Allen Jackson - Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus - Part 1
We’re walking through a study on the tabernacle, temple, synagogues, and churches. And that really is a, kind of an expanding story. When God delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, the challenge was to take a group of people who’ve been slaves in a foreign country for hundreds of years and to mold them into a united group of people. That’s a very significant challenge. Only God could do that. The Bible describes them as a mixed multitude. You really can’t understand them as the Jewish people prior to that. And to do that, God, that’s what the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy really are centered on is the formation of a nation. And it begins with the internal, with the heart change, with the tabernacle.
And because they’re still a transient people, it’s a tent structure that they can move when the Spirit of God moves them to another place. And for hundreds of years, the tabernacle was the center of the life of the people. It was very much the center of the community that was delivered from Egypt. It was in the center of the camp. And all the locations of the tribes and where they were to be was given to them in relation to the location of the tabernacle. As the monarchy was established, hundreds of years later, they were given permission to build the temple. And the temple became the center of life for the Jewish people. In fact, they were commanded three times a year to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a part of their worship and the main maintenance of their faith and their commitment to the Lord.
That’s a very large commitment, to disrupt your life three times a year and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem because the temple was there. Before we get to the New Testament, a century or two, the synagogue began to emerge. In any community where there were ten Jewish men, you could have a synagogue. The synagogue was different from the temple. It was small. It was distributed, by this point, all over the Roman Empire, and it became a community center. It became a place where the Torah, the scripture was read, the Hebrew Bible was read. It’d became a very important part of the Jewish community. And then the New Testament, the extension of that was the emergence of the church.
Very similar to the synagogue in those communities, but they’re the gatherings of God’s people. So from the beginning of the story, right to the conclusion of the story, the book of Revelation, which is the last book, if you’re not, haven’t noticed, it was written to seven churches. And in fact, it’s in Revelation, it says every church had an angel assigned to them. You should know that churches have angelic oversight. So you really can’t understand the movement of God or the the intent of God to form a people for himself, which is the story of the book, apart from these ways in which God has directed his people to gather. And I’ve taken some time with this series. We talked over the weekend previously about kind of the Church with a capital C. And I want to take a session or two or three and talk a bit more about the church in the context of this community.
Now, I understand it’s not limited just to our campus because there are people who have become a part of this community of faith that reaches beyond our campus, but it has a great deal to do with what God has asked us to do. Every church, I believe every true church is centered under the lordship of Jesus. He said, «I’ll build my church and hell itself won’t prevail against it». So in this session, we’re gonna talk a bit about fully devoted followers because it’s an important part of what God has asked us to do. But I wanna start with just a minute of connection where we left off in the previous session with the essence of leadership because I believe the church is intended to lead. I believe we’re intended to be a leading voice in the culture in which God plants us.
To be salt and light, folks, those are all about influence, differentiating between darkness. Salt has two primary functions. One is to add flavor and the other is to work as a preservative. And if we’re not preservative that causes the culture to be attractive to God, we are failing. And Jesus said, «We’re only going to be thrown out and trampled underfoot». So leadership, I believe, is an assignment of the people of God. Doesn’t mean we’re always in charge or we are the head of the parade, but we are to be an influence.
Well, in Matthew 8 is this remarkable story of a Roman centurion from Capernaum, who’s stationed in Capernaum, and he comes to Jesus for help. He has a servant who needs help. You know the story, we read it in detail in the previous session. And Jesus agrees to go and help him, which is really surprising to me. Jesus has very little interest in any place other than the Jewish communities. He doesn’t go to the larger Roman cities in Israel. There were many beautiful Roman cities in Israel. Jesus avoided them. You don’t find him in Caesarea. You don’t find him in Beit She’an. The one exception, perhaps, is Jerusalem, but that was a city that God chose long before the Romans got there, and the Romans didn’t really like Jerusalem. It was way too religious.
So when Jesus responds to this Roman centurion, it’s apart from the larger narrative of the Gospels. And he said, «My servant is sick,» and Jesus said, «I’ll come and heal him». And this is when it really gets bizarre. The Roman centurion says, «I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof». Now, that is very out of the context because the Roman soldiers are occupying Israel. They’re exacting taxes from the people. They’re abusing the people. It’s the story, typically, of occupying armies. And you certainly would not want your fellow soldiers to see you saying to an itinerant Jewish Rabbi, «I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof,» but the centurion says that. But then what he says is even more intriguing. He said, «I’m a man under authority». And he said, «I recognize authority. I have authority».
He said, «I have authority over servants. I have authority over soldiers. If I give them an order, they will do it». And he says, «I recognize that you have authority». Up until this point in the narrative, about the only time we’ve seen that expressed has been from demons. «I know who you are,» they would say, «Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come here to torment us»? The priests aren’t saying it. The Sadducees aren’t saying it. The Pharisees aren’t saying it. The leaders in the temple aren’t saying it. The synagogue leaders aren’t saying it. But this Roman soldier says, «You have authority. If you will just say the word, my servant will be healed». The disciples haven’t figured this out yet. They still are puzzled. They said, «He speaks to the wind and the waves. It seems like he has authority».
