The Church Has Left the Building // Relationship Goals Reloaded (Part 8) – Dr. Dharius Daniels – Transformation Church//VOUS Church

Dharius Daniels’ Introduction

• Martin Luther said if you preach the gospel with the exception of being specific to the times you’re living in, then you’re not preaching the gospel at all
• The gospel is never irrelevant
• It is the answer to every issue, in every season, in every period in human history
• At some point, it is the anecdote to the issue regardless of the time you’re living in

Scripture:

Luke 10:33-37 New International Version (NIV)

33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Message Title: The Church Has Left the Building

You have been crafted, created, and customized by your Creator to be a catalyst for world change.

Even if your birth was unintentional, your arrival on this Earth is not an accident.

God intentionally orchestrated your existence for such a time as this.

Dr. Stevenson says great men and women are only born at the time they’re needed the most. You were born the way you needed to be born because God arranged your existence on Earth in this period in human history for a reason.

Your purpose is always an answer to some problems that exist in the period of human history that you’re a part of.

God is strategic in that that when He creates us, He equips us, He empowers us, He gives us spiritual gifts, natural abilities, and acquired skills that will be needed for the problems that will exist in the age that we occupy the Earth.

You are not irrelevant; you are uniquely relevant.

God wired you for your work. It’s in you.

It is in you even if you haven’t discovered it yet. It’s in you even if you don’t believe it yet. It’s in you even if it’s dormant and latent within you. There is a ‘you’ that you haven’t met yet.

God wants to introduce you two so that he can introduce the problem you’ve been created to solve. You need to meet Goliath and Goliath needs to meet you.

• 1.Your Existence Is an Answer to A Problem

Know that you are born for “this”. Jesus corroborates this in Matthew 5 when he says, “you are the salt of the Earth…and you are the light of the world”.

Jesus is attempting to get us to understand that our existence on Earth is to make a contribution.  

In order to do that, the church must leave the building. We don’t leave the church, but our impact is not within the four walls of the church.

Matthew 5:13-16 New International Version (NIV)

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

• 2. We Have Church In Buildings, but We Can Only Be the Church in the World

 We can have Church in buildings but we can only “be the Church” in the world.

In the church we get to sing about God’s greatness, but in the world we get to demonstrate God’s greatness. In the church we get to talk about God’s love, but in the world we get to display God’s love. In the church we get to verbally proclaim the gospel, but in the Earth we get to visibly demonstrate the gospel of an ever-loving ever-living immutable, unchangeable, omnipotent, omniscient God that can change your life.

• 3. This World is Not Our Home, but It Is Our Calling

We’ve been called to be answers to the issues of our day.

When we examine Jesus’ life, we see that he solves social problems. He helped those who were wrongfully persecuted. He healed the sick, released the bound, and articulated that it’s His expectation that we do the same.

Matthew 25:35-40 New International Version (NIV)

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

For Jesus, it is soul work and social work. Our internal transformation should produce a desire to make a difference externally. Our relationship with God should change our relationship with God’s people.

We have been created to address some of the issues of the era we were born in. Equipped for it. One issue of our day, that is a stain, is an issue called racism. It is a personal and social sin that inhibits people from experiencing life as God intended.

Racism: A conscious or unconscious sense of superiority based on one’s race.

“Unconscious/conscious” is incredibly important because people can erroneously assume that they have to be doing something intentionally in order for it to be considered as racism. Truthfully, we can be unconsciously racist.

As believers, this should be a little easier to grasp since the Bible tells us how life in our society should be and that the heart is deceitful. Therefore, we are not always aware of what we’re feeling, doing, sensing, or seeing. It’s possible that there are things about you that you don’t see. That’s the beauty of spiritual growth.

You’re not only growing in your relationship with God and getting to know Him better, but also learning yourself.

People often say, “God knows my heart” – Exactly – God does, but you don’t, even though you think you do.

The issue of racism devalues the image of God in another person and produces the sin of ethnic partiality which results in injustice.

Illustration: A feeling of superiority doesn’t adversely affect anybody’s life right? If we’re both walking down the street, and someone feels a certain way about another person due to the color of their skin, that doesn’t adversely affect their life. The other person might not even know what that person is thinking. You know for a fact when it affects their life adversely when they act upon it.

However, a feeling of superiority also affects their life adversely when it impacts the way a person is treated, the way their case is tried, whether or not they get into a school, whether or not they get the loan, whether or not a building will be leased to them, or the way their children are treated when they’re outside of their sight.

There are ranges and degrees to senses of superiority. Don’t presume that your subtle sense of superiority is not detrimental even though it’s not extreme, hateful, violent, or volatile.

It can be subtle, it can be overt, personal, and it can be systemic/structural. Systemic or structural racism is the cumulative effect of racist feelings, beliefs and practices that become embodied and expressed in the policies and in the rules. One writer said it’s expressed in the policies, rules and regulations, the procedures, expectations, the norms, the assumptions, the guidelines, the plans and the strategies, the objectives, the practices, the values of standards, the narratives, the histories, the records, etc. which accordingly devalues race and establishes privilege.

Racism has been a Goliath in our history.

• 4. Love Never Settles

God is not finished with you because love never settles. God will not give up on you, or let you settle for less than His best, because love never settles.

He will not let you put a period where he put a comma.

God knows what’s in you He’s going to work on you, refine you, reinvent you, restructure you, rebuild you, resurrect you, and restore you until you become all you’ve been created to be.

