Participants in God’s Family Business (John 15:15)

Have you ever been part of a team that didn’t seem to make any progress? Maybe the group had plenty of talent, resources, and opportunities, and team members got along, but the group just never went anywhere! If you have, leadership expert and New York Times best-selling author John C. Maxwell, suggests that there’s a strong possibility that the situation was caused by lack of vision and lack of direction.

Have you ever thought of yourself as being on a team with Jesus as your leader or team captain? When you were baptized into Christ, you became a member of God’s family and a family is like a team that works together. Each member has different responsibilities to carry out. When everyone does his job, it is possible for each member of the family to grow and find satisfaction as they are enabled to function to the best of their ability.

Good communication is important for a family to function well. The leader must be able to cast a vision that gives everyone a sense of purpose and direction. The values must be clear and reinforced on a regular basis. For example, one reason some marriages fall apart is because husbands fail to provide their families with godly leadership. Without clear boundaries, children feel insecure and become rebellious. Without good leadership, wives can feel vulnerable and unsatisfied.

The same is also true with the family of God. The only difference is that with the church, the problem is not with poor leadership on God’s part. It is rather that we fail to recognize how God leads us and to respond to his leadership. God has given us excellent leadership. He even became one of us: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live though him.” (1 John 4:9) The apostle John goes on to state the mission God has given his church: “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, an important leader of allied troops during World War II who was called a “soldier’s general,” wrote that “every single soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.” Soldiers need to know exactly how their efforts are going to contribute to the overall victory! Otherwise the team gets into trouble. Field Marshall Montgomery was adept at connecting with the soldiers and casting vision for their battles.

This is what God does for us. He shares with us a wonderful vision for the future and he shows us how each of us have an important part to play in the fulfillment of that vision. Jesus says: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15) You see, when we became members of God’s family, we also became partners in God’s business. As “family” we share in the hopes and joys of God’s family business.

The vision God gives us is one of victory. John encourages us: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them [i.e., the false prophets (v.1) and the spirit of the antichrist who is in the world (v.3)], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

God also gives us the appropriate weapons and instructions on how to fight: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) The weapons we have been given are the Word of God, the apostolic testimony of the Scriptures: “Whoever knows God listens to us…” says the apostle John. “This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth…” (John 4:6). We are also taught how we engage in spiritual battle: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” (4:11)

This is certainly a strange battle with even stranger weapons and battle tactics. That is because we are dealing with a spiritual battle. However, because it is a spiritual and not a physical battle does not make it any less dangerous or important. For the worst that can happen in physical warfare is the killing of the body. In contrast, with spiritual warfare the eternal destiny of the soul and the body are at stake. That is why we must learn to fight spiritually.

The spiritual battle we are in is truly an epic battle. It is somewhat like a David and Goliath struggle. When king Saul and his Israelite army faced the Philistines with Goliath in their ranks, it seemed hopeless—until David appeared and miraculously took down the giant. That young man with a slingshot and a strong faith in God changed certain defeat into a victory rout. This worldly battle between David and Goliath mirrors the spiritual battle that is taking place right now. We are like the Israelites facing the Philistine ranks with Goliath mocking our spiritual weakness and cowardice. And we are helpless. Our strength is sapped by sin and our weapons are rusty and dulled. We were faced with certain annihilation. But then an unimpressive man comes along to fight our spiritual Goliath, and he defeats him! He defeats him because he was not just a man, but God disguised in our likeness. By his death on the cross and resurrection to life Jesus defeated our accuser.

Now that our spiritual enemy is defeated, we join the Israelites in the victory rout against the Philistines. Except, we’re not fighting Philistines anymore. Rather, our job is to raid the prison cells of Satan; to release those who have been held captive by his lies. We do this with the message of the Gospel demonstrated by a life changed and characterized by God’s love. Even though this epic battle has already been won by Jesus, there are still prisoners who need to be set free and enemies to be won over to the truth. It is this mopping up operation that we are now engaged in. We are called to gather up the spoils of the war, to bring in the harvest of souls into God’s kingdom.

This task God has entrusted to us is not insignificant. It was, after all, for the sake of the lost that God sent his Son to defeat Satan. Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep shows us that God loves and cares for the lost ones just as much as he does for those who are saved. So if God’s Spirit is truly in us, we cannot but feel the anguish of God over the lost and be eager to reach them with the good news that God loves them too.

It is really exciting that God has entrusted us with such an important task. He has given us a job that will bear eternal fruit—fruit that will last. For what we do in this life has the potential to bring someone who is lost closer to the kingdom of God. And we know that for every lost soul that is brought into the kingdom, there will be a huge party in heaven: “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Some of us may feel uncomfortable with this message. For we may not feel that we have succeeded in leading anyone to Christ. While it is true that conversion is the desired result of our ministry, it is not ours to take credit for. It is God alone who converts the hearts of sinners. We can only point them to God and trust God to do the rest. Our responsibility is to be faithful in love. Love is the true fruit of a Christian life and not how many people we may claim to have converted.

Nevertheless, I believe that we will all be surprised when we get to heaven by how many people we will encounter who will thank us for how we have helped them on their spiritual journey. From our own children to those from other continents who were touched by a missionary whom we have supported. The vast majority of our Christian witness happens quite apart from our own knowledge and that is exactly how it should be. Yes, there will be some wonderful surprises waiting for each of us in heaven.

In the Scriptures God lays out a very clear vision for his people: To see all peoples come to an experience of his love for them in Christ Jesus. And he gives us a mission: To build up the body of Christ and to share his love with each other. We are also given everything we need for victory in the battles we face: the living Word of God and the Holy Spirit. That is why we come to church on Sunday’s: In order to be equipped for spiritual battle with God’s word of grace and to be nourished with the spiritual food of Christ’s body and blood and so be united with him in his sufferings that we may also share in his resurrection victory.

I believe it is truly amazing—the task which God has entrusted to us: The task of bringing in the harvest into his kingdom. I find it so amazing, because God has put so much on the line. It seems that he has entrusted us with much more than we can truly be trusted with. I know that my own track record is not that bright, and yet, God does not give up on me. And neither does he with each of you. Even though we may feel that we have failed the Lord more often than we have been an asset, we need not despair. For our God has a way of turning our liabilities into his greatest assets. That is why we press on towards the goal that God has called us heavenward: To love as he has loved us.

Jesus gives us the reason why God has chosen us as his trusted partners in his family business: So that we may “go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16); and Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)