We'll spend some time today in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 11 through 17.
But you may have noticed, perhaps you have a bulletin,
that instead of a text for today's sermon, which is normative for us, there is a title,
Building a Resilient Church Culture, Part One.
A little over a year ago, I preached this sermon, and your elders now, a year later,
thought it wise to revisit the idea and develop it further.
So today, I'll re-preach that sermon, some small edits,
and then in the coming five weeks, Lord willing, we will think together about each of my five sub-points,
which I'll cover in brief this morning.
Before we get started, I want to note a few things.
Number one, as a general practice, we preach expositional sermons.
Most simply put, this means that we take for the sermon's point or points,
the main point or points of that week's text.
We exegete the text, right?
The text drives what we're doing together, it speaks to us.
We read it, explain it, and we give application from it.
But we are careful not to eisegete a text or read into the text what we want to see in the text.
And this is why we tend to preach verse by verse,
because it lends itself toward good exegesis and away from eisegesis,
although it's still possible to do so.
However, from time to time, a topical sermon has its place,
which is what I will be doing this morning.
And I just want you to know that you should be especially discerning sitting under topical preaching.
Number two, I am not trying to be an alarmist this morning.
The elders of the church don't want to come off as alarmists.
That said, we feel a burden to prepare you for challenges that we believe are coming.
It's our hope that you know us well enough to know that we love you very much,
and we want good for you,
and above that, we want glory for our God.
And thirdly, I will not have nearly enough time this morning or in the coming five weeks to exhaust this topic.
So we will need to talk more about it,
both in our formal gather times and in our informal day-to-day gathering.
This needs to be a primer for more conversation.
I've thought a lot about this, but my thinking is not done.
I do hope that you will ask questions,
that you will push at my thinking,
and that you will spend time with the Lord and His Word
as you consider the days in which we live.
So, Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 11 and following,
before I read it, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us,
that it was written for His glory and our good.
And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
and to obey its commands.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,
but instead expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.
For anything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore it says,
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
Look carefully then how you walk,
not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
So we are exhorted in this text
to not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather to expose them.
By which he means to expose them as unfruitful works of darkness.
Show them for what they are.
Paul has previously given a sampling of the unfruitful works
that he is referring to beginning in chapter 5 and verse 3.
Sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, idolatry,
filthy talk, foolish talk, crude joking.
I don't think that Paul means for us to understand this list as exhaustive,
but to give us an idea of those things that we are meant to avoid and to expose.
He juxtaposes this kind of unfruitful living
with a living that we must assume would be fruitful,
if it's to be the opposite of the unfruitful living.
Verse 15,
Look carefully then how you walk,
not as unwise,
but as wise,
making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be foolish,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
So the fruitful life,
Paul tells us,
is in part
careful
and wise
and efficient
and informed.
And he is exhorting this kind of caution
because our time is limited
and because the days are
evil.
By God's divine appointing,
he has made us Christians
in the 21st century,
assuming that you are
in Christ.
He has made us
for this time.
So to be clear,
these are
our evil days.
This text,
originally written to these Ephesian believers,
was also written for us
and has bearing on our lives
today.
So we must ask,
what are the particular evils
of our day?
What unfruitful works of darkness
are we meant
to be exposing?
And to be clear,
there are so
many.
The list goes on
and on.
Today,
I want us to consider
a particular
rising tide
as we think about
this need
to build a resilient
church culture.
It's a rising tide
that is making
ground inland
at a steady rate.
One that we will have
to build a resilient
church children
to stand against.
We're going to have to do it
if we're going to
survive.
And this particular evil
is the evil
of the redefinition
of our
anthropology.
Who we are
and why
we exist.
This redefinition
is happening
on multiple fronts
and I'm sure
this is not
exhaustive.
It's happening
as it concerns
the unborn.
Unborn children
are defined as
babies if they are
wanted,
fetuses if they are
unwanted.
And praise be to God
that Roe and Casey
have been overturned,
but this cultural evil
still
exists.
This is happening
in the case of
men and women.
It's fine,
gender as social
constructs and not
biological
definitions.
This happens
as it concerns
minorities,
which these days
seems to be any
human who is
not white
and straight.
And these minorities
are necessarily
viewed as
oppressed.
Now,
we certainly
don't have time
today to explore
each of these ideas
and look to the
scripture for the
answers,
although it does
have the answers.
But we need to
have our eyes
open to the fact
that each of
these ideologies
stand in
contradiction
to the scripture.
To hold a
Christian worldview
of the sanctity
of human life,
the biological
assignment of
gender by our
God,
the proper
exercise of
sexuality within
a biblical
marriage,
and a God-ordered
justice,
will make us
more uncomfortable
in the coming
years than I
think most of
us are ready
for.
