The following is a transcript of a message I gave at Chapel on the Grounds at Lakeshore Pentecostal Camp earlier this year. You can also listen to the full message here.
A few years ago, there was a missionary who came to camp on Missions Sunday, I think. He had put together this outdoor experience that replicated life in the third-world country where he was doing his ministry. I didn’t get the pleasure of experiencing it, but from right up here I distinctly remember him sharing previous audience reviews to entice those in the room to check it out.
Some called it “An utterly humiliating experience,” he said. “A grueling, horrific, eye-opening nightmare.” Some said “they were positively trumatized and would never do it again.”
You can see why I decided not to go.
All the same, I’ve always had this profound respect and admiration for missionaries – and rightly so, I think. Missionaries are incredible people. They go to far-off places where they know they’re going to be uncomfortable – probably even in danger – just to tell other people about Jesus.
I’ve thought to myself, “Well, they’re the better Christians. They’re the real Christians.” By comparison, I’ve gotta be just a second-rate Christian or something.
My wife and I served in our church’s children’s ministry every week for about eight years, and there were days where I compared my experience to the stories of missionaries that I had heard. I mean, here I was in a well-lit, air-conditioned, multimedia room speaking to middle-class kids – and loving it - while others were literally hiding from governments.
There were times when I’d think “Am I really doing God’s work here? Or am I just doing something comfortable?”
At the same time, there have been so many times where I’ve looked at other Christians and thought that I’m doing it so much better than them.
I’ve looked at churches who spent money on things I wouldn’t have and scowled at them. I’ve looked at people who voted differently than me and thought “How can you even call yourself a Christian?” I’ve looked at other denominations who don’t practice full immersion baptisms and thought to myself, “Well, they’re not real Christians. We’re the real Christians.”
Either way, whether I’m looking at the missionaries or the other denominations, what I’m sort of doing is categorizing Christians according to a tier system – with some Christians at a higher spot and others at a lower spot. The trouble is, I’m not sure how to do that correctly.
It reminds me of a story about a Canadian who was robbed while traveling abroad. He sat down in a hotel lobby to try and figure out what to do, and a guy came along and asked if he could help. The first man says, “I’m so glad you speak English.” The second man says, “I’m not from around here, I’m travelling.”
The first man says “Me too! Are you American or Canadian.” The second man says “Canadian.”
The first man says, “Me too! Quebec or Ontario?” The second man says, “Ontario.”
The man says, “Me too! North or South Ontario?” The second man says “South Ontario.” The man says “Me too! You don’t happen to be a Christian, do you?” The second man says yes.
The first man says “Me too! Baptist or Pentecostal?” The second man says Pentecostal.
The first man says “Me too! Eastern Ontario District or Western Ontario District?” The second man says Eastern Ontario District.
The first man says “Me too! Do you go to Lakeshore Pentecostal Camp or Ottawa Valley?” The second man says “Ottawa Valley.”
The first man says “Aw, leave me alone! I’m in enough trouble as it is!”
Six years after Lakeshore was established, and eight years before he would publish The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis published a decidedly less-kid-friendly book titled The Screwtape Letters. It’s a series of letters written from the perspective of a senior demon educating an apprentice demon on strategies for poisoning the mind of a particular young human called “the Patient”.
The real trouble about the group your patient is socializing with is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call “Christianity And”. You know — Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. Substitute for the faith itself some Fashion with a Christian colouring. If they must be Christians, let them at least be Christians with a difference.
What makes this trap so tempting for some of us is that there’s something kind of disappointing about being a “mere” anything. I’m a middle school teacher, and I don’t know any teachers who go into it saying “I’m going to be a teacher – nothing more and nothing less.” We all want to be people with a difference! Otherwise, how am I supposed to categorize myself and see where I sit compared to all the other people?
Thankfully, God answered that question two thousand years ago through Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians. He actually devised a brilliant categorization system to help us figure out who the super-Christians are, who the average Christians are, and – I’ll call them what I’d call them if I was writing a report card – the Christians with opportunities to grow in the future.
