Trinity Baptist Church

Getting Off the Plateau

It's All About Him

John 4:19-24

 

In 1988 Win Arn, a Southern Baptist church growth specialist, shocked the American church world with the following statement:

 

“Today, of the approximately 350,000 churches in America, four out of five are either plateaued or declining. Eighty to eighty-five percent are on the down-side of this cycle.”

 

Unfortunately, 27 years later, the situation has not only not improved, it has gotten worse.  Church researcher David T. Olson pulled information from 200,000 churches and found that “the conditions that produce growth are simply not present. If present trends continue, the church will fall farther behind population growth.”

 

His research revealed that in 1990 20.4% of the population attended a Christian church each weekend and if trends hold true, that number will drop to 14.7% by 2020. 

 

Church researcher, Thom Rainer, describes the state of the American Church based on his years of consulting with many different churches and denominations. He writes,

 

“Eight out of ten of the approximately 400,000 churches in the United States are declining or have plateaued.”

 

 

He also found within his research sample, “Eighty-four percent are declining or experiencing a growth rate below the population growth rate for their communities. The latter is defined as a plateaued church.”

 

The examples come from all across the landscape of American religious life covering all denominations and social and demographic groups.  We have to look no farther than ourselves to know what it is for the church to be plateaued and declining.  Our own statistics and experiences are a microcosm of what is happening across our country. 

 

So what do we do about it?  I think the key is found, not on a corporate or denominational level, but on a personal level.  The key to revitalizing the church is found in personal growth and revival. 

 

Churches really have no life or personality or experience separate from the membership from which they are composed. Every church is made up of members and those members actually create the atmosphere and environment of that local body. 

 

So if you believe the church to be less than what it ought to be, a good way to address its needs is with a thorough self-examination. As the old verse says, “What kind of church would my church be if every member were just like me?”

 

So how we revitalize the church?  How do we get off the spiritual plateau?  We begin with ourselves and as we experience personal renewal, the church will be changed. 

 

 

Now to help us with our personal inventory, I’ve tried to identify some key areas that may need attention.  And over the next several weeks, I want us to prayerfully and honestly use these Sunday mornings to take a look at ourselves on a deeply personal level and make certain that we, individually, are not the reason the church is plateaued.  

 

This series is actually a call to a new level of commitment to core, fundamental, essential elements of our life as a disciple of Christ.  Let me give you the topics we’ll look at, then we’ll get started on the first one.

 

We’ll begin today with worship.  Then over the next weeks we’ll consider church membership, the Bible, maturity, prayer, ministry, giving and missions.  There is nothing new or revolutionary.  These are simply reminders of our responsibilities and how to develop a deep and abiding commitment to them that will result in a church that is alive and growing. 

 

Let’s begin by thinking about worship.       

 

You may not realize it, but the last positive command ever given in the Bible are two words found in Rev. 22:9: ''Worship God.'' If we are to understand why the church is declining and plateaued, we must begin with our worship life. 

 

In the passage we are going to study this morning, John 4, we find the only time in the Bible where we are told that God seeks anything from His children and there we discover the Father is seeking worship. More than your wealth, your work, or your witness, God wants your worship.

 

In John 4, we find a conversation that Jesus had with a woman at a well. He took the opportunity to share with this woman the truth about a subject that radically and eternally changed her life, and can do the same for you and me, and can certainly do the same for the church.  That subject is worship. I am convinced the average Christian, myself included, does not understand the concept of worship, and we  practice real worship far less than we think.

 

But it makes sense to me that a Christian who is worshipping properly will never be a dead, lifeless, fruitless Christian.  And it further makes sense that a church filled with believers that are worshipping properly will never be a declining or plateaued church. 

 

So if we want to worship God the way He desires, deserves, and demands to be worshiped, then we need to learn the truths that Jesus shared with this woman. The first one is found verses 19-22 and that is

 

 

A little background to this conversation is helpful. This woman was a Samaritan. Samaritans were the result of Jews who had intermarried with the Assyrians who had conquered Israel hundreds of years before and occupied the land. So Samaritans were half-Jews and half-Gentiles; what would be called today ''half-breeds.''

 

This was racial profiling at its worst.  Samaritans were despised by the Jews. As a matter of fact the Jews called them the most despicable thing you could call them back then-''dogs.''

Well, a problem had developed because these Samaritans also wanted to worship just as the Jews did, but they were not allowed to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. So they built their own temple on Mount Gerazim. To this very day there are still about 400 Samaritans left on Mount Gerazim, and they still worship there.