I think things
are going to
be tougher
than you might
imagine.
Your elders'
concern for the
church is that
we will have to
be deliberate
in our efforts
to build a
resilient church
culture as our
society swiftly
moves toward
totalitarianism.
Now,
totalitarianism
is a system
requiring
complete
subservience.
It has
at its head
some set of
ideas,
and if you
don't fall in
line with
every one of
those ideas,
then you do
not belong.
You will,
in the case of
hard totalitarianism,
be put in the
gulags of
communist Russia.
So,
hard totalitarianism
comes in the form
of these kind of
regimes,
right,
that rule and
reign over a
people.
You step out of
line,
you're punished.
Soft totalitarianism
is what we're
going to experience
in our day,
at least for
some time,
and probably
just soft
totalitarianism.
Those of you who
know me know
that I'm not
much of an
optimist,
but in this
case,
I'll say it'll
likely come just
in the form of
soft totalitarianism,
which means it
will be coerced
by the economy
and will be
policed on
social media.
Just as an
example,
think for a
moment,
since the
overturning of
Roe and Casey,
how many
companies have
morally postured
themselves as
being for
quote-unquote
feminine rights,
right?
We have to be
thinking about
what brand of
pants we wear.
I don't want to
think about what
brand of pants I
wear.
I just want to
wear the pants.
I just want a
pant company to be
a pant company
and not be
politically and
socially engaged,
right?
But in a
growing sense,
if you're not
on board,
then you're
canceled,
right?
Cut out of
society,
ostracized as
a result.
I think,
just as a
kind of high
view observation,
that the highest
value of
Americans is
comfort.
It's what
Americans generally,
it's true of us
too.
What we like
more than
anything is
our comfort.
Our second
highest value,
until it gets
in the way of
the highest
value,
is our
autonomy.
We want to
do what we
want to do,
when we want
to do it,
unless we're
uncomfortable,
and then you
can tell us
whatever you
want us to
do.
We saw this
play out
across a
recent pandemic,
right?
Able to give
up so much
if you just
keep me
comfortable,
right?
Don't cast
me out.
Don't cancel
me.
Don't call
me out on
the streets
or in the
grocery store.
We are going
to get
pressed more
and more
by this
society to
toe a line
that if we're
to be biblical
Christians,
we will not
be able to
toe.
It just
won't be
possible to
do so.
If we are
to be a
people who
have been
awakened by
the gospel
of Jesus
Christ,
then we're
going to need
to look
carefully how
we walk.
We're going
to be wise,
verse 15.
We're going
to need
to make
the best
use of
the time.
Why?
Because the
days are
evil.
We ought
not be
foolish.
We need
to understand
the way
of our
Lord.
We ought
to be wise
and unfoolish
because God
has saved
us from
our foolishness.
Verse 13,
when anything
is exposed
by the light,
it becomes
visible.
For anything
that becomes
visible is
light.
Therefore,
it says,
Awake,
O sleeper,
and arise
from the
dead,
and Christ
will shine
on you.
And this
is a
citation
from Isaiah
chapter 60
and verse
1,
loosely,
which says,
Arise,
shine,
for your
light has
come,
and the
glory of
the Lord
has risen
upon you.
Now,
this citation
in Ephesians
chapter 5,
verse 14,
many commentators
believe,
was a hymn sung
by the early
church calling
anyone in their
midst who had
not yet believed
in Christ to
repent and
place their
faith in him.
Because it's a
gospel summary.
Awake,
O sleeper,
you who are
dead in your
sin,
who have yet
to be awakened
to the light
of Christ.
Arise from
the dead
through repentance
and faith.
And God's
grace in
Christ will
shine
on you.
Because God
has saved us
from our
foolishness,
we are to be
a people who
pursue
that which is
good
and true
and beautiful.
and we are
to do so
for our
good,
loving,
kind
instructions
from our
God and
for the
glory
of our
God.
And this is
going to
cause
discomfort.
This is going
to cause
persecution.
I have
wrongly said
in the past
that the
church has
always thrived
in the midst
of persecution.
And broadly
that's true,
right?
Capital C
church,
the church
has always
pressed on
throughout
space and
time.
But in
particular
locations,
that hasn't
always been
true.
There have
been places
in history,
in the world,
that persecution
has altogether
stamped out
the Christian
witness.
We want
this to
not be
true of
us.
We want
rather
what Thomas
Watson
once said,
this is on
your bulletin,
this is what
we want to
be true of
us.
He said,
how much
good comes
to the
saints
by affliction.
When they
are pounded,
they send
forth their
sweetest
smell.
