Steve Gentry
[0:00] Good morning. If this is your first time here, I just want to welcome you to the village, [0:04] introduce myself. My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here. I just want to thank [0:10] you for being here this morning. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to 2 Corinthians, [0:14] chapter 6. If you’ve noticed over the series, there’s a trend. We’re always somewhere in [0:20] 2 Corinthians. We’ve gone pretty much from chapter 3 through chapter 6, and we’re going [0:26] finishing up the resistance today. If you haven’t been with us over the past few weeks,
[0:32] we’ve been talking about the ways in which we resist the work of the gospel in our lives. [0:39] That in each and every one of us, through the work of Jesus, through His personhood, [0:44] through His work on our behalf on the cross and the resurrection, He desires to do a work in [0:50] each and every one of our lives. From Easter for the next six weeks, we had a series called [0:55] Alive. In that series, we showed really what we’re alive for through the gospel. [1:02] Then, now we transition to a series called the Resistance. Basically, what it’s been,
[1:07] it jumped right off that series, and it’s ways in which we resist the life that God has for us [1:13] in Himself, the work that the Spirit desires to do in us. We’ve talked about resistance to change, [1:19] resistance to growth, resistance to commitment, responsibility. Then, last week, we talked about [1:25] resistance to true belief in our lives and the fact that God, when we come to Jesus, [1:31] He does a work in us in which starts a change. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul writes that this change is [1:40] like we’re seeing the unveiled glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Then, progressively,
[1:47] we change. Then, we talked about that change becomes a growth process in our lives, where [1:52] we are becoming more and more like Jesus, where our passion is becoming more and more [1:57] consumed with the passions that He has, with the mission that He has for us in our lives. [2:03] That undoubtedly brings commitment, and that our lives must be driven by the commitment that we [2:09] have to the gospel. It can’t be driven by pain. It can’t be driven by the pleasures and the delights [2:15] that this temporary world has to offer us. We saw in that week that there is this transient
[2:22] pleasure that this world has to offer us. But Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4 that we must not [2:29] focus on that which is transient, but that which is eternal. That is only in Jesus and only in [2:36] living a life for His mission that we can know the eternal pleasures and the eternal delight and the [2:44] eternal purpose that God has for each and every one of us. How that commitment then turns into [2:51] this great responsibility that God has given each and every one of us in 2 Corinthians 5, [2:56] where Paul actually calls us ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal to those who do not
[3:02] know Him through us, that they can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Then last week, [3:10] Nate brought an amazing message. If you were not here to catch it, please go listen to the podcast [3:15] about what it means to believe that Jesus is God. That we do not as Christians just simply have [3:23] this simple belief that we know something is true, but it does not affect our lives, [3:29] but that scripture lays out that true belief in Jesus, true belief in the gospel always [3:36] translates into a life of action, into a life in which we trust in the gospel. That we actually
[3:45] put the actual totality of our lives into what the gospel says and we risk everything else because [3:53] we believe that that is the only thing in life that can be trusted. That is the only thing that is [4:00] true. What that inevitably leads us to is this place where we are a little bit charged up. I [4:08] was charged up after last week. I needed that. Where we say, yes, I believe. I got out of the [4:17] life of action. Then I look and I say, but I have no idea what that action looks like. [4:24] Yeah, what do I do? So inevitably we look at belief. We look at responsibility. We look at
[4:30] commitment. We look at change. We look at growth and we say, I want everything that Paul is writing [4:36] about in second Corinthians. I want to be like Philip who inevitably though he did not know what [4:43] Jesus was talking about in John chapter 14. I believe it was though he was a little confused [4:48] once he trusted. Once he knew his life was forever changed and he became a missionary [4:54] for the gospel throughout a lot of the world. But then we look at our own lives and we say, [5:00] okay, well I’ll read the scriptures. Okay, well I’ll start praying. I’ll put these little changes.
[5:05] But then when it gets to actually believing that we must live for the mission of Jesus, [5:12] that is where I have noticed the most confusion comes in. And it’s a confusion that I believe is [5:19] brought on by fear. A very real fear that we will either A, fall back into the sin that we were [5:28] redeemed from or B, that we’re somehow going to mess it all up. That we’re somehow going to take [5:36] on these responsibilities that we see in second Corinthians chapter five where we’re actually [5:41] called ambassadors for Christ. Where God is making his appeal through us and we just look
[5:46] at him and say, I don’t think I can handle that. I’m not talented enough. I’m not strident enough. [5:56] I’m not responsible enough. I’m not well spoken enough. I’m not pretty enough. I don’t know. [6:01] There’s a lot of not enoughs that we tend to throw out there. But what I want to talk about [6:07] today is that very resistance and how it works its way into our lives and why belief [6:14] is so important in our resistance to becoming missionaries to the culture that is all around [6:20] us. And what I want to talk about today really is what’s up on the screen, resistance to culture.
