New Members Class - Session 4 - Ministry Philosophy

Introduction

In today’s session we are going to cover the ministry philosophy of MBC. Here is what that means. We believe it is important to be clear about how we do ministry and how we understand the ministry of the local Church on the front end because there are a lot of different views on how to do Church work.  Most Christians have gone to multiple Churches in their lives, and whether they realized it or not those Churches had a way of thinking about and doing ministry that was distinct to them or their denomination. What tends to happen is along the way, without realizing it we pick up different ways of thinking without realizing it. So right on the front end I want to explain our philosophy of ministry which we believe is biblically based. It is not just important that we agree doctrinally but also that we understand the Church, ministry, and the Great Commission in the same way. We also want to talk about this because within our ministry philosophy is also the vision for the Church, what we want to accomplish.  As we walk through this session you will see what the vision for MBC and MBC’s future are.

Equipping–Not Entertaining

Ephesians 4:7-16 is the biblical basis for how a Church should function and grow.

            Ephesians 4:7–16

            [7] But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. [8]     Therefore it says,

            “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,

                        and he gave gifts to men.”

            [9] (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the  lower regions, the earth? [10] He who descended is the one who also ascended far above   all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) [11] And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [12] to equip the saints for the work of     ministry, for building up the body of Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature  of the   fullness of Christ, [14] so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in  deceitful schemes. [15] Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, [16] from whom the whole body, joined and held  together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly,  makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (ESV)

Jesus Supplies What a Church Needs to Grow

In these verses the Apostle Paul lays out a program for how Jesus grows the Church. He begins in verses 7-10 explaining that spiritual gifts come from Christ and in a sense are spoils of war which He won through His death and resurrection. He quotes from Psalm 68 a Psalm of victory to show this. There is a lot of interesting theology in verses 7-10 but for now understand that the main takeaway is that the gifts used to build up Jesus’s Church are given by Jesus. That is to say, what is needed to grow a Church is supplied by Christ Himself. He gifts the members of the Church to grow and build the Church.

The Leaders and Teachers of the Church Equip the Body to Do the Work of the Ministry

Verses 11-12 are really central to how we understand how the Church grows and who does ministry in the local Church. The Apostle Paul lists out various teaching offices and roles and says that those who have been gifted to teach and share the Gospel were given to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

Now we talked about this two weeks ago. Often times Churches in the United States function like a business selling a product. Members and visitors come to Church to receive a product, consume content or experiences, and leave and live their lives. While the pastors and teachers labor in teaching, ministry, serving, and evangelism. This has been the predominant model for doing Church in the United States for the last 30 years.

However, what Ephesians 4:11 shows us, is that this is an unbiblical way to do Church, that does not actually grow the Church in the way God describes Church growth in this passage.

Instead of a business/consumer relationship between the leaders of the Church and the members of the Church the Apostle Paul describes it more in terms of a coach/team relationship. Where the teachers and pastors equip the members to do the work of the ministry in the same way that a coach teaches a team to play the game. The leaders of the Church equip the members of the Church to do ministry. To start ministries, to evangelize, to serve, to meet needs, to disciple one another, and so on.

Think about this practically. If a coach trained a team only for him to play the game alone, they would lose. But if the coach trains the team and then all the players on the team play the game that is a lot different. The same is true for Churches. Imagine if in Churches around the United States it wasn’t just pastors and leaders doing the ministry but every person in every Church a minister of the Gospel. That makes a huge difference.

Here at MBC, we take Paul’s words here seriously. The role of teachers and pastors and leaders is to equip the body to do the work. There are no bystanders and no pew sitters allowed.

The Result of the Saints Being Equipped and Doing the Ministry are Manifold

Now notice the results of the saints being equipped and doing the work of the ministry along with the leaders and teachers. First, it results in unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God. That means unity in the Gospel and in doctrine. This model for Church growth produces unity.

Second, it produces maturity and Christlikeness, we see that at the end of verse 13. Churches whose leaders equip the saints to do the work alongside them grow Churches spiritually. Also notice here that as Paul is talking about the Church growing here he is not talking about size. Numbers are not a bad thing, the bigger we are the more we can do, but numbers are not a reliable measuring stick of Church health, of maturity, of unity, and so on. I can take you to big Churches that are healthy and big Churches that are unhealthy. I can take you to small healthy Churches and small unhealthy Churches. Church size is a neutral marker, the health of the Church is measured against Christ’s stature.

Third, this model for doing Church results in stability. Notice again verse 14. Saints that are equipped by leaders and teachers can withstand false teaching and worldly ideology.  One big problem with a consumeristic model for doing Church is that they are often shallow as a puddle. We have seen a rise in deconstruction amongst Christians, and I have to wonder at what point in this chain of Church health Paul gives us here, was there a break? Churches that do ministry in this way produce Christians who are solid in what they believe and unshaken by false teaching.

The Necessity of Everyone Doing Their Part

If you will look at verse 15-16 here Paul ends by talking about the necessity of every member doing their part. That as each Church member does the work of the ministry the body grows into its head which is Christ Jesus. Central to this is speaking truth in love, which again takes us back to Church discipline. When we all do the work of the ministry and we all speak into one another’s lives, that causes the Church to grow, again not in number but in maturity which often comes with numbers.