 

So a debate had raged over the years over whether or not it was proper to worship in a place other than the temple in Jerusalem.  And when this woman raised this question of Jesus, He gave her an answer that must have absolutely blown her mind.

 

Verse 23

 

What a revolutionary thought!  In effect, He said, “Worship is not a matter of where you are; it is a matter of who you know.” In other words, true worship is not limited to a geographical location. 

 

There was a time that the Jews felt that if you wanted to worship you had to go to Jerusalem, and you had to worship in the temple. But Jesus is pointing out there is now a radical difference.

 

In the Old Testament, God had a temple for His people. In the New Testament, God has a people for His temple.

 

1 Cor. 6:19 says, ''Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?''

 

2 Cor. 6:16 says, ''You are the temple of the Living God.''

 

 

So often we talk about the church as being the house of God. In one sense the church is a house of God where people come together to worship, but quite frankly the church is not the house of God; your body is the house of God. Your body, twenty-four hours a day, is to be a place of worship.

 

In other words, Jesus is teaching that worship is no longer simply an event that occurs in a place. Worship is a lifestyle that continues in a person. Worship is not localized in a place. You don't have to go to church to worship. In fact, you don't have to go anywhere to worship.

 

The church is a place where we come together to worship God corporately, but individually when you become a child of God, and a follower of Jesus Christ, you worship God everywhere you go and anywhere you go.

 

Do you know what that means? You don't come to church to worship, you should come to church with worship, and you should leave the church with worship. You ought to come in here worshiping and you ought to leave here worshiping. Worship is not what you do on Sunday morning for one hour in a church. Worship is what you do 24-7 from here to heaven.

 

Here’s the second thing: 

 

 

Verse 23

 

 

 

Here we are told that God is actually looking for people who will worship Him the way He wants to be worshiped.

 

The French have a proverb that says ''A good meal ought to begin with hunger.'' It is very difficult to enjoy a meal when you're not hungry. But when you're hungry, almost anything tastes good. God is looking for people who are so hungry for Him that nothing else except worship will satisfy them.

 

But I want you to see that God is not only looking for worshipers. We are told that He is looking for ''true worshipers.'' Now if there are true worshipers then there must be false worshipers. If there is true worship there must be false worship.

 

So what is true worship? Well true worship is a matter of worshiping the right God. Here we are told that ''true worshipers will worship the Father.'' Now that raises a question. Whose Father is to be worshiped? Well none other than the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Now what I am about to say is going to sound extremely intolerant, and it is definitely going to be politically incorrect. But if the god that you worship is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are not worshiping God. You are neither a true worshiper nor is your worship true.

 

Jesus said to this woman in verse 22, ''You worship what you do not know.'' That statement is true of so many so-called worshipers around the world. A Muslim really does not worship God. A Buddhist really does not worship God.

 

A Hindu really does not worship God because the only God that can be truly worshiped is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Let me put this to you another way. To worship the Father you must know the Father. To know the Father you must be one of His children. To be one of His children you must know the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Bible says in Jn. 1:12, ''But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.''

 

What does this mean? Only a true Christian can experience true worship. Until you know God you cannot worship God. Once you do know God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can

worship God any time at any place.

 

You may not have ever thought about the connection between evangelism and worship, but the goal of evangelism is to produce true worshipers of the true God. Evangelism is the task of recruiting God-worshipers.

 

That's why this matter of focus is so important. You see, too often we come into the worship services focused on ourselves, and what we can get out of it. Are they doing the kind of music ''I like?'' Is everyone dressing the way ''I like.'' Does the building look the way ''I like.''

 

Now please hear me. I want you to be blessed by the worship you experience. But worship is not primarily for what you can get out of it; worship is primarily for what you can put into it and what He can get out of it. It's all about Him!

So be flexible in where you worship, be focused on Who you worship and

 

 

Now we are really going to get down to the ''brass tacks.'' Jesus summarizes worship in a simple statement that tells us the only two requirements God ever gives for worship, and amazingly not one word is said about music, style, or even dress.

 

Notice what He says in

 

Verse 24

 

In other words, worship that pleases God will have two characteristics: Number one: It will be spiritual worship; and Number two: It will be scriptural worship.

 

First of all, true worship is spiritual worship. Jesus said, ''God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.'' (v.24)

 

Now let me tell you what that means. Just as God is a Trinity, man is a trinity. He has a body, a soul, and a spirit. Jesus said true worship takes place in your spirit.