[6:27] Because what I see inside of the church is, and we’ve all seen it because we’ve all spent time [6:32] in church, that there is this great almost war or battle that seems to be thought up or thought [6:38] out to where it’s almost like an us against them persona. We are the church and we’re against the [6:44] world. It can work its way up so much so that when I was a child there was even a way in which some [6:50] people would come to church and we would kind of look at them and say, they look worldly. [6:55] And those are the ones you keep your kids away from. Those are the ones where as soon as it’s
[7:01] anywhere near children’s church you run. Say, I got to get my kid out now. [7:07] Our teenagers will get friends and we’ll say, hmm, he’s got some worldly friends.
[7:13] Or we will have co-workers that we refuse to spend time with because they’re just a little [7:18] too worldly. We’re just not quite comfortable enough. Or we’ve erected this divide between [7:24] church and culture. It’s called the sacred secular divide where we have our own music, [7:29] we have our own t-shirts, we have our own coffee shops, and because we just don’t want to be [7:35] involved in the secular realm. There’s this divide and resistance that we put up. But if [7:44] we’re really honest with ourselves, when we look in scripture, that resistance really shouldn’t be.
[7:53] That Jesus, the person of Jesus, what he did in this world, he did not have this great resistance [8:01] to even sinful culture. But rather what Jesus did was he full on engaged the culture with himself. [8:12] He did not syncretize with culture. He did not excuse sin. But rather he just went in [8:20] and took himself to where the sin was and said, I know why you’re struggling in sin. [8:27] And I know what you’re looking for. And it’s me. But the question is, is what do we do?
[8:36] Because quite honestly, sometimes your fear,
[8:41] it’s a decent fear to have. Because for some of us, when we came to Jesus, there were great [8:48] struggles in sin that we had. And there are great hangups and there’s some baggage that’s still [8:54] there. And there’s this great fear that if we engage certain aspects of culture, [9:01] then it’s going to overtake us and we’re going to be trampled by it. And it’s just more than we [9:07] can handle. So what do we do? We stay safe. We stay in the church. We stay with our Christian [9:16] friends. We stay with the people that make us feel safe. But kind of in the trend
[9:24] of this series, we started in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18, where Paul writes that we [9:30] are being transformed from one form of glory to another. And that’s where the resistance to [9:37] growth was. If we have this idea that the Christian life is all about growth, the question is, can you [9:46] get through the baggage? Can you get through the hangups? Can you get through the painful [9:51] memories of the past so that you can actually grow to be more and more like this person of Jesus [9:58] that we’re going to take a look at today in John chapter 4. But where I want to start today is in
[10:02] 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1. Now this is jumping right off of chapter 5 verse 21, [10:09] where Paul says that Jesus was made to be sin even though he didn’t know sin so that we might [10:17] become the righteousness of God. And then two weeks ago we talked about how that righteousness [10:21] actually manifests itself in a life where we are the ambassadors for reconciliation, [10:27] where God’s not counting anyone’s sin against them, but rather he poured those sin, [10:31] he poured that wrath onto his son Jesus so that we could just have a free,
[10:36] wide-open relationship in him, finding our righteousness in Jesus, and that’s shown through [10:41] being those ambassadors. Let’s look in verse 1 and see how Paul works off of that. And he says, [10:47] working together with him then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. [10:54] For he says, in a favorable time I listened to you, in a day of salvation I came to you. [11:03] Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. [11:09] Look at this. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way so that no fault may be found with our ministry.