This is our biblical basis for how we do ministry and understand the function of the Church in ministry here at MBC. The leaders and teachers equip, we all do the work of the ministry, this causes the Church to grow and become spiritually healthy, a by-product of which is often numerical growth.

Gospel Centered Not Attractional

This is one of the major differences between being a Gospel Centered Church and what is often called an attractional Church. The attractional Church is the official name of the consumeristic ministry model or philosophy that we have been contrasting Ephesians 4 with. The attractional model has historically looked like doing covers of secular music in Church, pop culture sermon series, giving away expensive prizes, riding motorcycles on stage, and a lot more in order to draw or attract unbelievers into the Church. This, however, is not the model for doing Church we find in the New Testament.

In 1 Corinthians 14 the Apostle Paul talks about orderly worship and that everything done in Church is to be done for the building up of the body, which would not include motorcycles on stage or other gimmicks. In that chapter he says this in 1 Corinthians 14:23

            [23] If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? (ESV)

Notice how Paul talks about unbelievers attending the regular gathering of the local Church. If an outside enters. This is the exception not the rule. The Church service is not supposed to be designed for the unbeliever. This might shock you but the regular gathering of the local Church is for believers not unbelievers.

We want to be aware that sometimes an unbeliever might visit, we want to have order, do ministry with excellence, and when using Christian lingo we want to explain what we mean just in case someone who is not a Christian comes in. But we are not catering to unbelievers, the Church is for Christians. Specifically, the Church is for equipping the saints for the work of the ministry.

The thing about the attractional Church is it inverts the Great Commission. Instead of go and make disciples it becomes come and we will make you a disciple once you get here.

The Church is not a hospital for sick people; it is an armory for saints to be equipped to go out and share the Gospel.

The Great Commission Through Personal Evangelism

This leads us to the next key element of our ministry philosophy is the Great Commission through personal evangelism. Hopefully last week as we talked about our ministries you saw that we take the Great Commission seriously, we love missions, and we want to reach our city. And as great as all our ministries and partners are we believe that the primary way that we will reach people with the Gospel here in New York City is through personal evangelism.

You come to Church to be equipped, and you go out to serve, minister, and evangelize the lost.  We put a heavy emphasis on personal evangelism and disciple making. The pastors and leaders of this Church cannot be in your workplace. In your kids’ schools. In your family and friend circles. No one else can reach who you can reach with the Gospel.

We love to partner with ministries and mission efforts and we love hosting different outreaches, but the normative way that our Church reaches people with the Gospel is through each member taking what they are equipped with in this building and going out and reaching people in their spheres of influence. The Great Commission is part of our everyday life and influences how we carry out our vocations.

We want to equip you with doctrine, ministry know how, apologetics, and a support system in our community to help you reach those God has sovereignly placed around you.

Pursuing Church Health

Let’s talk about a final element of our Church’s ministry philosophy and that is pursuing Church health. The New Testament shows us over and over several defining marks or features of a healthy Church.[1]

And we have gone through this membership course we have discussed a few of them. We have talked about Church membership, clarity on the Gospel and conversion, prayer, Church discipline, evangelism, discipleship, sound doctrine, missions, and biblical leadership and polity.[2] Next week we will dive into sound doctrine as we look at our Church’s confessional statement.

Another key sign that a Church is healthy is a commitment to what is called Expository Preaching. Expository preaching is the most biblical form of preaching, and for that reason it has the greatest impact on Church health. It is the best diet of the Word a pastor can feed his flock. Here at MBC we are committed to expository preaching.

Now what is expository preaching? Expository preaching most simply put is preaching that explains the original meaning of passages of Scripture, makes that meaning plain for listeners today to understand, and applies it the Christian life.

Expository preaching is the main form of preaching that we see in the Bible. For instance. Ezra in the book of Nehemiah does it with the Law.

            Nehemiah 8:5–6

            [5] And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the          people, and as he opened it all the people stood. [6] And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground... [8] They  read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the   people understood the reading. (ESV)

Ezra stands up, opens the book reads the book, gives its sense or meaning, so that the people understood. Explaining the meaning and making it clear.

There are other types of preaching that are not inherently bad such as topical preaching, but are often done wrongly and abused and fail to clearly explain what Scripture means. Other types of sermons are fine if done right and if they do not replace the regular diet of the word.

The most helpful form of expository preaching is what is called sequential exposition, this is where a pastor preaches verse by verse through a book of the Bible, which helps listeners understand not just verses and paragraphs but entire books and sections of Scripture.

Expository preaching, membership, discipline, clarity about the Gospel and conversion, sound doctrine, biblical polity and leadership, discipleship, missions and evangelism, and prayer together make Churches healthy. MBC is committed to the health of the local Church by us being committed to these nine essential marks of Church health.

Conclusion

In summary Metropolitan Baptist Church is a Gospel Centered Church that focuses on equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and obedience to the Great Commission and is committed to the health of the local Church by doing all that Scripture commands a local Church to do.

[1] For more see Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church published by Crossway and 9Marks.

[2] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Crossway.