Affliction
is a
bitter root,
but it
bears
sweet fruit.
we want
this to
be true
of us,
of Christ's
family
church.
So how
do we
build a
resilient
church
culture,
a church
that will
stand against
the rising
tide of
soft
totalitarianism?
And to
be clear,
we will
have to
build it.
It won't
just happen.
We will
have to
be strong
because the
tide will
be destructive.
It will
have to
be cultural,
not to
be ingrained
into who
we are
as a
church.
Not a
six-week
series and
we all
move on,
but we
have to
be thinking
about these
things
together.
And so I
want to
briefly outline
for you
five overlapping
areas that
we believe
we will
need to
work on.
This is
probably not
all of
it.
Much of
this could
be exhausted
more,
it could
be worked
out,
it could
be talked
about,
but I
think this
is a very
good place
for us
to start.
Before I
get into
them,
as a
note,
it's already
been pointed
out to me
that there's
an acronym
here,
CRASH,
and that's
not on
purpose.
Although in
thinking these
things through
and having
these particular
points,
I did notice
that they
spelled out
CRASH,
and I put
it in that
order because
it helps
me remember
it,
and I've
been talking
about this
now for
a year.
So that's
the order
that I put
them in,
but I don't
know that they
necessarily need
to build in
this order,
and I'm
not trying,
you know,
I mean,
somebody probably
would have had
some cool
graphic made,
but that's
not me.
So,
number one,
and we'll
take these in
the coming
weeks in this
order as well.
So,
number one,
clear mission.
The church
needs to know
why it
exists.
What is the
church,
and what is
the mission
meaning of
the church?
If we are
not crystal
clear on
why we
exist,
then we
will always
be distracted
by some
lesser
purpose.
Perhaps by
a gospel
implication,
but not the
gospel itself.
Why does
the church
exist?
What Jesus
said in
Matthew
chapter 28,
verse 18,
and following,
all authority
in heaven
and on
earth has
been given
to me.
Go,
therefore,
and make
disciples of
all nations,
baptizing them,
this is how I
know that this
is a work of
the church,
because that's
a church
ordinance,
baptizing them
in the name
of the Father
and of the
Son and
of the Holy
Spirit,
teaching them
to observe
all that I
have commanded
you.
And behold,
I am with
you always
to the end
of the age.
I'm going
to develop
this next
week more.
Why does
the church
exist?
To be
heralds of
the good
news of
Jesus Christ.
We attach
some things
to that
as we carry
that message
forth,
but this
is the
thing we
need to
stay clear
about.
We have
a mission
in this
world.
We will
need to
readily identify
what battles
we ought to
engage in
and what
the war
is that
we cannot
avoid.
We need
to understand
what it
means to
be the
church
militant,
and the
church
victorious.
So that's
number one,
clear mission.
Number two,
robust
theology.
If we
do not
have a
robust,
think a
well-developed,
a thick
theology,
we will
fail to
understand
cosmology,
anthology,
and certainly
even
biology.
theology.
All other
studies are
subservient to
the study
of God.
Proverbs 1
and verse 7,
the fear of
the Lord is
the beginning
of knowledge.
Fools despise
wisdom and
instruction.
We must
humble
ourselves under
God's
word,
and we must
be a people
of it.
We have to
be thick
in our
theology.
In a
highly
psychologized
age,
we are
being
inundated
with the
message that
we are the
center of
the universe
and that
our feelings
dictate
our reality.
Feelings
seem to
rule the
day.
And beloved,
I will tell
you, this
is true in
our church
as well.
Your feelings
may or may
not be
consistent
with the
truth.
But your
feelings never
define the
truth.
God defines
the truth.
But we live
in a culture
that is
telling us
that opposite
thing all
the time.
Define your
truth.
What's good
for you
must be
good.
But our
creator knows
what's good,
what's best
for us.
Many
churches
peddle what
sociologists
Christian Smith
and Melinda
Lundquist
Denton called
therapeutic,
moralistic
deism.
And this
is not
good for
the souls
of mankind.
We do
not need
a high
view of
man.
We need
a high
view of
God.
We are
going to
have to
learn to
do
theological
triage
on the
fly.
I'm not
going to
explain
theological
triage to
you this
morning.
There's
people in the
room going,
okay,
good.
Good.
But you
need to know
how to do
it, right?
We need to
know what
to encounter,
what not
to encounter,
what battles
to fight,
what hills
we ought to
die on,
and what
things don't
matter.
It's part
of developing
a robust
theology.
We're going
to need to
develop the
ability to
hold and
communicate
nuanced
positions.
We don't
need to be
the kind
of people
that try
to sort
out the
world's
problems
in 240
characters
on Twitter.
