What It Means to Belong to the Church: DEVOTION

Acts 2:42 ff.

Sunday MorningJanuary 31, 2010Church in the BoroRob Wilkerson

Introduction

Belonging necessarily implies you are part of something bigger than yourself - something involving more than just one person. It implies the presence or existence of a group of people, an organization, or club. The NT knows nothing of family church where a family gathers by itself to worship together. It also knows nothing of single worship by oneself at a golf course or in a fishing boat or at the beach. Belonging implies you want to belong to a group, a club, or an organization. So you attend regularly, when they meet. In most organizations or clubs, or even businesses, it is generally frowned upon to NOT attend…because everyone else interprets that as you not caring. And they're right! So you come because you want to come. Individualism and Independence are the biggest threats to our world and to the church today. Everything is designed, marketed, and sold to us on the grounds of uniqueness and identity. Take prom dresses, for example. The only reason I can think of that the store downtown would announce that it had received over 2,000 prom dresses is because it is a nightmare for a girl to show up to a prom with the same dress as another girl. That would be totally embarrassing! Each one has to be special and unique and different…individual.

The same goes for pretty much everything else we buy. There are choices primarily because we are driven by individualism…the felt need to be different, to be special, to stand out. And this individualism and independence are in the DNA of our culture and our country. That is the reason there is hardly any cohesion among family members, businesses, organizations, churches, etc. This is inherent in most Western cultures, whereas in Eastern cultures individualism and independence is foreign. The sense of belonging and family and group is strong. And, of course, this is the culture in which the Bible was written. So from the get-go we Westerners face an obstacle to really and truly understanding and experiencing what biblical local church really means and looks like.

DEVOTION as the Biblical Reflection of Church in the Boro

Belonging means you are absorbed into the larger group and you take on that identity. This is how the NT portrays it. Acts 2:42 emphasizes that the believers joined with the other believers in devotion…Acts 2:44 emphasizes that the believers met together constantly.Acts 2:46 emphasizes that the believers worshiped together at the Temple each day. Together: Joining with the other believers. Several reflections.

a. Regular gathering together…never missing a chance to be together.b. According to Hebrews 10:23-25, we join together, devoting ourselves to gathering

together is in order to be able to hold on tight to God's promises, and encourage each other to hold on tight.

c. In several places throughout the NT we are referred to as a family, as brothers and sisters together, as the bride of Christ, as the body of Christ, etc. Family implies togetherness in a common bond or purpose as well as a common life.

If Church in the Boro is on a mission to preach the gospel to Statesboro and the surrounding world…and if we are on a mission to make disciples of all nations…and if we are on a mission to preach forgiveness of sins to the nations…and if we are on a mission to plant reproducing churches in those nations, then this biblical concept of joining together is our vehicle. It is the bus on which all those involved with Church in the Boro ride into that mission. But the bus needs wheels. Otherwise, we're just all sitting together…family style…doing nothing. The Bible is very clear in its descriptions and reflections of this togetherness of the early church. The vehicle was family…but it four distinct wheels which kept it moving…which KEEP it moving up until this very day and until the day Jesus returns. If you can imagine the bus being wrapped with our Church in the Boro logo, mission statement, and vision statement. It would be pretty sweet, wouldn't it? Now imagine the wheels…nothing fancy…no giant chrome spinners and wheels. Just plain old rims sitting inside a tire, each of which is white lettered at the top of the tire with the brand DEVOTION. Then in smaller white letters, you read the name of each wheel: biblical teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. At any point along our journey, if one of these tires has a flat, we can't just keep going, obviously. It has to be changed. But we don't just put a spare on it! We stop and do what it takes to repair the actual tire. Only THESE tires will do on this bus. No other tires will FIT properly. They may look snazzier, but they aren't the tires and wheels that belong on this bus. The bus is a biblical church, and only biblical tires and wheels go on the biblical church. The brand DEVOTION means something specific. In the ESV, Luke writes that they "devoted themselves to…" In the KJV it reads, "they continued steadfastly." This comes from the Greek word proskartereo, which means "to be earnest towards something, to persevere, to be constantly diligent to something, to attend assiduously all the exercises, to adhere closely to as

a servant, to attend or give oneself continually to something, to wait on continually." Now beloved, this is a very specific word, isn't it. This came right out of the Strong's Concordance Greek dictionary. Another Greek dictionary defined it as "to persist obstinately in…to adhere firmly to" (Vincent's Word Studies). Another Greek dictionary defined it this way: "attending to someone, remaining by his side, not leaving or forsaking him" (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament). Now, there can be no mistake about what this word means. I've offered you the definitions from three Greek dictionaries, each of which define the word in a focused way. THIS is what it means to BELONG to Church in the Boro. Just using the definitions offered us, let me ask a few questions of you.

Have you ever known or experienced what it is like to be devoted to a local church?