1 Corinthians is a letter to a church in ancient Corinth, which is in Greece. It was close to the water, which made it a big economic hotspot for the area. It seems like Paul figured reaching this community would’ve been a great way to spread the word quickly, because so many people came in and out of Corinth on a regular basis.
Paul was there for about a year and a half building a church, and then he left to go somewhere else. But once he left, he started hearing that things weren’t going so well back at Corinth, which is why we have this letter.
One of the problems that Corinth was having was that they weren’t sure how to sort their Christians out. Some people were following Paul’s teachings super closely, and he’s a big deal so it would make sense to put them at the top.
But there was this guy named Apollos who came in after Paul, and he continued to build on what Paul had already put in place. So now people were beginning to argue over whether it was Paul or Apollos who was the church’s true leader. That’s a tough one, right? Because Paul built the church, but Apollos is the one running the show now.
I’m sure you’ve never said this, but I’ve certainly said, “Oh, things are so much better at this church than my last church.” Or “Man, our last pastor was so much better.”
So Paul comes in to straighten that out. Let’s take a look at what he says.
I’m not positive, but I wonder if Paul is kind of addressing how he and Apollos preached differently here. Maybe Apollos is jumping into more advanced topics than Paul did – which might make some people feel like he’s a better teacher. Paul’s saying he deliberately didn’t get into advanced stuff.
Also, I love how Paul isn’t afraid to speak some harsh truth here.
We love attributing growth to a particular person, don’t we? I remember back in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors won the championship, and everyone was praising Kawhi Leonard’s name.
Now hear me - Kawhi deserves a ton of credit. He scored more than 40% of the Raptors’ points that night. But six other Raptors scored points that night. If just one of them had missed one of those shots, we wouldn’t have been world champions. Kawhi stood on a foundation of 90 points – 51 of them built by others. Others planted, and he watered. And that night, he got the glory.
Or look at the Walt Disney Company, celebrating 100 years of being in business. Walt ran the show for 43 years, which is a big deal. But nearly 60% of the company’s history came after Walt died, and there’s no comparing Disney today with where it was in 1966 when Walt passed. Walt planted, and others watered. But Walt still gets the glory – it’s his name you see whenever you go to see one of their movies.
So who’s more important? The planter or the waterer? Is it the missionary, the church planter, the televangelist? Or is it the usher, the children’s ministry volunteer, or the parking attendant?
This is what would shut down Screwtape’s “Christianity and” strategy. It’s not about “Christianity and Church Planting” or “Christianity and Pentecostalism”. We’ve all got different jobs, but there’s no hierarchy on God’s call sheet. He looks at what you’re doing – no matter what you’re doing, and uses it towards the same purpose. Any sense of hierarchy or more important / less important comes from us, not God.
Now hear me, because I think I might have ruffled some feathers when I said it’s not about Christianity and Pentecostalism. I wouldn’t be in this amazing place if it weren’t for the Pentecostal tradition. I love this camp and everything about it with all my heart. Pentecostalism is super important. What I’m saying here is that we can’t use our denomination as a metric to decide whether we’re better Christians or worse Christians than someone else.
For some of us, that may come with a sense of relief to be reminded that God isn’t favouring another kind of Christian over us. This isn’t a Cain and Abel thing where one sacrifice matters and another isn’t good enough.
Have you ever sat in church and wondered “Why is God keeping this place afloat?” I’ve heard speakers deliver the most boring messages ever, but be followed by incredible altar calls. I’ve seen bad worship with great worshippers. God uses flawed people to do His work.
And if I stopped reading right there, that would be a very charming, reassuring, and easy-on-the-ears message. Maybe even a bit too reassuring – after all, if God can use anyone and anything, then maybe I don’t need to sell all of my worldly possessions and stay late at the church stacking chairs. If someone else is working harder than me, it doesn’t matter – God’s the important one, not me. I just plant or water, after all. God’s the one who makes it grow.
But Paul didn’t stop there.
Alright – this has taken a bit of a turn.