We have a commitment to do everything we can to become the best version our ourselves.

There are some David’s that will rise up. There is a generation that will not judge people by the color of their skin, or be divided by cultural categories.

How do we address it? What are we called to do?

Jesus offers us some insight on some steps we can take in Luke 10.

Jesus had to ask him a question so that he could know what kind of problem he was dealing with. Sometimes the quality of our answer is related to the quality of our question.

Luke 10:25-30 New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.

Jesus says, so what does the law say, and how do you read it? You can’t interpret it right, if you’re reading it wrong. The bible has been used to justify all kinds of ungodly things.

The robbed him of his dignity, they injured him, then abandoned him. This is a picture of what racism looks like.

The posture of the religious leaders in the text was to ignore the man. The mentality is that “I don’t have to solve it, if I act like I don’t see it”.

They didn’t understand that the church’s call is to leave the building. Our greatness and impact is demonstrated by what we do in the Earth.

As believers, we can’t theorize that if we didn’t knock someone down, that we don’t have a responsibility to lift them up.

Love makes a commitment to help you fix it, even if you didn’t help break it.

Anointing: Unique, empowering presence that God gives to equip people to do certain works. It’s the ‘x’ factor. It’s that thing you can’t get from study or from repetition.  Anointing is where “it’s just something about what they do, when they do it, they just do it differently”. Somebody can do the same thing, or say the same words, but it doesn’t have the same impact.

Jesus is specific in this parable and makes note of the cultures, i.e. Levites and Samaritans. This is because there was historical evidence of their ethnic tension between the Jews and Samaritans.

• 5. God’s Interruptions are Our Opportunities

The Samaritan recognizes that God’s interruptions are our opportunities.

Luke 10:31-37 New International Version (NIV)

31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

He gave the great commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. This parable shows what this means for believers in that love is not a feeling; It is action. God demonstrates love by sending Jesus to the cross to die for us.

• 6. Practical Steps/Tools for Our Toolbox

1. EPIPHANY – He didn’t see the origin of the robbery, but he saw the outcome of it. He saw him beaten, blue, bleeding, and broken.

We need to see some things too.

We need to see:

• Redlining
• Mass Incarceration
• Health Disparities
• The New Jim Crow
• Small Business Loan Distribution Disparities
• Disproportionate Unemployment Rates
• People Disproportionally Impacted by the Corona Virus
• People Disproportionally Below the Poverty Line

We need an epiphany to see these things.

We can be so consumed by our own world that we don’t see that our brothers and sisters are hurting.

2. INTENTIONALITY – “He went to where the man was” – he deviated from his norm to enter into somebody else’s space.

Minorities always have to go to where the dominant culture in order to succeed. When you’re part of the dominant culture, it’s possible to be successful and never go where the minority culture is.

It’s love to go out of your way. There are some things you only get when you have relationship.

3. EMPATHY – To the best of his ability, he entered into the pain with him. The fact that he was hurting, hurt him.

He empathized without an excuse. It would have been insensitive and unbiblical otherwise. When one part of the body suffers, we suffer with it.

4. ADVOCACY– He used his resources, ability, and influence to make life more equitable for someone else.

Isaiah 58:6-9 New International Version (NIV)

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness[a] will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

We have to love why God gave us something more than what he gave us. It’s for us to steward, not just to idolize it or use it for ourselves. Love purpose more than platform.

The fear of God and love of people is greater than the critique of men.

This is our time. Generations will look back on this moment and talk about how we managed it.

The witness of God will be more faithful because we steward this well. Then it will be said of us what was said of the early church, “these are they, that have turned the world upside down”.

Charles Metcalf’s Closing

• You’re not here by accident
• Sin separates us from God
• The things you’re struggling with, God was thinking of you when He was on the cross
• Until you have Jesus, you will not be able to fill that God shaped void
• God is the advocate and He’s there for you and wants relationship with you
• Just surrender, and his love, grace, and mercy will rush into your life

Let’s Pray Together: God, thank you for sending Jesus, just for me. Today, I make you my lord and savior. I believe you lived, died, and rose again just for me. Today, I receive you, change me, renew me, transform me, I’m yours, in Jesus name, Amen.

• Text ‘Saved’ to 918-992-7623 for resources and content to help you to be His devoted disciple

If you need more knowledge on racial reconciliation, in addition to the Bible, there are other books you can read too.

Books for this time, to understand and be a part of the change:

 Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice by Pastor Eric Mason:

The Third Option: Hope for a Racially Divided Nation by Pastor Miles McPherson:

The Good Life, What Jesus Teaches About Finding True Happiness by Derwin Gray:

These are all resources that can help you this week. If you need to sit down and watch something to understand the plight of what’s going on, here are a few movies.

Movie List:

The Hate You Give:

When They See Us:

Thirteenth:

These will give you a picture of reality; perspective.

Get “Relationship Goals” the book and study guide today for additional support:

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SUMMARY NOTES

1. Your Existence Is an Answer to A Problem
2. We Have Church In Buildings, but We Can Only Be the Church in the World
3. This World is Not Our Home, but It Is Our Calling
4. Love Never Settles
5. God’s Interruptions are Our Opportunities
6. Practical Steps/Tools for Our Toolbox: 1. EPIPHANY, 2. INTENTIONALITY, 3. EMPATHY, 4. ADVOCACY

Link to full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmYqfmCvx0I&t=3s

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