[11:21] All right, now the first thing I want you to notice in those verses, the first thing we’re [11:24] going to talk about today is the fact, and this is something that is going to stretch you a little [11:28] bit this morning, but God partners with his people in the work of redemption. [11:35] All right, look there in verse 1 again. Notice what he says right after he talks, [11:41] he gives this great declaration of the gospel, what we have in Jesus, the fact that Jesus became [11:48] sin, even though he didn’t know sin, so that we could become the righteousness of God. And so
[11:53] he talks about our identity, he talks about the fact that we have the righteousness of God [11:58] as undeserved as it is, we’ve been declared completely righteous. We’ve been imputed, so to [12:04] say, with the righteousness of Jesus. And this is what he says about it, he says, working together [12:12] with him then. All right, Paul is specifically talking about his position in the gospel and [12:19] what he is doing with his life, and then he’s translating it over and he’s saying, Corinthians, [12:25] this is what is true of your life. I’ve talked about that ambassadorship, I’ve talked about that
[12:32] message of reconciliation. Jesus, last week we saw, Jesus talked about the fact that to believe him [12:38] is to obey him. And what Paul says that translates into is this realization that God, in his absolute [12:47] sovereignty over all things, past, present, future, he has chosen for those whom he has redeemed to [12:56] himself to actually have a partnership because we have the righteousness of Jesus in which he says, [13:04] you, my people, will play a huge role in the work of redemption for those who do not know me yet. [13:12] For those who are now far from me, those who have not yet experienced reconciliation with me,
[13:19] I’m going to partner with you to reach them. So that’s a little bit more of that responsibility [13:28] that I was talking about two weeks ago, that God has actually called us to himself and that we [13:35] don’t just sit stagnant in that, but rather God has looked at each and every person he calls to [13:41] himself and says, guess what? We’re now partners. And there is a place in my sovereign plan in which [13:53] I’m depending on you. And you might say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That doesn’t fit with the [14:01] sovereignty of God where he’s in control, you know, the let go, let God mentality. Here’s what I’m
[14:06] saying is that the gospel doesn’t depend on us. The life that we have in Jesus doesn’t depend on us. [14:16] The righteousness that we have in Jesus doesn’t depend on us. The very indwelling of the Holy [14:22] Spirit that those of us that call Jesus our Lord have, it doesn’t depend on us. The mission of [14:29] Jesus then doesn’t depend on us. So what is this verse saying? What is Paul saying when God says [14:35] part of it’s dependent on you? Remember the realization that we had in the alive series [14:40] where everything that we do for God in our lives is actually of faith because God is doing it
[14:48] through us. That in the resurrection, there’s this realization that my life does not belong to me, [14:54] rather it belongs to God and everything that God is going to do through me, he’s actually doing it [15:00] through me. And so this dependence is in this constant union that we have. The book of Ephesians [15:07] talks about that we have been united with Christ. And then in Galatians chapter two, where he says, [15:13] I’m dead in Christ, yet I’m still alive in the life I now live. I live by faith in the Son of God. [15:20] That our lives are now meant and are now constructed and are now pushed by the Spirit.
[15:29] So that just like it says in Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, so that we can walk into the good works [15:34] that God has designed beforehand for us. Is there something that you must do with the gospel? Yes. [15:46] Whose power will you do it under? God’s. And one of the first places that we see resistance begin [15:54] to come up is that we struggle to trust that God can do anything of value through us. Because let’s [16:03] be honest, each and every one of us, I know what a sinner I am. I know how much the things that I do, [16:12] even the good deeds that I think I do, the motives behind them usually are disgusting to God.
[16:20] And what I trust in the gospel is that God has put that onto Jesus. And so when I trust the gospel, [16:29] I’m trusting that in spite of me, God still loves me. And the transforming work that he’s doing [16:37] inside of me and that he wants to continue to do inside of me is going to be done in spite of me [16:44] and because of Jesus. And it’s because of Jesus that God wants to partner with us. [16:53] So for me to trust the gospel is to also trust that a God that would kill his own son for me [17:01] can use me to bring him glory and live his mission as an ambassador for him.
[17:09] So yes, God desires to partner with us, but because we don’t find our identity in our sin [17:16] any longer. No, where’s our identity? It’s to be found in Jesus. It’s to be found in [17:24] 2 Corinthians 5.21. And it’s only with finding your identity in that, that you can actually [17:31] live anything for the gospel. Because our living and our striving and our partnership [17:37] is this partnership where we’re just constantly in awe of the fact that God would use a sinner [17:42] like us. Even at the end of Paul’s life, he looks and he writes and he says, I am the chief of
[17:47] sinners, but look at all that God did through Paul’s life. Why did he do it? It wasn’t because [17:51] Paul was so talented. It wasn’t because there was anything special about Paul. It was because [17:56] Paul found his identity in Christ and your resistance to taking the gospel and actually [18:02] living for the gospel and actually going to people who don’t have the gospel in order to build [18:08] relationships that will bring them to the gospel. Your resistance begins with what we talked about [18:13] last week. What you believe. It’s the foundation of everything. Who do you believe that you are
[18:21] in Jesus? Do you believe that you have less Jesus than someone else has? Because if you don’t live [18:28] for the gospel, you are practically living with that mentality. And that is not a mentality that [18:36] is gospel centered. It’s not cross centered. It’s not Christ centered. It’s not resurrection [18:40] centered because in the resurrection, what God does for us in Jesus is he shows us that he can [18:46] bring death to life. And every time someone is redeemed, he’s again showing, look at what I can [18:51] do. I can bring death to life. And in your life and in your journey where you’re walking into the
[18:58] works that God has prepared beforehand, he’s more and more showing how much he can do with so little.