What Paul’s saying here is that it isn’t important to recognize who’s doing what. We’re all working towards the same purpose. But that’s not to say that every thing we do doesn’t matter. Whatever you do, whether it’s big or small in people’s eyes, is going to be judged.
To illustrate, I thought it would be helpful to show some of the amazing things I’ve done that God will get to judge one day.
Good Deed | But... | Good Deed | But... |
Participated in an altar call | Wanted to look spiritual | Stacked chairs after church | Did it to impress a girl |
Bought a coffee for a homeless person | Grumbled about it the whole time | Volunteered in Kid's Ministry | Wanted the free snacks |
Spoke at Chapel on the Grounds | It gave me an ego boost | Called my Mom | Wanted her to watch my kids |
Paul talks about how our works will be either gold, silver and jewels, or wood, hay, and straw. How do we tell the difference?
Colossians has that verse: No matter what it is you are doing, work at it with all your heart.
Think of the parable of the servants – the master gave a lot to one person and a bit to another, but he rewarded them both because they did something good with it. The one who buried it got in trouble.
And if all my work turned out to be straw – what then?
Underneath all of the works we do, there’s a foundation of Jesus. Jesus keeps us from the flames, period. There is nothing you could do that could wreck this foundation. If you’re standing on this foundation, you will be saved. Because He loves you.
But whether or not you have something to show Jesus when He brings you to Him is a different thing. If you stand on Jesus, you will be saved. But what you do with that opportunity will be weighed and counted.
Here’s what I love about this passage. When it starts, the church of Corinth is obsessed with what other people are doing. Who follows Paul and who follows Apollos? They’re using that to pass judgement.
Paul reminds them that God is the one who will handle the judgement. And for everyone in the church, Jesus has already taken care of that. So what’s next? Giving Jesus as much as we can while we can.
I think this is Paul’s way of saying “stop thinking about what they’re doing and start thinking about what you’re doing.”
Here at Lakeshore we come from many churches all over the place, but we are still one Church – the Bride of Christ.
I had the time of my life cheering on the Raptors in 2019 even though I had watched like two basketball games my whole life. Why? Because they were my team all of a sudden.
I think I need to start looking at my fellow Christians like that. Instead of saying “Oh, they’re way holier than I could ever be”, or saying “I’m way holier than they’ll ever be”, I should be cheering on my team whenever they’re playing – and when it’s my turn – however it’s my turn – whether it’s getting on the court or cleaning up afterwards – I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.
I want to close by telling you about two Christians who I think really understood this. When I was a teenager, I was attending a church situated in a low economic area. The church was struggling for as long as I was there – hopefully not because of me.
A local Starbucks frequently donated their unsold pastries to us to use on Sunday mornings, and there was this guy named Bob who would give them out to the congregation.
Bob was always one of the first guys there and usually one of the last to leave, and he always had a smile on his face. He was so happy to make others happy. I always called his name from across the room, and he would shout mine right back.
Bob never got the recognition that Kawhi Leonard did – but whatever Bob did, he worked at it with all his heart.
The other is a guy you’ll probably know – Craig Burton. It must have been one of my first summers working here, and I was doing all sorts of jobs – coaching, mowing, office work – a bit of everything.
And one day I saw Craig sweeping up the entrance to the Tabernacle. There were a few leaves that had rustled in, and he had just taken it upon himself to grab a broom and sweep them away.
If we were sorting these men on a human scale, they’d be in two very different places. But the one who plants is not important. The one who waters is not important. And both of these men – through their actions – reminded me of the ultimate purpose we have – building on a foundation of Jesus Christ to love others.
Let’s bring this home. You want to be a better Christian?
Stop measuring Christianity. That’s God’s job. The people that God has placed in your life – that’s your job.
Build on Jesus’ foundation with gold, silver, and jewels. How do we do that? Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.
Lastly, become a fool – humble yourself – so that you can focus on Jesus instead. It’s not about who’s better than you and who you’re better than. It’s about getting to Jesus with something that’ll make him proud.
God, show us the scales in our lives that we don’t need.
God, show us how to build with gold, silver, and jewels.
God, show us how to become fools so that we may become wise.
Let's get out there and be better Christians!
