Calling People Forth

well two weeks ago yesterday we held an
in-house staff council retreat with the
view of looking at leadership issues and
one of the presentations that we
listened to was a presentation by Craig
Hill who is the founder and president of
Family Foundation's International it's
an organization that seeks to help
people to identify underlying issues in
their lives that are harmful to
marriages and to relationships and Craig
Hill introduced us by way a video to a
leadership model taken from the business
world that really helped us to
understand what it takes to expand and
multiply our influence as leaders don't
have time obviously this morning to walk
you through his whole presentation but
allow me to take a moment or two to
summarize it this way because I think
you'll find it interesting as we did key
to his presentation is a chart that
looks like this the letters there e SB
and I represent four different ways in
which most people make their living
because this is a model that comes out
of the business world and can also be
transported into the world of ministry
East stands for employee and that
employee is a person who exchanges time
and work for money the primary value of
an employee is the security that comes
with the John S stands for self employed
self-employed person is
kind of person who says why should I be
working for fifteen dollars an hour when
my boss charges 45 dollars an hour for
the work that I do and he pockets the
difference why not pocket that
difference myself and so he or she goes
out on his own and starts his or her own
business the primary value of a
self-employed person is to exercise a
sense of control over the work
environment and the business world the B
stands for business and this is the guy
who looks at the employee and at the
self-employed person and he says I only
get paid if I work and the harder I work
maybe the more I get paid why not let
other people do the work for me and so
the B person is the kind of person who
finds other people hires them gives them
a mandate and empowers them to do
business on his behalf and so now he can
afford to step back he can take time off
the work goes on and so his primary
value is one of having free time and
watching the work multiply without his
constant hand-holding and then the I
person is an extreme example of the B
person the B person the I person is a B
person who says okay I've got this
business going I've hired all these many
people this thing is pretty much running
on its own I've got time effort and
energy and resources left let me invest
in multiple businesses and so he now
invests in multiple businesses and
they're all being resourced and they're
all managing to run on their own that's
how business multiplies now what was
really interesting for us as we listen
to his freezing
was the fact if we can put that chart
back up that according to Craig Hill and
I think he's right about that he says
it's not that difficult to move
vertically down these two columns in
other words it's not that difficult for
an employee to become a self-employed
person think of all the construction
guys that used to work for somebody else
came to the conclusion that they could
do better on their own load of their
tools in the back of a truck and now
they are self-employed business people
neither is it that difficult to move
from a business model the way that I
just described it to an investment model
depending of course on your resources
and your capability but he says what is
very difficult is to move horizontally
across from one to the other and the
reason he says is because it involves an
entirely different set of skills and an
entirely different way of thinking over
here you have to have a skill and you
have to know how to do the business but
it's all under your control to grow from
being self-employed to running a
business with many employees requires an
entirely different set of skills because
now you have to be able to identify
giftedness and other people you have to
be able to hire them you have to be able
to motivate them you have to be able to
set them free and you have to live with
the reality that it probably takes two
of them to do have to work that you used
to be able to do yourself and so it's a
place where a lot of people get stock so
how do you move from the one to the
other how do you cross laterally from a
knee and an ass to a B and an i and the
key he says apart from having you know
some of the skills that are needed to do
that obviously the key is mentoring you
need somebody who comes alongside you
who's been there who can identify your
gifting who can call your gifting forth
and who can empower you and encourage
you on the journey until you have
learned to do what needs to be done and
able to multiply and develop your
ministry or your business so I got to
thinking about that after those
presentations two weeks ago and it
occurred to me that this applies really
not only to people who are in business
applies not only to people who have a
ministry and a need to multiply the
effectiveness of their ministry but
really it applies to all of us at one
level or another because as we've been
saying the Lord wants each of us to grow
up in Christ in both the fruit of the
Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit in
the fruit of the Spirit God wants us to
excel in love he wants us to be like
Jesus and in the gifts of the Spirit he
wants us to excel in exercising the
greatest of the best of gifts so that we
can be most effective for him in his
kingdom so how do we get there we get
there by having somebody in our lives
who can call us forth and empower us on
our journey and that's what Paul talks
about interestingly enough here in these
verses that we have read from 1
Thessalonians chapter 2 and as we look
at the verses that we have read together
in some detail there are three things I
want us to know three very important
things that I believe we need to lead a
heart
if this process is going to work for you
and from you regardless of our age and
