DEVOTION NOT DIVISION: WHY LIFEGROUPS, WEEK 1

The Music Man… a con artist selling a boys band in River City, IA. Problem - he didn’t know music at all. Used a con called “the THINK system.” There was no practice; he just told the boys to THINK the Minuet in G (la de da de da de da de da…).

And when they all came together, it was obvious they had no clue what they were doing!

What happens when you don’t put things into practice - what happens when things stay mere theory - when you approach reality with something as bogus as the THINK system? As a pastor it frustrates me to see many believers come to salvation - which is awesome - but then never really DO what someone who is saved participates in… I know many believers who HEAR about the spiritual life, they READ about the spiritual life, but they never get out there to actually EXPERIENCE and put into PRACTICE what the spiritual life is all about.

For them, it seems like their connection with their faith isn’t rooted in reality.

I read this morning from Romans 12 - and it’s a very practical part of scripture, by the way. I realized this about 25 years ago as I was teaching MIddle Schoolers going through the book of Romans. And we get to this amazing and well-known passage: Romans 12:1 - Therefore I urge you, brothers, ,in view of God’s mercy, to offer bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. And do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…

Something we memorize - something I heard in lessons and sermons my entire life - but without anyone really telling me what it MEANS to offer my body as a living sacrifice. Yes, it’s my spiritual act of worship…but what does that LOOK like in reality? And that’s when it hit me: the rest of the chapter, and for the next two chapters, Paul tells us EXACTLY what it means. And you get this incredibly practical teaching about how to live out our faith… and we see that our faith affects all these areas of our lives: our relationship with God, our relationship with unbelievers, our relationship with civic leaders, our relationship with other Christians…

That’s the context that we find our text in this morning. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is no longer theoretical theology. This is no longer coffee mug spirituality, where a nice inspiring verse gets us going in the morning. This is what God REALLY calls us to DO - to actually DO.