[19:07] This isn’t about how great you are. This isn’t about how talented you are. This isn’t about how [19:13] good you are at anything. This is about how great and how powerful God is. Each and every week when [19:21] I get up here, that’s a testament that God can use anyone. I don’t know anything. Yet I just come [19:29] up and I talk about the Bible that’s already been written. And that’s not a testament to me. I don’t [19:33] know why I just did that. I know it’s there. It’s a testament to God. That he desires to bring [19:41] himself glory through sinful creatures because of the work of his son. And at the very beginning
[19:50] of understanding our position in culture is an understanding of what God desires to do in us, [19:59] with us, and through us. He’s working together with us. What I want to do is I want to move [20:08] pretty fast because I can talk about one verse for like seven hours.
[20:14] Number two this morning, I want you to look in verse three.
[20:20] Verse three, Paul writes. Well, first of all, in verse two, he talks about the fact that today [20:25] is the day of salvation. And he’s talking about a scripture that’s from the book of Isaiah. [20:30] And what he’s basically saying is he’s talking more about how he’s going to do this. He doesn’t [20:35] need us, but he desires to use us just simply because he’s God. And he can do what he wants [20:41] because he’s God. And then in verse three, Paul says something very interesting. He says, [20:47] We put no obstacle in anyone’s way so that no fault may be found with our ministry.
[20:58] When I read that, I find it very interesting because in First Corinthians, remember Paul is [21:03] writing, you know, he wrote a bunch to Church at Corinth, but in scripture they’ve canonized two [21:07] different places, First Corinthians and Second Corinthians. And this is the second book of [21:11] First Corinthians. And in First Corinthians, between chapter eight and chapter 10, I believe [21:16] in verse three there, and a lot of people agree with me, but that makes no difference because I [21:19] think I’m smart enough for that. But in between chapters eight and chapter 10 of First Corinthians,
[21:25] Paul writes to the church at Corinth, and I think he’s referring to this passage where there was [21:31] this huge controversy with can they eat meat offered to idols? Can they not eat meat offered [21:35] to idols? Because it’s offensive to some people, it’s not offensive to other people. And Paul, [21:39] at the end of this whole diatribe, he begins to lay out for them that everything that they do [21:44] must be done with the sermon that comes from the Holy Spirit to know the most effective way to take [21:50] the message of the gospel to the culture that they live in and to the people in their church so they
[21:55] can build them up so they can get over their hangups and their baggage. And at the end of [22:00] chapter 10, what Paul says is that we’re to do everything in our lives in following him as he [22:07] follows Jesus, but he does everything so that at all costs he can reach as many people as possible, [22:17] which is the idea behind that passage, so that he can reach more and more people with the gospel. [22:23] And then he cap ends it and he says, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the [22:28] glory of God. And what he says is, if there is something that is a barrier to the truth of the
[22:34] gospel and it is not an essential to the gospel, then what we are to do is we are to remove that [22:42] offense so that people can understand with no confusion the message of the gospel. And what [22:52] Paul is talking about right here in verse three is this realization that he does everything that he [22:58] can do so that people will see that he truly believes the gospel, that he even his avoidance of [23:07] sin is an avoidance so that it will not discredit the gospel. Because remember two weeks ago we [23:15] talked about the way in which God brings himself glory in this age is through the message of the
[23:21] gospel going out so that more and more people can be redeemed. And so Paul is talking in verse three [23:28] that he engineers his life intentionally and specifically so that there is nothing that can [23:37] become a distraction for anyone to the gospel. He’s realistically saying if there is a tradition, [23:46] if there is a religious practice, if there is a sinful habit, if there is a code of dress, [23:51] if there is a code of communication, if there is an atmosphere that can be set, [23:57] whatever needs to be done so that the gospel is as clear as possible, that is what I must do so
[24:04] that I do not put a stumbling block in anyone’s way. It’s a direct reference to first Corinthians [24:10] eight through ten. Go read it. Don’t really have time to cover those three chapters right now, [24:15] but that’s what he’s talking about. And so Paul is saying that this partnership that we have with [24:21] God is so that we can begin to form our very lives around the sole purpose of taking the gospel [24:31] to the world. And the way that that inevitably works out is that we must engage the culture [24:42] in which we are living in with the very gospel. Culture must be engaged with the gospel. There
[24:51] is just simply no way around it. And you may be sitting there and this is where you’ll be like,
[25:02] some of you will be like, that’s fine with me. But some of you are like me. I’m 31 years old. [25:11] I’ve been in church for 31 years. There’s a culture that I’m used to.
