Allen Jackson - Into The World - Part 1
I began in a previous session, a study that I want to continue with you for a bit on the «Tabernacle, Temple, Synagogues & Churches». If you are just a casual reader of the Bible, I think those would all be familiar to you when God delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. There was a tremendous challenge in front of the people. They’ve been slaves for hundreds of years, and although God had delivered them, they didn’t understand how to be an autonomous group of people. They were en route to a territory, a land that God had promised them, but before they could occupy that land and flourish, they had to learn how to become a community, a group of people. That’s what the books are largely, the books of Moses are.
You know, those first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, that most exciting read. Well, you know, once we get to Exodus and that great deliverance, the balance of those books are really taking a group of slaves, a mixed multitude, the Bible refers to them as, and helping them become a group of people. And one of the first things that God directed Moses to give to the people, were the instructions for building the tabernacle. They were still a mobile itinerant to people. They didn’t need a fixed structure, so they, God gave them a plan for a rather elaborate tent as a center of worship. Because it became very clear that his purpose was to build culture in the midst of his people.
What does it mean to be the people of God? And it wasn’t arbitrary, it wasn’t whimsical, it wasn’t random, it was very orderly, even where they would camp and how they would position themselves, and I mean, down to their personal hygiene. All of that was connected to their community and their relationship with God. There was no separation of sacred and secular. And when they finally occupied the promised land and the monarchy emerged, they were given permission to build a temple, a permanent structure in Jerusalem, and God said, «My presence will dwell there in the midst of my people».
And the temple occupied that place in the hearts of the people for many, many centuries. It was their national bank, it was the center of national power, it was the center of national pride. It was the most remarkable building in the midst of the nation, the temple. In fact, you could tell the spiritual condition of the people by the care they gave to the temple. When the temple was in disrepair, they had drifted a long way away from God. When the temple was well maintained, God was more at the center of their behavior again; their culture was being shaped by their relationship with God. It’s a bit of an aside, but I think I could make that argument about our nation. You visit our cities, there were times and seasons in our nation’s history, where the most beautiful buildings in our cities were the churches. Not so much these days. I mean there’s some exceptions, but not so much. In fact, the sentiment really isn’t there.
Most beautiful, the largest, most elaborate buildings in our communities these days tend to be sports arenas. Then the synagogue came along, somewhere, the temple hadn’t been destroyed yet, but there was certainly a transition. The synagogue was a place where if you had ten Jewish men, you could convene a center of learning to read the scripture, to learn together, and the synagogue became a center of culture building; far more distributed than the tabernacle or the temple. And then the New Testament equivalent of that was the church. And I would submit to you that churches are intended to be for the purpose, not just of personal salvation but of transforming culture.
In the same way that the tabernacle was, the temple was, the synagogue was, so was the church. We have transformed them, I believe, against the council of scripture into personal salvation centers, but we’ve kind of disinvested ourselves from cultural impact. In fact, we’re not even sure it’s appropriate to talk about it anymore. And I would submit to you that if the church does not engage our culture, we will lose our freedom. I understand why we are reluctant, but I’m telling you we are at a tipping point. We cannot imagine that political leaders can institute change and make us a more godly people. That has to come from the people of faith. We can choose leaders that may govern by a more biblically oriented worldview and they can make decisions that would reflect that, but for that to be sustainable, it requires transformation at the level of the hearts of the people of faith.
We have to understand our assignment to engage culture. Right now it would be wonderful if the church would just say, «We remember that rule where God said thou shalt not steal,» because we’re a nation of thieves. When more than 90% of the federal workforce hasn’t been going into the office Monday through Friday to work for years, and we just don’t say anything when we find hundreds of billions of dollars being squandered on the most bizarre things; many of them advocating for a worldview, for a religion, if you will prefer, that is not a biblical worldview. And we’re reluctant to go out? I don’t think that’s good. We just stay quiet and act like we don’t notice. Maybe because we’ve had our snout in the trough. I don’t know, but for whatever reason, we’re going to have to have the courage to say, «Thou shalt not steal has not been suspended».
But this notion of churches as culture builders leads me to this series. I want to take a few sessions. We’ll talk a bit about initially the Church, with a capital C, the broader church, and then I want to talk about our particular community of faith. What the Lord, I believe, has put in front of us and there aren’t so much declarations that we have made about what we decided, but it’s more about what we’ve observed that God has chosen to do through us. For in my life that, that’s been the most fruitful way for me to follow the Lord is try to recognize what he has initiated and say I want to cooperate. So this session we’re going to talk about going into the world.
I believe we are sent ones. I understand the language that we’ve been called out of the world, the ecclesia or those who are called out, and that’s true. We’re called out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, but then having accepted that assignment, our goal is not just our salvation; our goal is to serve the Lord. The goal of the Christian life is to do the will of God, not go to heaven. If you’re not doing the will of God, you should not imagine you will go to heaven. So the objective of our faith is to enable us to do the will of God. I’m not suggesting you’re going to earn heaven. It’s beyond our ability to do so. But the evidence that you have received the new birth, is that you have fully committed yourself to do the will of God. Let’s start with this notion of being sent into the world. It’s kind of a bumpy thing.