But this Roman centurion has a clarity. We don’t know how he knows this about Jesus. Maybe he’s been on the periphery when he’s heard Jesus teach, or he’s at the back of the crowd when he’s watched miracles. We don’t know, it’s not in the text, we just have no idea. But he says, «If you’ll say the word,» and Jesus is amazed, the New Testament reports that he was astonished. And for all of you that imagine Jesus was only a peacemaker, if he had just been astonished privately, he would have given the man a hug and say, «Good job». But he turned around to the crowd who hate the Roman soldiers, and he said, «I haven’t found faith like this in all of Israel». That is not the way to make friends. And he said, «You can go. Your servant is healed».
So, I would submit to you that the essence of godly leadership is recognizing that you’re under authority. If you’re gonna be a great leader in the kingdom of God, you have to be a great follower. That’s true, and I gave you three key words. And I think these hold true for leadership across almost any context, but I know they’re true within the church and the kingdom of God. They happen to begin with I, but the first is influence. Leadership isn’t about titles, or plaques, or names, or org charts, it’s about influence. And what I would encourage you to imagine is God has given you influence. There are people who care about your opinion, people who look to you. You say, «Well, there aren’t very many». I’m not telling you that you’re an influencer that people want to sponsor. And you may not be happy with your arena of influence, that’s a problem.
See, if we would decide that whatever influence I have has been entrusted to me by Almighty God, it’s a sacred thing, and I’m gonna begin to use it for his kingdom. It may be a secular influence that’s been given to you in a business setting. It may be an influence that comes to you because you have some physical dexterity, you have some physical gifts or abilities, or you have intellectual gifts or abilities. Or perhaps he’s given you, you are an extrovert, and you have the ability to make friends with people in a way that many people don’t. I mean, there are many ways that influence comes to our lives. Often, we’re not even conscious of it. But a beginning prayer is to say, «God, help me to recognize the influence that you’ve entrusted to me».
Because if you haven’t been using it for godliness, I can promise you, why would God expand your influence if you’re not using what you have for the sake of the kingdom of God? And what I find is we’re reluctant, we feel we’re not prepared, which brings me to these next words. The second one is to be intentional with this. If you’re willing to begin to say to the Lord, «Help me recognize the influence,» then the following statement is to, «I wanna be purposeful with this».
See, following God, it can be spontaneous. There have been some spontaneous things God has done in my life. But on far more occasions, it’s been very intentional. And I’ll put a verse in your notes because I want you to understand, Jesus wasn’t just random. He’s with Pilate, and if you put yourself forward as a king, you’ll be crucified because Caesar will brook no challenges. You could do many things and avoid crucifixion, but you cannot set yourself up as a king. And so, Pilate and Jesus are having this dialogue, and Pilate is exasperated and he said, «So, you’re a king»? And Jesus said, «You’re right». He signed his death warrant.
«You’re right in saying I’m a king. For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world». «I started a journey, and I knew I was headed for this place. This isn’t random». Jesus doesn’t say it in this passage, but he said it, the prophets told about it. «Abraham,» way back in the book of Genesis, «longed to see my day,» he said, and he saw it. Jesus’s life is not random. We’re gonna look at several passages before we’re done, I hope, with this session, where he said, you know, «I have to fulfill what the Scriptures say». What would happen if you and I began to, each day, with, «I’m gonna fulfill what God has for me today»? Say, «Well, I don’t know what he has». It’s because we’re not used to looking.
Now, I think in the particular time that we’re walking through, it’s important to recognize that there’s something paradoxical happening. There’s two things happening and they seem to be in opposition to one another. And in reality, they are. And it’s disorienting 'cause you watch it and it’s confusing. We’re watching both an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a move of God, and an increase in wickedness. And you think, «Well, how can that be»? It’s like you’re getting healthier and not at the same time.
Well, I go back to the Gospels. Jesus came, the incarnation, God amongst us in an earth suit walking amongst us, and there was determined resistance and hatred directed towards him from the time of his birth until his crucifixion and beyond. So you have in the Gospels, both the purposes of God in tangible form, and hatred of that in the midst of the covenant people. And as we approach the end of the age, we’re going to see those two things happening simultaneously with a very similar kind of intensity. You’ll have God moving and you will have a vicious, violent hatred of God and his people. That’s a paradox, two ideas together that don’t seem to go together.
Revelation 22, that’s very near the end of the book. It’s a statement, honestly, I wouldn’t expect to find in my Bible, but this is God’s message, «Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy. Behold, I’m coming soon! My reward is with me, and I’ll give to everyone according to what he has done». It seems to me that what the Lord is saying is, «Prior to my return, decide where you are. If you want to be wicked, be really wicked. And if you’re gonna be godly, be godly with everything you have».
We have tolerated kind of a lukewarm, milquetoast, middle-of-the-road, fence-sitting approach to faith for as long as I believe the option is a possibility. I believe it’s time to make a choice. Sitting in church doesn’t make us Christ followers, and we need to decide whom we’re going to serve. We’re watching this on a regular basis, the truth being told in public. I mean, I’m not talking about dramatic things, statements being made like, «There’s only two biological sexes». That’s a biblical issue.