regardless of where we find ourselves in
life number one Paul says in this
particular passage that in order to come
to full maturity in both the natural and
the spiritual we need both a father and
a mother we need a father and a mother
to grow up in Christ listen again to how
he puts it for six and seven as apostles
of Christ he says we could have been a
burden to you but we were gentle among
you like a mother caring for her little
children like a mother caring for her
little children then later on in the
passage for you know that we dealt with
each of you as a father deals with his
own children encouraging comforting and
urging you to live lives worthy of God
who calls you into his kingdom and glory
you've got the logo blocking my thing
here upstairs if you can fix that please
we dealt with each of you as a father
deals with his own children now as you
well know we live in a world where there
is a tremendous confusion about issues
of gender were confused about fathers
and mothers were confused about male and
female and were confused about boys and
girls story out of Texas this past week
that just utterly shocked me to
Christian daycare workers were fired why
were they fired because they refused to
go along with the instruction from on
high and
from the Lord on high maybe should say
from below there was a little girl in
that school with two male parents who
decided that she was really a boy and so
these teachers had been instructed to
not only address her as a boy but to
instruct all the other children in the
class to consider her as a boy and the
teachers refused to do that and for that
they lost their jobs now this little
girl herself is clearly a vivillon's
sometimes she thinks she's a boy
sometimes she thinks she's a girl but
the politically correct gender issue is
you go along with whatever the pit
imagine how messed up that kids going to
be as life goes on and and that's not
the only story there is another similar
story in the news just this past week
taking a bit of a different tack to
their credit a district school board in
the Chicago area refused to submit to an
order that came down from up in the
government somewhere that they had to
allow a transgendered boy to have full
access to the girls shower and locker
facilities now they tried everything to
accommodate to this young land but
nothing was good enough except full
ability to use the girls lockers and how
would you like your 13 year old daughter
having to share a shower facility with a
transgendered boy to their credit
they're holding firm but they stand to
lose 7 million dollars in federal
funding if they don't bow to this
dictate the words going crazy honestly
go on crazy but that's where we
find ourselves and the reason for that
is because there is such a great
confusion about what it is to be male
and female what is masculinity and
femininity we've talked about this
before I'd be very brief on it but as
you know Leon puddles in his book the
church impotent the feminization of
Christianity traces the history of this
whole movement and he has done some very
extensive research in cultures around
masculinity and what identifies
femininity because there's a lot of
wrong notions that people are of course
reacting against and as he has studied
different cultures from all over the
world he has reduced femininity and
masculinity to just two terms each
here's what he says about femininity he
says femininity is communion and
integration communion and integration
means you remove the obstacles you bring
people together you can see that among
girls for example when in the world of
girls a girl who stands out from the
crowd is rejected and gets treated
meanly because it's all about belonging
to the group in opposition to that is
masculinity which he says is separation
and differentiation that is to say men
and boys draw a line in the sand they
emphasize the differences and they
determine what their adopted position is
that you can see that among boys for
example where the hero in the group is
the one who stands out from
a group that everybody wants to emulate
so there is a principle of femininity
which is nurturing which is loving which
is I'll make you safe and there is a
principle of masculinity that says all
right you've been safe enough let's
leave that cuddly place behind and step
out into the world and face the world do
you see the difference that I hear a yes
thank you femininity the principle of
femininity typically exemplified in
women and mothers but not always is a
principle that says let me be gentle
among you like a mother I'll nurture you
I'll make it safe for you I'll kiss your
always better the principle of
masculinity says don't be such a baby
time to grow up step out into the world
right you see it in and I've said this
before kid leaves home last words of
moms be careful last words of dads go
get them Rover right it's a different
world altogether those are inherent in
the structure of creation now we've
talked about this before the proportions
of it vary from an individual to an
individual that's why we have all these
gender discussions in today's society
but we need to understand what the
issues are or will be bowled over by the
emotion of the push that lies behind it
so what Paul is saying here in this
particular passage is that in order for
us to grow up into in Christ we need
both a mother and a father we need to be
nurtured so that we can be secure and we
can be safe and we can have a father who
says you've been safe long enough
there's a world out there for you to
step in to and to conquer and I'm going
to call you
and that's why in this passage he says
we were gentle among you like a mother
caring for her two little children and
he says we dealt with each of you as a
father deals with his own children and
if in the natural family this
responsibility lies with the father and
the mother in this spiritual family of
God this responsibility lests rests on
spiritual moms and spiritual dads who
can on the one hand keep us safe and
secure and know that we're loved and