So,
clear mission,
robust
theology.
Third,
accurate
histories.
I must
admit that
accurate
was the
A.
I actually
put it in
there because
it made
crash.
Accurate
histories.
If we
do not
understand
where we
have come
from,
we will
not see
clearly
where we
are going
and we
will be
doomed to
repeat the
mistakes
of the
past.
We're
going to
have to
be a
people
who have
knowledge
of our
history,
local,
national,
world,
most
particularly
church
history.
Who are
we as
God's
people?
What
mistakes
have
God's
people
made
in
the
past?
I'll
tell you
right now,
we have
such a
place to
observe
soft
totalitarianism
at play
in Europe
and what's
happening to
the church
there.
Churches
that are
thriving
there,
how have
they stood
against
that tide
and those
that haven't,
how have
they failed
to do
so?
We have
much to
observe
and much
to learn
about this.
And I
will say,
as Baptists,
we need to
especially pay
attention to
Baptist church
history.
We need to
be steeped
in it.
Now,
less than
the other
things,
you may not
have to
participate in
this quite
as much,
but we'll
work to
do it
for you.
We'll
work to
bring these
things together
for you and
help you to
understand the
mistakes of the
past that we
might be better
in the future.
So,
clear mission,
robust theology,
accurate histories,
fourth,
sacrificial
hospitality.
If we do
not love
one another
as we
should,
and if we
do not
love our
neighbors as
we should,
then we
will not
have a
foundation
from which
to say
difficult
things
into a
confused
culture.
It's
important
that we
build
equity
with
people
as we
bring
correction
to
people.
John
13,
35,
Jesus
says,
by this
all people
will know
that you
are my
disciples.
If you
love to
debate
reform
theology,
if you
have love
for one
another,
the way
we love
one another
is a
witness
to the
world
around
us.
Jesus
said,
Matthew
5,
verse 43
and following,
you have
heard that
it was
said,
you shall
love your
neighbor
and hate
your
enemy.
But I
say to
you,
love your
enemies
and pray
for those
who persecute
you.
For God's
church to
stand in
this age
of people
who will
hate us,
our response
is going to
have to be
a response
of love.
And we
have to
show that
to people
through
sacrificial
hospitality.
It means it
requires something
of us.
We have to
give something
to make it
possible.
We have to
be uncomfortable
at times.
We have to
give of our
resources to
have people
feel welcome.
And this
word
hospitality
means a
welcome
to the
stranger.
We have to
do this
amongst
ourselves,
that we
know we
have a
people,
a place
that we
belong,
and we're
going to
have to
do this
to others
as well.
If the
church is
to survive
in a
secularizing
age,
we're going
to have
to show
sacrificial
hospitality.
Clear
mission,
robust
theology,
accurate
histories,
sacrificial
hospitality.
See,
I don't
know if I
could do
this if
it
wasn't in
an acronym
that spelled
crash.
Fifth,
healthy
family.
If we
do not
have
healthy
families,
then our
church will
not hold
together,
because the
family is
the first
and foundational
institution of
all societies.
This is why
the evil
one is so
bent on
destroying
families.
Think about
the direction
from which
attacks on
the church
most readily
come in
our day.
In almost
all cases,
it's the
family.
We need
to have
healthy
biological
families.
We need
to have
healthy
adoptive
families,
both formally
and informally,
that we
would pull
people into
our family
life in
informal
ways and
also
officially,
formally,
be an
adoptive
culture.
So these
things are
things we
need to be
thinking about
and talking
about,
and we're
going to do
that over
the next
five weeks,
Lord willing,
that we
would have
as a
church,
clear
mission,
robust
theology,
accurate
histories,
sacrificial
hospitality,
and healthy
families.
It is our
prayer that
we will be
a resilient
church culture
and that we
will stand
against the
rising tide
of the
soft
totalitarianism
of our
evil age,
and that we
will do
so for
our good
and for
the glory
of God.
So in
closing,
let me read
today's text
one more
time and
ask that you
consider how
you might
be wise,
perhaps with
us in
our evil
days.
And then I'll
pray.
Take no part
in the
unfruitful works
of darkness,
but instead
expose them.
For it is
shameful even to
speak of the
things that they
do in secret.
But when
anything is
exposed by the
light, it
becomes visible.
for anything
that becomes
visible is
light.
Therefore it
says, awake,
O sleeper, and
arise from the
dead, and
Christ will
shine on
you.
Look carefully
then how you
walk, not as
unwise, but as
wise, making the
best use of the
time, because the
days are evil.
Therefore do not
be foolish, but
understand what the
will of the Lord
is.
Let's pray
together.
Thank you.