Genesis 1, «God created us male and female». It’s not a political issue. It really is a biblical worldview issue. Or that marriage is between a man and a woman. Again, a biblical issue. And those things are being stated in public, and we hear voices roaring against it, saying, «That shouldn’t be». And some of the voices coming from the churches. And it’s shocking, it’s unsettling, until you step back and go, «Oh, wait a minute, the Scripture told us about this,» so we shouldn’t be shocked. It’s uncomfortable, it can be disorienting. You can lose your equilibrium if you don’t stay grounded in the Word of God and in the community of faith. And I believe the best way to navigate that is simply to take the council in 2 Peter 3, to be alert. He said, «First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires».
So Peter’s writing to believers, he’s writing to Christ followers. He said, «You have to understand this, people will scoff at the notion that God is moving in the earth. They’ll say, 'There’s no ending to this. Time will just always roll on. Where is this „coming“ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, and everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' But,» Peter says, «the day of the Lord will come like a thief». Like a thief, which means you don’t know when it’s coming. The very best you can know from a biblical perspective is the season. You don’t know the day, the time, the week. A thief does not arrive on schedule. Friends come on schedules.
So I’m amazed. I, really, I truthfully am at this point in my life. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve seen, how many seminars I’ve listened to, how many people I’ve heard. They’ve spent their lives trying to tell us when Jesus is coming back. Like, wow. He said, «Nobody knows». And we can know the season. It’s springtime, but you can’t guess the temperature within 20 degrees in Tennessee in the springtime. It’s hard to know what to wear for the afternoon when you leave home in the morning. And that’s with radar and technology and global satellites and… be alert. I would submit to you that our task is to be ready and help others to be ready. It’s not that complicated.
If God’s put you in a neighborhood, it’s to help the people in your neighborhood to be ready. He’s coming back. If he’s given you a place to work, he’s put you in that place to accomplish whatever your assignment is, and to help the people in that place that are interested to be ready. If he’s given you a family, it’s to help your family be ready. So that, what we came to understand somewhere along the journey here was that the best summary statement for the mission for our congregation was that we were here to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus. To help people become more fully devoted followers of Jesus. If you come here and you’re a Christ follower and you wanna know what we’re up to, I will tell you. We wanna help you become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus.
«So, I’ve been a Christ follower for 60 years». Good, we want to help year 61 be the most fully devoted year you’ve ever had. If you don’t know anything about God, we want to help you become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. I don’t want you to be a follower of Allen, or a follower of WOC, I don’t want you to think just like me, that would be very limiting. We want you to learn to follow Jesus in ways you’ve never even imagined you could follow him. That’s the assignment. Now, there’s some things about it that I happen to like. It isn’t competitive. It doesn’t pit us against another congregation. I didn’t say we do it better than anybody else, I just said that’s what we intend to do. You know, one of the dirty little secrets in church worlds is we compete, «We do it better than you do».
You know that’s true if you’ve grown up in church, you’ve been coached on it, «This is what makes us better». It’s not helpful. I’ve shared the idea with you before, I’ll give it to you again. If you and I can disagree on a point and we can still both go to heaven, I will extend a hand of fellowship to you. If there’s a point at which our disagreement would prohibit one of us from entering the kingdom of God, then that has to be resolved. But if it’s not gonna limit us, if it’s not gonna cause us to be disqualified for the kingdom, I’ll stand next to you. I also happen to think that simple mission statement is focused more on practices than it is beliefs.
Now, what you believe matters, but what you do with what you believe is the evidence that you have belief. And empty words are tiresome to me. We’re not simply trying to build the Christian worldview. Yes, we’re trying to do that, but what we really want to develop is a Christian world life. Most of us in the church are educated way beyond our level of obedience. But we’d rather go to another seminar than go practice what we say we believe. Seminars are safer.
The third thing I think that is helpful is it’s really not institutional. The practice of our faith is not centered in a building or on a campus. Yes, there’s a role in that, just as the tabernacle or the temple or the synagogue or the churches. There’s a value in that, and you have to ignore Scripture to say they don’t have any significance, because they do. But our faith is not about a building. And finally, I think that statement is more developmental than it is doctrinal. And again, I think doctrine is important. But your spiritual formation and growth is critical. It is critical.
God is moving in our earth. He’s moving in our nation. And I pray he’s moving in your family. So often, I feel like the apostle Paul when he said, «I only know, I don’t know everything completely. I have a limited viewpoint, but I know that God is moving». I wanna pray for you that you’ll complete the course that God has called you to. Oftentimes we have an incomplete perspective, but the faithfulness of God gives us all we need to know.
Lord, I thank you for the honor of serving you in this most unique season. And I pray for those listening today that they will have the courage and the boldness to say yes to you. May not one person turn back or be turned aside or be distracted, but may we complete our course in Jesus’s name, amen.