know that were looked after and on the
other hand challenged so that we step
into the heart and the difficult places
of life that God is calling us into as
his children you with me we need the
male and the female we need the
masculine and the feminine to develop a
well balanced healthy spirituality in
every area of life second thing I want
us to notice in this particular passage
then that the masculine role is defined
in this passage by three words what are
the three words will hear they are
encouraging comforting and urging for
you know that we dealt with each of you
as a father deals with his own children
and couraging comforting and urging you
to live lives worthy of God who calls
you into his own kingdom and glory let
me begin with the end product here to
live lives worthy of God who calls you
into his kingdom and glory think this
through with me what is our destiny in
Christ you ever think about that why did
God create us why did God redeem us well
he created us and he's redeemed us so
that we could share the glory of the
Lord Jesus
at the right hand of God the Father if
you are in Christ this morning then you
are an heir of God and a co heir with
Christ what that means is that God's
destiny for you and me is we're going to
sit on and it's hard to even begin to
picture this but we're going to sit on
Thrones ruling God's eternal Kingdom on
his behalf and in order for us to
qualify for that we have to be like
Jesus fully obedient to the Father
filled with compassion so that we don't
ruin the new creation like Adam and Eve
ruined the old creation and the only way
that we can even begin to get at what
this looks like is to put it in human
terms think of all the things in life
that you strive for or that you dream
for or that you celebrate the promotion
the possessions of the house the car the
the good rep you'd all of the things
that are part and parcel of life that
the nation strive for God wants to give
to you in Christ not for three four five
or six decades or whatever but for all
eternity and so God brings us to faith
in Christ so that we can learn to live
lives worthy of the calling that he has
upon us he wants us to be worthy of
receiving what God has for us so that we
can be conformed to the image of Christ
and we can be entrusted with god's
authority over the new creation whatever
that is going to look like so how do we
get there well we have to learn to grow
up into Christ we have to learn to live
out what in Christ we already are so how
do we do that
we need somebody to call us forth we
need somebody first of all to encourage
us we need to be encouraged in the life
we live before the face of God now the
Greek word to be encouraged here is the
same root word that Jesus uses in John's
Gospel to say that the comforter or the
counselor is going to come when he goes
to heaven the word is para Khalil it
literally means called alongside and the
picture here the way that I always
picture it is is you've got a runner
that is running the race and he's
getting mighty tired and weary and he
says I don't know that I can finish this
race somebody please help and so
somebody from the sidelines comes along
side as you sometimes see happening in
marathons for example and I'm going to
walk this out with you knowing that you
can get to the end that's what an
encouragers an encouragers one who has a
realistic view of your ability one who
knows what your potential is who knows
what your weaknesses are who come
alongside you when you're tired and
weary and want to throw in the towel and
who says listen I believe in you you can
in Christ do this you may not think you
can do this you may not feel like you
can do this everybody else may have told
you you can never do this I believe that
in Christ you can do this so let's get
up and add it I will resource you if I
need to be too I will quit I will do
whatever it takes to help you run the
race how many people have you known in
your life will play that kind of raw
people who loved you who saw you who
cared for you and I said listen I'll
help you do this because I believe in
you it's one of the greatest gifts
that any of us can give to anybody else
so when you encouragement not only but
we also need comfort we need to be
comforted in the word here literally
means cheering someone out with soothing
words and personal touch something we
often associate with the feminine but
Paul here associates it also with the
masculine because I'll tell you
something I don't care how gifted you
are and I don't care how wonderful a
person you are if you're serious about
following Jesus being a like him and
stepping out into the areas of gifting
that he has called you to in your life I
will guarantee you there will be times
in your life when you fall flat on your
Fanny and you want to throw in the towel
anybody here honest enough to say that's
been the story of your life why because
the devil the world and the flesh do not
want you to become like Jesus and do not
want you to be a threat to the kingdom
of darkness and if he and the world see
where you're going they will do whatever
they can to pull the rug out from
underneath you and make you fall flat on
your face and if it isn't the devil in
the world that's on your case is your
own flesh that says this is too hard I
don't want to do this God you know Here
I am going to take somebody else that's
human nature and we've all been there if
we have tried overcome sin or if we have
tried to step out into places where we
haven't been before we just get to a
point where we say well this is just who
I am and don't ever dare ask me to be
something else how do we get beyond that
well we need somebody to kiss us better
we need somebody to provide comfort
somebody who can say you can do this if
only you will try interesting story in
the newspaper this past week that
really threw me off at first Catholic
school board in Toronto it's gone on
record as saying that the lowest grade a
teacher is allowed to give to a student
in midterms is thirty-five percent and
the teachers are all up in arms about