Jesus said, «The world has hated me, they’re going to hate you too». Ah, can you believe that? Jesus said, «They have hated me and they’re going to hate hate you because you love me». Well, you would know Jesus loves us too much to send us into a room filled with hate. Come on, hug it out. Well, it’s a good thought. It just doesn’t happen to be biblical. Look at Matthew 10. Jesus said, «I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves». Wow, «I’m sending you out,» what? «Like sheep amongst wolves,» you understand that’s a mismatch? I’m sending you out as lunch meat. You can’t outrun a wolf, you can’t out fight a wolf. If you don’t have a shepherd, you got no shot. If you’re not under the authority of the shepherd, you have no chance; we won’t outthink evil, we won’t outwork evil, we won’t out organize evil. We have to understand there’s a power greater than ourselves and we are dependent upon it.
In Exodus 3, this is the recruitment of Moses at that burning bush. You remember the story, God says, «Now, go. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out. I’m sending you. Oh, I’ve got the power. I’ve got the ability, but I’m sending you». See, I think we have this overwhelming desire to see God change things: change our schools, our universities, our economy, the moral fabric of our culture. We would love to see those things happen, right? I mean that would poll, «Yes»! And then God says, «I agree, and I send pastor. He’s about half crazy, he’ll probably go».
Jeremiah chapter 1, «the Lord said to me,» God’s recruiting Jeremiah, he’s a young man, and then God said to him, «Don’t say, 'I’m only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you». «Ah, you got to go where I tell you and say what I want you to». «No, I’m good, thank you». It’s the next sentence that’s the most troubling. He said, «Don’t be afraid of them». If God’s telling you not to be afraid, what do you know? I’d be frightened, «Don’t be afraid of them,» it’s the next sentence, it’s even worse, «I’m with you and I will rescue you». You don’t need rescued unless you’re in a bad spot. You don’t need rescued from vacation. You don’t need rescued from the winning lottery number. You need rescued from desperate places. «Jeremiah, go, you go where I tell you to go and you say what I tell you to say, and don’t be afraid».
Ezekiel 2, «The people to whom I’m sending you are obstinate and stubborn». Well, I don’t like that a bit. «God, couldn’t you send me to the compliant, receptive people? I invited six people to my small group and eight of them said no». «The people I’m sending you to are obstinate and stubborn». «Well, could I have a different assignment»? Folks, we’ve been sent into the world. We’ve been sent into the setting where they organized the execution of our Lord. In John 20, «Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father who sent me, I send you.'» It’s the consistent message of scripture, we’ve been sent folks. We’ve lost this message. We’ve wanted to wear camouflage. We wanted to sound like our secular culture and blend into our secular culture. We wanted to be undercover operatives. We haven’t wanted to say what God says. Come on now. We’re much better at making friends with the world than telling the truth to the world.
I’ll tell you a little story. For many years, we have a Christmas parade in our community. And we went one year and saw that there were no churches in a Christmas parade. In fact, there was no Jesus in the Christmas parade. There were lots of businesses, and we thought, «Well that’s not really good». And the church was small and we didn’t have a lot of resources, and we thought, «We’ll go to the Christmas parade. We could do that». And so we started and we kind of morphed year after year, and one year we decided we would have Jesus and Mary, and the wise men and some banners, and we were going to represent the boss in the Christmas parade. Well I was going do my part. Years ago I used to train horses a little bit, so we got a little burro, and I trained him for the Christmas parade and Christmas programs so he could help Mary, Mary’s transportation.
So we bought it. In fact, we named the burro Murphy. So at one time, WOC owned Murphy Burro, okay? Okay, I never said we were creative, okay? Well, the Christmas parade started just after noon, and we had church services, so there was a whole crew doing the Christmas parade, and when I got done with church, I was just going to go up and watch. Well, everybody had their roles and their instructions, and I get up for the parade where they’re staging all the people who are going to be in the parade. And there’s wise men and Mary and Joseph and shepherds, but there’s no Murphy. Now they got the truck in the horse trailer, but there’s no Murphy, and I thought, «Oh, well they’ve taken him over to eat some grass or,» and I said, «Where’s Murphy»?
And this godly person looked at me and said, «Oh, he didn’t want to come». Now I can go from zero to 60, and I was at about 120. And I said, «Well, how did you know he didn’t want to come? Did he tell you»? What did he say exactly, «It’s not a good day for me to parade»? And they were very discerning and they didn’t seem to have much more to say. They said, «No, he just didn’t want to come». I said, «Well, give me the truck keys. Let me go talk to Murphy». It’s time for the parade to go, so off the parade goes, and I’m going the opposite direction. And I get to the pasture and lo and behold, Murphy said to me, «I would love to go parading». So back we go. Now the parade, they’re a half a mile gone. And I’m way back here at the starting point, and I think, «No, Mary needs transportation».
