13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Share

I am proud to say that I, Jimmy Mustion, am an only child! Let me tell you being an only child is pretty great. I had all of my parents' attention. I didn't have any sibling rivalry, and I got all the toys at Christmas.

However, my wife would be the first person to tell you that there is one major downfall to being an only child...we never learned to share as a child. Christiana grew up in a family with two sisters. She, Mary, and Gretel were forced to share all their toys. They had to make room for one another in the back seat of the car. They had to take turns watching the movies and TV shows that they wanted to see. Sharing was normal and expected. Not so with me.

I started learning how to share when I went to school. It wasn't normal. It wasn't easy. It still isn't easy. No wonder that our churches have so much trouble sharing...they are full of only children! OK so I am joking a little bit, but it's true. Our churches DO have trouble sharing. It's no wonder that we have trouble growing.


So here's a quick recap of the Characteristics of a Growing Church:
1st Love Genuinely
2nd Hate What is Evil
3rd Cling to What is Good
4th Devoted to One Another
5th Humility
6th Excitement
7th Stability
8th Service
9th Hope
10th Patience
11th Prayer

The 12th characteristic of a growing Church is Sharing.
"Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Romans 12:13 NIV

What do you think about when you read, "share with the Lord's people who are in need?" Let me tell you that the first idea that pops into my mind is financial aid given to struggling families. I have worked in churches for thirteen plus years now. I have seen the different people who come into the church office on almost a daily basis asking the church for money. Some of them are legitimately in need and others are trying to abuse the system. It's no wonder that churches are skeptical about helping people.

We had an experience like this in our church a few years ago. One of the youth families was "struggling" and they didn't have the money to pay the registration fee for the youth mission trip. They did the right thing. They came to the church staff seeking help. We willingly gave their child a scholarship for the full amount of the trip. Directly after leaving the church the family went out to eat at Red Lobster. There's something wrong with that picture. Does that mean that we should stop sharing with them if we are able to help them? No.

What?! They obviously abused the system! If they didn't have the $100 for mission trip then how did they have the money for Red Lobster! Yeah, it's wrong. They shouldn't have done it. Still, God doesn't tell us that we are to be the judge and jury on every single person coming to us for help. He simply tells us to share with those in need and as far as we knew (at the time) the family was genuinely in need. God is the judge. He will deal with our dishonesty. It's our job to share. So let's get to it!

Ok, so you are like us and you don't have money. Does that mean you get off the hook and you don't have to share? Absolutely not! Acutally it will be hard for you because your sharing will be more personal. Instead of cutting a check, God is calling you to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

Your sharing might be taking someone to the airport if they need a ride. Or maybe a family in your church needs help moving and you are able and available. Or you might share your time by volunteering at a local food pantry. Who knows?! That's between you and God to figure out! Just get to sharing!

Share your time, your money, and yourself with those in your church and your community who are in need. Stop being selfish and skeptical. Just SHARE like God has called you to and you will be truly blessed and our churches will begin to grow again.

13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Cling to Good

I am constantly amazed at the shear quantity of horrible and stressful things that happen in the lives and ministry of those in the church--and it all happens in the name of God and ministry. Over the past few months I have had a youth ministry friend who has struggled with finding joy in his ministry and his church. Things are piling up all around him and the stress in mounting. Students are flaking on responsibilities while he is given new responsibilities almost daily. He is frustrated and overwhelmed and doesn't know what he should. Today we are going to talk about clinging to what is good. That is my friend's hope right now. He must cling to what is good for it is just as vital in a growing personal relationship with Christ as it is in a growing Church.

So here's a quick recap of the Characteristics of a Growing Church:
1st Love Genuinely
2nd Hate What is Evil

The 3rd characteristic of a growing Church is to Cling to What is Good.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

There are several different ways that this verse is translated. I love what the ESV says...hold fast. When you cling to something or hold fast to it you basically have a death grip on whatever you are clinging to or holding on to. The key word here is "good". It won't do anything for you or for your church if you are clinging to your bitterness or anger or a dead program. You have to hold fast to what is good.