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your earnestness or seriousness to the life of a local church? To Church in the Boro?

On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate your perseverance in devotion to the local church…to Church in the Boro? Even when you're sick? Even when you're tired? Even when you're broke? Even when you're discouraged? Even when your job has worn you down?

Another definition was "constantly diligent to something." Think of all the things in your life you are constantly diligent towards. Is the local church one of them? Is Church in the Boro one of them?

Another definition was, "to attend assiduously all the exercises." The word "assiduous" is an older word. It means energetically, enthusiastically, fervently, laboriously, like all get out, relentlessly, vigorously, vivaciously, zealously. Do any of these words describe your heart and behavior and activity level toward what we're about here at Church in the Boro? Whether it's cooking food for Sunday lunches…or coming to care group…or men's group on campus…or women's group…or prayer time on Brice's porch, or prayer time at my office on Thursday mornings (when I'm in town), or ministry team meetings, worship team meetings and practices, children's ministry, leadership in development gatherings, Sunday morning prayer, evangelism, giving, work days, cutting the grass, etc. ALL of these and more are an ordinary part of life in a family. Church in the Boro is a family. Therefore, attending Church in the Boro means DEVOTION to our family.

One Greek dictionary defined devoted as "to adhere closely to as a servant." Do you consider yourself a servant? A servant of Jesus? A servant to each other? A servant to Jesus' brothers and sisters? A servant to the lost? Would you say that you "adhere" to someone as a servant, attending their every need when in need? Would you say you are a servant to the teaching of the Word of God when it is being taught on Sunday mornings, at care groups, at men's group, etc.? Would you say you are a servant to fellowship, to suffering with others, to gathering together with other people in their homes, in your homes, at restaurants, at the movies, on

shopping trips, on vacations, etc. ? Would you say you are a servant to communion, serving the Lord's supper in each other's homes, enjoying your bond with Jesus and with each other? Would you say that you are a servant to prayer, praying for the saints, praying for the world, praying for needs at all times?

Would you say you are the kind of Christian right now who attends to the needs of the local church family? Would you say you are one who gives yourself continually to it? These were the next definitions. There are few things we really give ourselves to, right? For most of us, it's our jobs. We go everyday. We clock in on time, or show up on time (most of the time). We fulfill our job descriptions and responsibilities. We do what we're supposed to do. If you are a member of some club or organization outside work, there are rules about attending and involvement, so you attend regularly and follow the expectations. The same goes for school. You go every morning and get there at a certain time, follow directions, meet expectations, take tests, get grades, do homework, etc. Yet how strange it is to me that in America a local church generally never gets that kind of devotion. The local church is largely treated as an extracurricular activity that we do if and when we have time, or if it's convenient. The local church seems to never get the same level of devotion that our jobs, our friends, and our school work does. This is not meant to guilt any of you…only to challenge you.

Another definition is "to obstinately persist in" something. Are you obstinate in your persistence to the life of the local church, to the family at Church in the Boro? I love that word obstinate. It means being adamant about it. You're dead set on the family at Church in the Boro. You're dogged about it…firm, headstrong, immovable, indomitable, inflexible, resolved, tenacious, unalterable, unflinching, unyielding, and even pig-headed at times! Do any of these describe you in your outlook and relationship and involvement with Church in the Boro? Or any local church, for that matter? Because THIS is what DEVOTION looks like.

Finally, the other set of definitions had to do with never leaving or forsaking someone, always attending to someone. There's this inherent flavor of medical care and exercise. The definitions all seem to point in the direction of health, don't they? DEVOTION is about health. Health is depicted in terms of staying by someone's side, attending to their needs (no matter what they are), and never leaving or forsaking them. Sound familiar? Isn't this what Jesus promised us as His children? He said in Hebrews He would never leave us for forsake us. He told us before He ascended to heaven that He would always be with us to the end of the world. HE is a model of DEVOTION, and He's devoted to US!!! And THROUGH US He devotes Himself TO US. That is, not only is there the spiritual, mystical, mysterious, metaphysical devotion Jesus gives to us through the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds. But there's also a tangible, concrete, objective, definitive devotion He gives to His saints THROUGH you and I. We are His body. We are His hands and feet. He ministers IN us…and He ministers THROUGH us. Conclusion You see without this kind of DEVOTION, a local church is not really a church. A church is defined by virtue of its devotion to the right things. If there is no devotion, no steadfast joining

together (in homes, at restaurants, at schools, here on Sundays, care groups, men's groups, women's groups, etc.) then we aren't really a church at all. And to be sure, it's not devotion to programs! It's not even devotion to ministries! It's devotion to each other, defined by biblical teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. We'll look more specifically at each tire on this bus next week. But this is what DEVOTION looks like. We've got to understand this branding on the tire, and believe that it really describes us.