So Murphy and I start running down the street. Don’t you wish you could talk to donkeys? And a police officer stopped me. And so we stopped and I said, «Sir, this is Mary’s transportation and he will be very disappointed. He’s trained for weeks. This is his big day. You don’t want to disappoint a donkey». And he said, «No, I don’t». And he waved me through. And we’re running past a whole series of police officers, and they’re all talking into the radios laughing. I’m sure not at me, just at Murphy, but they were laughing. But I’ve never forgotten that, I don’t want to. No, I don’t want to. So here’s my suggestion: be smarter than a donkey. I understand the Lord asks us to do things that we don’t want to do. That’s the nature of this bargain. We weren’t invited just to do, and you know, I hear people give their testimony and they say, «You know, before I was a Christian, I lived this ungodly life and I did all these things. And then I became a Christian and all of my want-tos changed».
Well, bless your heart, because I became a Christ follower and I’ve had to take on those want-tos like one at a time. But I’m still working on the wrong want-tos. Because the one that has to be transcendent in my heart is, «I want to please the Lord». And I don’t want to do anything that is displeasing to him. And I came with an announcement. God has sent us to this generation to be salt and light. And you can say I don’t want to, but you’ll miss the parade. Please don’t do that. I think we’ve been given an incomplete gospel. I believe somehow, whether it’s actually been said or not, or we just absorbed it, or maybe I’ve imagined it, that we’ve created this kind of non-biblical position that I can recite a prayer and jump through a hoop or two, and then I can continue my life on my terms. And I don’t understand that to be scriptural. We’ve been sent into the world, you’ve been sent to a marketplace. We’ve been sent to schools, we’ve been sent to neighborhoods, we’ve been sent to families. Starts at our kitchen table, as we so frequently say. We’ve been sent.
You say, «Well, that’s not easy,» I know, so did the Lord. That’s why he said you don’t have to be afraid. That’s why he said, «My peace I give to you». That’s why he said, «Greater is the Spirit that’s in you, than the spirit that’s in the world». That’s why he said, «Rejoice when they say all manner of evil against you because of me. Because great is your reward in heaven». We thought, «I don’t want to be labeled. I’m not saying anything. I’m not talking about gender issues, they’ll label me with something».
We’ve been sent, we have an assignment to build our culture, and from a biblical perspective with a biblical worldview. If our culture is becoming increasingly ungodly, it’s not become some demonic horde or the end of the age, it’s because of the capitulation of the people of God. We’ve been sent. We really have, there’s a pattern to this I think, and it’s really a personal one. It was throughout the biblical narrative and it still is today. We started with Moses, we’ll go back there to Exodus 3. When he has this burning bush event and he goes over to look, God calls to him from within the bush, and he says, «Moses». I don’t know, the bush that was burning is what captured Moses’s attention, but when the burning bush knew his name, Moses came out of his shoes.
You see, we have chased the spectacle of faith: we’ve chased experiences, or the right group, or somebody whose presentation was somehow engaging enough for us, but we really never imagined it’s personal enough to get us out of our shoes. We just wanted to be spectators, «Wow, look at that fire. We’re looking for a fire. Where’s there a revival? Where’s God now»? God wants us out of our shoes. «Moses,» he said, «This is personal». I could have brought you a dozen examples. I know, because I had a dozen in my notes and they wouldn’t fit on your outline. In Luke chapter 1, it says, «In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, to a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary».
That is not a random set of stuff. God didn’t say to Gabriel, «Just go find somebody. Send out a group text and see if anybody will hit you back. Post something on TikTok and see how many likes you get». He said, «No, Gabriel, in the land of Israel, tucked away in the hills in the north, in the hills of Galilee, there’s a little village. It’s a tiny place, maybe 1,500 people, not much water. There’s a young woman there, she’s kept herself. Her name is Mary and this is the message for her». I don’t believe God’s assignment for you or for me is any less specific. I’m going to ask you to believe that God knows your name. He knows your name. The Bible tells us he knows how many hairs are on our head. He knows when we sit or we stand, when we come in or when we go out.
See, we haven’t lived with this awareness. We’re saved, what else do we have to think about? This is personal; Jesus developed people and he’s still doing that. It wasn’t just a first century phenomenon. It’s a very specific posture that he invited them to. In Matthew 4, Jesus is beginning his public ministry. This is really the beginning of his assignment. Up until this, its just in preparatory.
And in Matthew 4, he begins and he says to some fishermen, busy guys, they own a business. This isn’t their day off. They’re not, you know, knocking down a few beers with their friends and catching some fish. They’re at work and he says, «follow me; leave your business, bust up your economic model, change your habits, follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men». And the most bizarre part to me isn’t the invitation, it was their response. Well, I believe this invitation to be a Christ follower is just as disruptive in the 21st century as it was in the first. May not require you to leave your place of employment, but it will require you to leave your business because your life is no longer about just your business. You’ve been sent into the world.
And I want to pray for God’s boldness, let’s pray:
Lord, I thank you that you’ve called us to this season and that you’ve given us everything we need to stand on your behalf. Now give us the wisdom and the courage, the determination to be your advocates wherever you send us, in Jesus’s name, amen.