything was awesome until you came and then it all just got very difficult. We’ve all been talking about that. And you know what? Family’s awkward, and family’s hard, and family’s complicated, and family’s trying, but you love the family, you serve the family. You don’t give up on the family, and if you have family, you love them, but church is family, and church is first family, ‘cause this is a family you’re gonna be with forever.
Now, I hope that your whole biological family meets Jesus and is also a part of our spiritual family, but how many of you, truthfully, if you have or were to have children and you’re having to write out your last will and testament, and decide, “Should something happen to me or us, who will get our children?” your first choice is church family. Say, “You know, my biological family, they don’t love Jesus. They’re not gonna read the Bible with them. They don’t understand what they’re doing. Somebody in the church is gonna go on the last will and testament ‘cause you know what matters to me? My kids meeting Jesus.” See, some of you have two families, and some of you, because your biological family loves Jesus, you just got one big extended family in church family.
True Family Members Listen and Obey
But church family’s incredibly important, and here’s what Jesus is saying. Those who are really members of the family, they do two things: listen and obey. They do what they’re supposed to do after hearing what they’re supposed to hear. That’s their activity. So here’s the big idea. If Mars Hill doesn’t feel like home, serve.
You know the difference between a restaurant and a family dinner? You go to a restaurant, you sit down, somebody takes care of everything. And you can even complain about it. “I did not like the mashed potatoes. The gravy was too salty. I would like a comment card.” If you do that to your mother, your father will do something to you. If you go to your mom’s house, your dad’s house, and you just sit down, they’d say, “Hey, what are you doing sitting down? You need to set the table. Hey, get up, set the table. You’re part of the family.” “I would like dessert.” “Oh, really? No.” This is family—you want something out of the fridge, go get it out of the fridge. You need to set the table, hey, when dinner’s done, don’t just leave your plate and walk away. You gotta bring it to the sink, you gotta scrape it out, you gotta clean it. Why? ‘Cause this is a family and in the family you do something.
The difference between a restaurant and a family is whether or not you do something. That’s the difference, and some of you treat Mars Hill as family. You’re like, “You know what? I’m coming early to serve. I’m gonna pick up my trash. I’m gonna tithe. I’m gonna be in a serving group. I’m gonna be in a community group. I’m gonna help some people. This is family. I know it’s a mess. It’s a big, crazy family, but it’s my family, so give me a chore. Give me something to do. Help me be part of the family.” Some of you are like, “I did not like the band. The sermon was very long. It was very hot.” Tell you why it’s hot, right, ‘cause most of our campuses, nobody gives enough money to get air-conditioning, so—
And see what’s different is in a family, if you see a need, you meet it, but in a business, you don’t. You don’t walk into a business and say, “Are there any non-met needs that can I give above and beyond the cost of the meal and sacrifice so that you can get new signage or chairs or maybe, I don’t know, new linens. Because, you know, I want to go above and beyond the cost of the meal because I’m personally invested deeply in this restaurant.” They’d be like, “Call 911, we got a crazy.” But in the church that’s what it is. You walk in, it’s, “Where can I serve? Where am I needed? Where I can give? This is my family. I’m part of the family. Plug me in. Give me something to do. Give me a chore.”
And the truth is this, if you’re not plugged in, if you’re not in a group, if you’re not serving, if you’re not connected, it’s not gonna feel like family, and you’ll be gone in less than a year, because you’ll just stop going to church, or go to another church, or just complain about other churches, or long for the ideal church, rather than just saying, “You know what? It’s family, I’m gonna love it, serve it, make it better, beginning where it’s at.” I want that for you, ‘cause that’s what this guy named Jesus said: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it.” Those who are really the family of God, they’re doing things. They’re picking up chores. They’re owning the mission. He says it elsewhere, where your treasure is, your heart is, so wherever you give your money, that’s ultimately where your passion is going to reside.
So I’ll close with a story of a guy. It’s at the point now, it’s in a grocery store, coffee shop, wherever I go, somebody comes up, “Oh Pastor Mark, let me tell you about my whole life, and I need counseling.” So I was at the— Man, it’s interesting. I don’t even go out anymore. So, you know, I’m at the store and this guy comes, he goes, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to talk to you, and, you know, Mars Hill doesn’t feel like home, and I just don’t feel like I’m connected. I don’t feel like I’m close. I don’t feel like anybody loves me.” I’m like, it could have something to do with this radiating, inviting personality. I said, “Okay, so what do you want?” He said, “Well, I just need somebody to talk to.” I said, “Well, have you been in a community group?” “I don’t really have a community group, and I’m not really plugged in.” Okay, okay, okay. I said, “Look here, rather than being nice, can I be fast? ‘Cause I’m looking for cereal. I’m gonna ask you two questions, number one, what did you give last year? Number two, where have you ever served at Mars Hill?” He said, “Well, you know, that’s kind of between me and the Lord,” which means jack squat. That’s what that means. That’s what that means. “Well, it’s none of your business.” “Well, guess what? I’m taking my cereal and I’m gonna eat it by myself, ‘cause you’re not helping, right?”
And here’s the big idea: where you serve feels like family. In your history, in your life, look back. The people you felt closest to, that you knew the best, that you knew the best, that you were connected to, those relationships that were helpful, and enduring, and endearing. You weren’t a consumer. You weren’t a consumer. You were a servant. You did something with people, and you know what? Here’s what’s amazing, there are some amazingly faithful people that have made this into a vibrant, growing, explosive family. New campuses, new people meeting Jesus, new churches getting planted, new couples getting married, new babies being born, new community groups getting launched, new technology being innovated. Absolutely, unbelievable, how many people are getting how much done.
And here’s what I’d invite you to do: get involved. Get plugged in. See what God’s doing. Don’t waste your life, invest it in God and his people.
(HT: Joshua Harris)
No comments:
Post a Comment