 

Now obviously to worship God you have to worship God with your body. But many people have the idea that if they just come to church, if they just show up, if they just sit down in a pew they worship God. They think if they just come to the right place, at the right time, and do the right things they have worshiped.

 

 

Obviously we worship God with our body. We use our voice to sing, our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our hands to clap, but those things are the expressions of worship, not the essence of worship.

 

Then there are those who worship God with their soul. They have the idea that worship is tied up with how you feel. If you leave feeling good you have worshiped. If you leave feeling better about yourself you have worshiped. If you leave feeling more comfortable about yourself you've worshiped.

 

And again I recognize that worship should affect the way you feel and touch our emotions. But again how you feel about worship can be an experience from worship but it is still not the essence of worship.

 

Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and you must worship Him in your spirit.”  That means real worship, a genuine experience of worship is when your spirit connects with His Spirit through the Holy Spirit.

 

The Lord said something to the prophet Isaiah that really foreshadowed what Jesus would say almost eight centuries later to this woman at the well.

 

Isaiah 29:13

 

He was talking about people who think that worship is coming to a certain place, dressed in a certain way with a certain look, sitting in a certain posture, and acting in a certain manner.

 

Well, we find something here radically different. God doesn't look at whether you are dressed in a coat and tie, or shirt and slacks. God doesn't matter whether you have an order of worship or not.

God doesn't look on the outward appearance; God looks on the inward heart. Because worship is not a social matter, it is a spiritual matter.

 

But true worship is also scriptural worship. Jesus said we should worship the Father ''in truth.'' Now this means we are to worship the God of truth according to the truth of God.

 

Quite frankly, there are a lot of people who worship a god of their own design that I do not find in the Bible. There is an unusual place of worship in Kyoto, Japan called ''The Temple of the Thousand Buddhas.'' It is so unusual because worshipers can go there and literally design their own deity. This temple is filled with more than a thousand likenesses of Buddha-each one a little different from the next.

 

Worshipers can go there and pick and choose which they like best. People will go from statue to statue until they find one that they believe most resembles what they feel, or who they are, and that's the one they'll worship.

 

People today talk about ''the god I worship.'' They say, “Well the god I worship would never allow anyone to go to hell.  The god I worship made homosexuals the way they are, and accepts their lifestyle.  The god I worship accepts anyone into heaven if they're good enough or sincere in what they believe.  The god I worship doesn't care whether I ever go to church or not.”

 

Well let me just say if you are worshiping a god that you have made up in your own mind, that is not true worship. You have a choice.

 

You can worship the god of speculation; that is, the god that you think ought to act the way you want him to act. Or you can worship the God of revelation; the God who has revealed Himself in His word.

 

You can either worship a god that you’ve created or you can worship the God Who created you, but you can’t have it both ways.  True worship is worshiping the God of truth according to the truth of God.

 

Now there is one last verse I want to share with you that sums up the essence of worship that is true and spiritual and it is found in

 

Romans 12:1

 

If you know anything about a sacrifice you know that a sacrifice represents a complete surrender. Once you put a sacrifice on the altar you lose total control of it and you never get it back.

 

The heart of worship is found in that word, surrender. When you surrender your time by coming to church on Sunday morning or ministering to a friend that is hurting or visiting someone who is sick in the hospital, you’ve worshipped in Spirit and in truth.   

 

When you surrender your talents by taking whatever gifts and abilities God has given you and using them in the service of others, you’ve worshipped in Spirit and truth. 

 

When you surrender your treasure by giving back to God financially a portion of that which He has given to you, that gift and that giving is an act of worship.

 

When you really learn that it's all about Him, you come to understand that worship is a 24-7 activity that never ends. Then you will be moved to say to God, ''Because it's all about You-I surrender all.''

 

So let’s put it into action this week.  Would you make a commitment this morning to spend this week intentionally and spontaneously giving to God the worship He deserves? 

 

Focus your life on Him and allow Him to reveal Himself in every situation.  Seek Him in His Word and as your mind is filled with His Truth, allow His Spirit to lead you to worship. 

 

Would you surrender your time and energy and abilities to Him so your life can be filled with worship? 

 

A few years ago, Matt Redmon, a worship leader in England wrote a little praise chorus. His pastor was trying to teach his church the real meaning of worship, and to show that worship is more than music. He didn’t allow any singing in their services for a period of time, while they learned to worship the Lord in other ways. During that time God moved on his heart to write this classic song. Listen to these words:

 

I'm coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about you, It's all about you, Jesus.  I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, when it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus.

 

Let’s pray.