that because you know there are kids who
deserve a flat zero because they never
turn in an assignment and they never
show up in class and when I first saw
that headline in the paper I said to
myself boy what another example of
political correct catering to the lowest
common denominator until I read the
article and understood the reasoning and
the reasoning was this if you give a kid
a zero in midterm you are d motivating
him powerfully to even begin to bother
and so the idea behind a 35-percent was
well let's at least give them something
so that they have some sense of being
able to climb out of the hole in which
they find themselves and I said you know
there's wisdom that's a very different
mindset from when I first perceived that
headline comfort is a person who can
come to us after we have fallen flat on
her face and when we are demoralized and
we think we're beyond redemption and we
have just really really messed up a
person who comforts is one who can come
along and Minister the Grace and the
love of the Lord Jesus and to inspire
and encourage us that that we can really
get back up we need to be encouraged we
need be comforted in the places where we
have failed and then frankly we need to
be challenged and the word literally
means solemnly charged it's translated
here in the text as urged I urge
you to live lives worthy of God who
calls you into his kingdom and glory we
need exhortation and challenge beyond
the comfort why should I get back up
when I have fallen flat on my face why
should I try again when every time I try
it just reinforces the fact that I'm a
loser and I really can't do that why
bother to roll out of bed in a Sunday
morning to get the church when I ought
to be when I could easily be sleeping at
why discipline my child who is out of
control when all it does is cause me
more hassle why engage my wife and these
emotionally waters of turmoil when all
it does is produce more conflict why
stand up for what is right in a world
that doesn't honor people for standing
up and who would just as soon see be
failure why bother that's where a lot of
society ins up that's where a lot of a
church ends up because it's just too
hard and the devil in the world and the
flesh are all working together to keep
us passive to keep us disengaged and to
be so filled with self love that we
don't care about the bigger issues of
life well I'll give you two reasons why
it matters it matters because God says
so it matters because other people need
you God is looking for you and me to be
participants in his kingdom he is
building a kingdom of power and glory he
is building a people who will move
through this land by his power to
manifest his name ultimately that's
what's going to defeat evil you know
evil isn't going to be defeated simply
by war don't
ever believe it because the more we
fight evil with evil the worse it gets
you know how evil is going to be
overcome it's going to be overcome by
good when there is a significant
percentage of God's people who would
rather die than compromise their walk
and their relationship with him and when
God sees that happening and the devil
sees that happening the scales turn
Jesus returns and the kingdom gets
established God wants you and me to grow
up in Christ because that his is agenda
for the world not only does God have his
reputation at stake other people around
me need me why engage my child because
my child needs me to engage him why
engage my spouse in the areas where it
leads two nothing but conflict and
confusion because if we don't work
through these issues the relationship is
useless and we're not getting where we
need to be and the biblical reality the
biblical reality is that people need us
to be what God is calling us to be and
as I've often said if you don't want to
deal with your stuff for your own sake
and if you don't grow up in Christ for
God's sake and if you don't want to
discover your spiritual gifts and
operating your spiritual gifts for the
greater good then do it for your
children and do it for the people around
you because they're the ones who are
paying for what you Arden want and so we
need somebody to come alongside and urge
us
kick our behinds if you will to get us
moving in the paths of righteousness for
the glory of God and in our natural
families that's the job of fathers and
mothers and in the church that's the job
of those of us who are in community
together so that we can help each other
to grow up on the one hand the church
has to be this place where we feel safe
where we feel unconditional love where
we feel accepted for who we are and on
the other hand it has to be a place
where we're loved too much to remain
where we are so that we can call each
other out and forward to become
everything that God wants us to be I
think that's where we'll stop there's a
third point I had wanted to make perhaps
we'll come back to it next week let me
introduce it briefly and that is this we
need the key to this whole process is a
thing called unconditional love and
here's your homework assignment for this
week look through this passage that we
have read in between those two verses
that we have book ended and have been
looking at and look at how Paul
describes his relationship with a
Thessalonian Church see if you can find
in that passage five characteristics
five action verbs that he uses to
describe his relationship with the
Thessalonian Church and then ask
yourself in my dealings with my kids in
my dealings with my employees in my
dealings with my friend in my mentoring
relationships if you will how many of
these characteristics are part of my
life and as we come back and look at
that we'll get some very practical tools
to make this process works work because
when we grow up in Christ and when we
function better in our spiritual gifts
everybody benefits if I'm a better
father if I'm a better
there if I'm a better pastor if I'm a
better leader if I'm whatever better at
it it benefits everybody and the life
level in the community Rises because
Christ is being made manifest in the
you