[25:18] All right. It’s choir practice. It’s Sunday school teachers meetings. It’s Southern gospel sings. [25:26] It’s Sunday school. It’s church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. It’s a couple more [25:31] meetings throughout the week. It’s youth group activities. And there’s inevitably when you’re [25:40] in a culture that is formed in which you spend the majority of your time in and it is what becomes [25:48] really the defining point of your life. All right. Not trying to bash that. But what I’m saying is, [25:57] is inevitably when we begin to talk about things like this, if you’ve spent a lot of time in church,
[26:02] you get very uncomfortable because what you’re being asked to do is to cross over a cultural [26:09] barrier that you have because each and every one of us have a culture. All of us do. [26:17] And what the gospel will compel us to do then is to remove the obstacles that the culture that [26:23] I have formed in my life to other cultures, specifically the one that I’m living in. [26:31] Because maybe there is a mentality that you may have to where there is a Christian culture that [26:36] I have and there is the worldly culture that they have. And the way in which I stay unstained from
[26:43] the world, you’ve heard that one before, I stay unstained from the world is that I stay in my [26:52] Christian safe culture. The only problem with that is Jesus. All right. What I want you to do now is [27:06] turn over to John chapter four. Because in looking for a specific example about how I can talk about [27:13] this subject without just putting all of my own thoughts and just badgering you with my opinions, [27:18] it’s always safe to go to Jesus. All right. And what I want to do today is I want to use a story [27:23] of Jesus to kind of help us understand why we need and how we should take the gospel to culture.
[27:30] In John chapter four, we have a very familiar story. It’s about the Samaritan woman at the well. [27:35] John chapter four, star reading in verse seven, a woman from Samaria came to draw water.
[27:43] Jesus said to her, give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [27:48] The Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, [27:53] a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus said to her, [27:59] if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have [28:04] asked him and he would have given you living water. And you’re like, okay, Jesus was on [28:12] door to door visitation. I get how he was working there. No, that’s not what’s going on here at all.
[28:22] Jesus is, well, he’s Jesus, so he’s walking around. And he comes to where the Samaritans live. Now, [28:28] if you know anything about the Samaritans, and I’m not going to go into too much of the history [28:30] because most of you probably know this, is that Samaritans in that day were considered ethnic [28:37] half-breeds. All right, you know all the ethnic cleansing that takes place in other countries? [28:41] Well, it wasn’t really much different back then. The Jews considered their race to be pure because [28:47] throughout the Old Testament, they were the chosen people of God and they considered themselves to be
[28:52] purest of blood. Well, and one of the points where Israel was in sin, some Assyrians had come in and [28:58] had, well, you know, with some Jews and there had come these children who were half Assyrian, [29:08] half Jewish, and they were considered to be completely detestable. And so this whole culture [29:14] is formed and once Israel repented of their sins, well, instead of giving them the hope of God, [29:19] they just, all these people, they just pushed them out of their society and the Samaritans had to [29:24] their own culture. And what was formed is this culture and Jews, they hated the Samaritans so
[29:30] much they wouldn’t even walk through Samaria. They would walk around Samaria so they wouldn’t even [29:36] have to interact with them. All right, and so Jesus is crossing a huge cultural barrier here [29:43] and that’s the first thing that confused this woman. She was a Samaritan and Jesus dared to [29:48] engage her. More than that, he asks her for a drink of water, unheard of in that culture. [29:54] All right. Secondly, you have to understand that this was not just any Samaritan. So for a Jew to [30:02] talk to her, that Jew would have been considered to be completely unclean and he’s borderline
[30:07] asking her to have table fellowship with her, which was a big no-no for them. All right. But [30:12] secondly, the thing, and I’m not going to read all the verses because there is a lot of them, [30:15] the second thing you need to understand about this woman, this was a very sinful woman. [30:19] Very sinful woman, engaged in very, even in our age, very sinful activity. All right. [30:27] And the first part you need to know about her is that she’s a Samaritan. The second part you need [30:31] to know about her is apparently the Samaritans wouldn’t even have anything to do with this woman
[30:37] because for a Samaritan woman to be going to the well by herself was very historically strange [30:42] because what they would do in that day is they would go in groups to get water and she’s by [30:47] herself getting water and what Jesus uncovers because he already knows it and what she confesses [30:52] to Jesus is that she’s quite the fornicator, quite the adulterous woman, that she’s lived with many, [30:59] many men, had relations with many, many men within Samaria and had the worst of reputations inside [31:05] of Samaria and Jesus is not only engaging someone that’s considered ethnically unclean, but someone
[31:13] that is actively immoral and Jesus just full on goes and he says, can I have a drink of water? [31:24] And she’s very confused by what Jesus does. All right. So understand the, this cultural type of [31:30] thing, when you cross it over, it’s confusing to even centers, excuse me. And so what Jesus does is [31:37] he engages her and he, she says, how would you ask me for a drink of water? Notice what Jesus says. [31:42] I love the way Jesus says things. I think he was funny as he says, lady, if you knew who was [31:48] talking to you right now, you’d ask me for water and I would give you so much. You’d never thirst.