This same phrase is used in Psalm 63:8 when it says, "I cling to you; your right hand upholds me." Here the psalmist is talking about clinging to the ultimate good which is God. If we are going to have growing Christian lives and churchs then we should cling to God and His will for us and our church. Clinging to God means that sometimes we must let go of the other things that we have been holding on to for so long. Psalm 31:6 says, "I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the LORD."

The things that we are holding on to can be good in nature but if we are desperately holding on to them when God is telling us to let them go then they are what the verse calls "worthless idols" and they get in the way of holding on to God. These things that were "good" are now stumbling blocks in our growth and in our walk with Christ. Sadly that is what is wrong with many of our churches. We are dying because we are too busy holding on to the "good" things that we have always done instead of holding on to God. Sometimes we must let go of our ideas of what is good and our traditions so that we have our hands free to hold on to God.

More Resources:

13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Hate Evil

Too many times as Christians we belive that we are better than other people or maybe we go too far to the other extreme that we always show love but we never stop to preach the truth of the gospel. Very rarely does God call us to live in either of these extremes. God is a god of balance and order. He doesn't want us to throw the baby out with the bath water but neither does He want us to allow wolves to live among our sheep. Last time, we talked about Love being the 1st Characteristic of a Growing Church. Today we will talk about the 2nd characteristic.

The 2nd characteristic of a growing Church is to Hate what is Evil.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

Love and hate are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. They are--by their very natures--opposites. How can we love and hate at the same time? I think in this particular case it's pretty easy because God is telling us the same thing in two different ways. First He told us to have a genuine and accepting love for the people in our lives. Now He goes further to tell us to hate what is evil. We are to accept the sinner but NOT the sin.

This all goes back to what I was saying last time about meeting people where they are, loving them and meeting their needs, and then pointing them to Christ. At the end of the last Bible study I included a clip of Jesus meeting the woman at the well (John 4). Jesus knew before everything about this woman before she even approached. Instead of shunning her He talked to her and met her need. He took the time to tell her about the water of life. He didn't hate this woman, but He did hate the sin that He knew she was living in. After showing her love through his time and conversation then He pointed to the sin that she needed to get out her life.

Jesus showed the same love for a sinner and hate for sin when He had his feet washed by the woman who washed His feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-50). There are so many other examples in the Bible of this love for people and the hate of sin. I know that as people we often fall short of Jesus' example but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't at least try.

This week...meet people where they are, love them unconditionally, and point them away from their sin and to Jesus.



More Resources:

• Woman Caught in Adultery John 8:1-11
• Amos 5:15

13 Characteristics of a Growing Church: Love

This week I have been prepping to preach the Sunday morning and Sunday night services at Villebrook Baptist Church while my pastor recovers from surgery. While I was studying and praying, God laid it on my heart that I should talk about characteristics of a growing church as laid out in Romans. I don't want to give everything away before I preach but I will give you the first point in my 13 point sermon and then for the sake of attention spans, I will break the other 12 points out over the next few weeks. Hope that sounds good to you because that's the plan...so here you go...the sneak preview of my GIANT HUGE 13 Point Sermon...

The 1st Characteristic of a Growing Church is Love.
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." Romans 12:9

In the English language, the word love is tossed about WAY to easily! We love pizza. We love going to the movies. We love our favorite sports team--Go Cards! But what does it mean to have a genuine love?

I don't want to go into a ton of detail here about all the different words for love in the Greek language (For more about the 4 Greek Words for Love, Click here to visit my wife's blog). Basically, unlike English the Greek language has several different words for love and each of these words have a unique meaning and usage. The word translated here as "love" is the Greek word "agape". Agape is an unconditionally, Christ-like love.

According to Romans 12:9 a growing church should have a genuine Christ-like, unconditional love. That means that we really have to love people where they are. We can't say "I love and accept you" with out mouths and let our actions show them differently. If you do you can gaurantee that those people will not bother coming to your church again. We are to hate the sin and love the sinner (Jude 1:22-24). When Christ was reaching out to people around Him, He didn't tell them how awful they were or how bad their lifestyle was. First, He met their need and showed them love. Then He told them to turn from their sins and from their ungodly lifestyle and they did.

That's what it means to have a Christ-like love!

A growing church meets sinners (every single one of us) where they are, shows them the unconditional love of Christ, and then through that love and relationship points them to Christ!

More Resources: