CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A SPECTATOR’S SPORT
We are in an attention economy. That means the most valuable commodity is entertainment. We are addicted to entertainment.
I have grave concern that as a parent that my sons will grow up to be addicted to entertainment and dopamine hits rather than builders who plan, take risks, and build things with sustained focus over time.
Crafted 7 Tjaden Virtues and the phrase “Tjaden’s build big things” is one of them.
I met a dad from Florida I’m impressed with who creates a mini-shark tank for all his kids to learn entrepreneurial mindset.
THE FUTURE IS FORGED BY BUILDERS NOT SPECTATORS.
Context of Acts 6.
“Ecclesiology” study of the Church
THE PROBLEM
THE SOLUTION
THE MOTIVATION
01. THE PROBLEM: NOT OPPOSITION BUT OWNERSHIP.
Acts 6:1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. The church is exploding.
Thousands have been coming to Christ. Acts 2 tells us day by day more are coming to faith. They begin to raise up new leaders, delegate tasks, and organize the church.
The Enemy’s First Strategy Against a Movement
Add a spiritual warfare lens to Acts 6.
Up to this point in Acts, Satan has tried three strategies:
Persecution – Acts 4–5
Internal hypocrisy – Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5)
Division – Acts 6
“When the devil can’t stop a movement from the outside, he tries to fracture it from the inside.”→ The first crisis of the early church wasn’t persecution—it was participation. It wasn’t external opposition but a lack of internal ownership!Acts 6:2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
If we lose the Word, we lose the church. Programs don’t build the church. The Word of God does.
Garden 101 excerpt: “Ours is a Bible-forward culture. The power of the Church is found in God’s Word, not personality or programs (Heb. 4:12). Scripture raises the dead, confronts sin, exposes idols, and creates faith (Rom. 1:16; Ezek. 37:1–10). God’s Word shatters strongholds and renews regions (Isa. 55:10–11). We’re on a mission to create a Bible-culture.”
Acts repeatedly says:
“The word of God increased” (Acts 6:7)
“The word of God increased and multiplied” (Acts 12:24)
“The word of the Lord was spreading” (Acts 13:49)“The word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:20)
02. THE SOLUTION: MOVING CONSUMERS TO CONTRIBUTORS.
Acts 6:3–6 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” [5] And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. [6] These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.They pick men with greek names. The significance is because it was hellenistic widows being ignored.
A Hellenist in the New Testament is a Greek-speaking Jew who had adopted aspects of Greek culture. So, the point here is they would be the best candidates to serve these women, speaking their language.What is their role?
“serve tables”
v.2 διακονεῖν (diakonein where we get the word deacon) “to serve, minister”
SIZE REQUIRES SYSTEMS
→ As organizations grow they require more intentional systems.
→ As families grow they require more thoughtful systems.
→ As the early church grew it too required systems and leaders.
Pastors & Elders
→ vision & prayer
→ preaching
→ doctrinal oversight
Deacons (Servant)
→ practical ministry
→ mercy
→ logistical leadership1 Timothy 3 we get qualifications for deacons.
This is why we hold high standards for those who serve and lead here at The Garden. Another thingswe spell out in Garden 101.
Why would they set this system up?
I grew up hearing people say “I don’t believe in organized religion” meaning spirituality should be based on our own personal experience and not under authority, in community, or mapped out organizationally.
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT PHRASE:
→ You want to be part of something bigger than yourself and by definition, anything bigger requires structure and order
EXPANSION ALWAYS DEMANDS ORGANIZATION!
The human body and it’s complexity has order and intricate systems.
The solar system is just that, a system with order and rhythms.
How many of you come from places where they have seasons? Seasons are a function of the systems of our planet.
Rapid early growth Acts 2 – AD 30, Acts 6 – AD 31-33
Acts 2 – 3,000 saved
Acts 4:4 – the church reaches 5,000 men
Acts 5:14 – “more than ever believers were added”
Acts 6:1 –“the disciples were increasing in number”
Craig Keener “If Acts 4:4 refers only to men, the total number of believers could have reached ten thousand or more in Jerusalem.”
THE CHURCH OF ACTS 6 IS AN EXPLOSIVE MOVE OF GOD.
As movements grow and become larger it increases complexity and this leads to chaos. Therefore as movements grow they need more structure. This is true of moves of the Holy Spirit. But this is delicate because what makes movements movements is the wildfire freedom to spread. As these movements grow they require increased systems planning and structure–this was true in the early church
.This tension between spontaneity and structure is one the early church navigated by the leading of the Holy Spirit–and that’s what’s happening here in Acts 6.
This a tension we feel.
323 baptisms. 2 locations. 4 services. 10 staff. Part time staff. Gospel Ambition is a virtue here. The mindset that says “let’s stop reaching people” is unbiblical. Jesus gave us an assignment to make disciples until he returns. The Garden exists to extend the Kingdom of God and play our role in reshaping the generation we’ve arrived in. I want to stand before King Jesus and hear “Well done good and faithful steward” and the way Jesus measures that according to the bible”
Matthew 25:20–21 “And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
If this mindset doesn’t get inside of us early in our faith we will think of Christianity as something all about “me” and what I can get out of church rather than all about Jesus’ mission and what He wants to accomplish in the world.
Tom invited me to “Impact” within months of being a Christian. I resisted the idea of leadership as a new Christian until I grew. But he insisted that’s HOW you grow.We never had a big student ministry but an exceptional, outsized number of pastors came out of that ministry that are leading churches today, including Skyler and I.
MOVE FROM MINISTRY CONSUMER TO CARRIER FROM SPECTATOR TO BUILDER!
We have to become more structured as a church. That might feel challenging to those of you who have been around from the beginning. One common thing is you feel like you have less access to leaders especially on Sunday. But that is God’s design. The Apostles are the key leaders who have to maintain a narrow leadership focus: vv. 3-4 ”...we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
But the beauty is it opens up room for those who are involved to move from a ministry consumer mindset to a ministry carrier mindset.
John Stott “The church does not exist for itself, but for the glory of God and the salvation of the world.”
APPLICATION
→ BECOME “PASTOR DAD”
→ INVITE SOMEONE TO FREE T SUNDAY!
→ SERVE ON BUILD IN BUILD OUT or STAGE CREW
THE MOTIVATION: SERVING THE ONE WHO SERVED US.
The result?
Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Why? Because Jesus first went on mission to serve and save us by dying on a cross.
Close your eyes:
Philippians 2:3–9 [3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name…
During offering a boy told the usher to lower the basket until it hits the ground and steps in.