[31:53] And so over the course of a conversation, Jesus brings her sin out of her and brings it to the [32:03] forefront after revealing to her his glory. Jesus crosses over this cultural gap and here’s how [32:10] Jesus is going to engage the cultural person that is not of his culture. He’s very confused by her, [32:18] not Jesus, but the Jews would have been, is he first engages her with his glory. Jesus does not [32:27] really worry about how hip he’ll be to the Samaritans, how smart he’ll be to Samaritan [32:32] culture, how savvy he’ll be to the Samaritan woman, how great he’ll be to the Samaritan woman.
[32:38] No, first he points us to the personhood of who he is and he says, you need to understand my glory.
[32:48] When we’re engaging culture with the gospel, the first thing you need to be considerate about is [32:55] Jesus and not you. This is not about anything more or less than who Jesus is and he confronts her [33:07] with his glory before he confronts her with her sin. Does he confront her with her sin? [33:15] Absolutely. But is that where he starts? No. How do we engage culture in large part? Christianity, sin.
[33:34] That’s not where Jesus begins. Jesus begins with himself and we must begin with him. [33:44] See the culture, everything is counterfeit because they don’t see the love and compassion that [33:52] Jesus has for the Samaritan woman. And because we don’t give it number one and number two, [33:58] it’s because we’re more enamored with activity and action than we are with the Son of God.
[34:07] For the culture to see the beauty of Jesus, we must be enamored with the person of Jesus. [34:16] And they must see it as truth inside of us. So Jesus then confronts her sin, her adultery, [34:23] fornication, the fact that she’s seeking satisfaction in ways that God has not designed [34:30] for humanity be satisfied. But then he engages her with her need and he shows her not that her [34:40] life will be so much better if she’ll just stop all that sinning, but rather he says the reason [34:48] which you are sinning is because you have a great need that only I can fill. And then finally,
[34:59] he engages her back with his redemption. He doesn’t leave her with question, but rather he [35:07] fills her with himself. But how do we typically, because you know we’re not stupid, we know that [35:13] we’re called to take the gospel, but how do we typically think that we need to take the gospel [35:17] to people? I think it’s in three ways. You may disagree, but you know, that’s okay. You’re not [35:22] up here. We typically begin by addressing people’s sin. That’s what we do. Watch the news.
[35:35] You know, some things are disgusting to anyone.
[35:42] But when we find justice for sin, where do we find it?
[35:47] We don’t find it in them getting payback. We don’t find it in them, you know, modifying [35:54] their behavior. No, we find it in the cross. We find it in Jesus. Because if you truly believe [36:03] and trust the gospel, you know that without Jesus, you are capable of all types of sin.
[36:13] Then we go to people’s need. After we piss them off, we tell them what they need.
[36:21] All right, at that point, it’s all they have already put the barriers up. There’s already a [36:26] stumbling block up because they don’t even think we like them very much. And then finally, [36:32] we then focus not on Jesus’s redemption, but on our redemption.
[36:38] Well, let me show you what’s going on in my life. Well, let me show you how much God does through me. [36:45] Well, let me show you about my greatness. And so what we do is we just put barrier after barrier [36:53] after barrier to the point if someone’s really struggling with sin and you just show them your [36:58] greatness, all they see is a hurdle that they can’t even overcome.
[37:05] And then we get to Jesus. See, I think that our resistance to engaging the culture with the gospel [37:14] doesn’t begin with the fact that we don’t like the culture. I think it begins because we’re not [37:21] really believing the gospel like we should. Because if we believe the gospel like we should, [37:26] we wouldn’t see unclean and clean cultures. We would just simply see people within cultures [37:30] because it is people that make culture. And people have not changed since the woman at the well.
[37:38] But I want you to see is what happens after Jesus engages this woman at the well. Look down to verse 31.
[37:47] Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him saying, Rabbi, eat those disciples that weren’t there. [37:52] They come back and guess what they see? They see Jesus engaging a Samaritan and well, [37:56] that doesn’t really fit into the standards of the women’s missionary union. So they say, [38:01] oh, Jesus, you don’t want to see anybody seeing you talk to her. Hey, come over here. We got [38:04] some food for you. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. [38:12] I mean, he definitely tells them a rebuke there and joke for him, I think.
[38:17] So the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him something to eat? [38:20] So glib. Jesus said to them, my food. Hey, who brought him a Big Mac? My food is to do the will [38:28] of him who sent me to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are yet four months, then comes the [38:33] harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest. Already the [38:41] one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life so that the sower and reaper [38:47] may rejoice to that partnership. So the sower and reaper may rejoice together.
[38:55] What I love about this passage of scripture is the disciples come back and everything in their [39:00] tradition, everything in their religion, everything in their ethnicity says we need to stay away from [39:05] this woman. And Jesus looks to them and he jokes at them and he chides them a little bit, but he [39:11] does not minimize them. He does not say you people are stupid. He does not say what’s wrong with you. [39:21] No, he looks at them and he teaches. See, this is the importance of community inside of reaching [39:29] the culture with the gospel is what Jesus does is he sees their misconceptions. He sees their
[39:35] maturity. He sees that which they do not understand and he gives them the same love that he gives to [39:43] the Samaritan woman and he engages them and he says understand that she’s the reason I’m here, [39:55] but so are you because everyone needs me. And then he says look at the fields, they’re ripe for harvest. [40:05] You should be just as compassionate for her as I am. Her sin is no worse than your sin. [40:13] But then notice what happens.
[40:18] For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap for that which [40:23] you did not labor. Others have labored and you have entered into their labor. [40:28] And by this time the woman has run off because she didn’t know better. [40:35] She didn’t know that she needed to enter into an eight-week evangelism course before she was allowed to go back and tell people about Jesus.
[40:44] Now she runs headlong back into Samaria and says come and see a man who told me everything that I ever did. [40:53] Immediately she is overcome with the grace and compassion that Jesus has for her. [41:02] Because she runs into a town that already looks down on her from a people that are looking down on her [41:08] and her statement come see a man that told me everything I had ever done. I believe behind [41:12] that statement is a very important thing because he didn’t rebuke her, he didn’t send her away, [41:19] he didn’t say stay away from me because of her sin, he said because of your sin is why you need me.
[41:29] Then look at what happens. Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.
[41:40] So when the Samaritans came to him they asked him to stay with them and he stayed there two days. [41:44] And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, [41:47] it is no longer because of what you said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves [41:52] and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world.
[42:00] A little while later the religious people would kill him while the Samaritans were worshiping him.
[42:10] There’s something that happens in the life of every Christian at some point. [42:17] In which we become too sanctified, too holy, too something to take the gospel to the culture around us.
[42:29] There comes a time when we’re so involved in church activities, we’re so involved in our religion, [42:37] we’re so involved in ourselves and trying to grow and trying to feel and trying to be and trying to live [42:48] and trying to have more of Jesus and feel more of Jesus that somehow everything gets turned around [42:56] and it becomes a huge focus on myself and on my obedience and on me being clean and on me staying away [43:05] from that which could make me unclean. And what happens is I believe it. We stop trusting in the [43:12] gospel and begin trusting in our own obedience so much so that the world is seen as an obstacle
[43:22] to our cleanliness.
[43:27] And Jesus right here examples for us. Paul exemplifies for us and says the gospel will not change you, [43:37] the gospel will not grow you, you can’t be committed to the gospel, you can’t be responsible for the gospel, [43:44] and you sure don’t believe the gospel unless you are living a life in which you have compassion for those [43:52] that do not have the gospel.
[43:59] You are not more holy than they.
[44:05] And if you’re not engaging, if you’re not growing in relationship with, [44:12] then you are not following Jesus.
[44:18] And I think for some of us we are waiting for Jesus to push us into someone’s life. [44:26] And I do this, I do this too. I would love to lead someone to faith in Christ. [44:31] God put someone in my path, pushed me towards them in your sovereignty. Can God do that? Absolutely.
[44:41] But I don’t know that the life in Christ is identified by Jesus pushing us as much as it is by us following where he’s going.
[44:53] Jesus is already in the culture that you think is sinful.
[44:57] Jesus is already working. That’s why he says the fields are ripe for harvest. The seeds, he’s sowing them through his spirit. [45:06] If you believe in the sovereignty of God, you believe that. [45:09] But in that partnership we were talking about just a few moments ago, we must understand [45:16] that he is already working, and we must proactively follow where he is already working. [45:27] Because you see, I’ll finish with this. [45:32] Our hope for culture is revealed in our passion and our action.
[45:39] See, because I think there’s been a real misunderstanding over the past 20, 30, forever years that Christians hate the culture. [45:50] That’s not ours. [45:52] I’ve stopped believing that. [45:55] I don’t think that we think they’re so terrible.
[46:01] There are some fringe elements of cultures that we look at and we’re like, those are the weirdos. [46:08] Stay away from them. And guess what, I probably do too.
[46:14] But culture by and large I think is something that we’re in love with. [46:19] Think about it. [46:21] Every day, I know you guys don’t work here, because I’m the only one that does. [46:28] And I’ve been missing all the staff meetings if you do. [46:32] But you guys have jobs in the culture. [46:37] You get paychecks from the culture.
[46:41] You go to restaurants in the culture, you go to playgrounds in the culture, you go to malls, you buy the same clothes everyone in the culture wears. [46:48] Nobody’s in here in a tunic, so you’re all wearing very cultural clothes. [46:53] You drive cars, you fill up gas, you depend on the economics of this culture, you vote in elections for this culture, you believe one way or the other about politics in this culture. [47:03] I think you are in love with this culture.
[47:08] So I don’t think it’s them that’s the problem. [47:12] I think it’s us.
[47:14] I think we’re more in love with this culture than we are with Jesus.
[47:21] I think, the reason I worded it this way is that our hope for culture is revealed in our passion and our action. [47:28] Because whatever we spend our lives pursuing is what we are practically saying the hope of the world is in. [47:36] Because it’s where we’re finding our hope. [47:39] And I think most of us are pursuing paychecks, pretty families, and big houses.
[47:47] And I think we’re afraid that if we were to commit, be responsible for, grow in, and change through the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we would lose all that.
[48:03] Because we’re struggling to believe that Jesus is better than all that. [48:08] Because if we truly believe the gospel, I think that we would look at everything and say, [48:19] well it’s fun and it can be a blessing from God, I’m willing to risk it all. [48:26] Because I know that if I live a risky life, in which I’m constantly trying to engage people in this culture with the compassion and love of Jesus,
[48:39] I’m willing to risk all that because I love Jesus so much.
[48:45] And I think our resistance to culture has more to do with our disbelief in the greatness and the goodness of Jesus and his gospel than it has anything to do with us being afraid of the culture around us. [49:02] Now, if you are afraid of the sin of the culture, then I think you’ve got a gospel problem too.
[49:11] I think your gospel problem is that you don’t trust the great work of Jesus to cover your sins enough to realize that if you’re in Jesus, it can’t stain you.
[49:26] But here’s why.
[49:29] Come in every Sunday, you see that there’s a poster on the wall that says redemption, mission, community, and culture. [49:37] For those of you that struggle in sin, it’s in a cycle. [49:42] And culture is the last step for a reason. [49:44] Some of you come with some real baggage, some real hang-ups. [49:47] And I would never send a gambler into a casino. [49:51] Okay, let’s just use that as an example.
[49:53] Cincinnati was talking about the lottery last week. [49:56] I would never send a gambler, an addicted gambler to a casino to try to start any type of ministry. [50:02] I don’t know that I would do that anyway, but you get the point. [50:05] Here’s the key. [50:07] When we’re dealing with culture, understand that you do it with the strength of the community and discipleship that God’s going to give you. [50:18] Everything begins with redemption.
[50:20] You’re redeemed from your sin. [50:23] Maybe your sin looks a lot like societal sin, but it’s your sin. [50:27] And He transforms you and begins to change you to live the mission. [50:31] But you cannot live that mission if you are not being discipled. [50:34] What does Jesus do with His disciples? [50:36] He forms a community.
[50:37] What happens in Samaria? [50:38] A community is formed around the gospel. [50:40] Discipleship begins to happen with the gospel. [50:42] Jesus spends two days doing it, and then He leaves them, and they continue to work. [50:46] But community is the backbone for you engaging the culture with the gospel that you trust and believe with. [50:55] And we’ve shown that each and every one of you are in the culture and you’re active in the culture.
[51:00] The simple matter is that if you’re afraid of the sin staining you anymore, [51:05] that’s where you lean heavier into your community so that they can preach the gospel more and more to you. [51:12] And if you do go out and you do mess up, in the words of Alan Hirsch, [51:16] how big is the gospel? [51:17] He’ll just clean you up and send you back in anyway.
[51:21] Don’t think that if you go into culture to reach people with the gospel and end up screwing it up, [51:25] and you come back, I’m going to look at you and be like, [51:27] well forget you then. [51:29] No, I’m just going to give you more gospel.
[51:34] But here’s the key. [51:36] When we do engage the culture the way Jesus engaged the culture,
[51:41] that cycle of redemption begins in someone else’s life to the glory of God. [51:53] And to believe the gospel is to believe that there is nothing in this life that is better than that.
[52:04] Father, we love you.
[52:11] God, I ask right now that over the next few moments
[52:19] that your Spirit would challenge each and every one of us
[52:25] to believe the gospel to the point where we become missionaries for your culture.
[52:34] Lord, you’re out there and you’re working and you’re bidding us to follow you.
[52:40] God, I pray that we would have the same attitude as that of Jesus [52:45] as he ran headlong into a culture that everyone said was going to ruin everything.
[52:55] Engaged in with yourself.
[52:59] May we begin to live lives in which we are engaging those around us with the gospel we claim to believe.