The Church that Turns the World Upside Down (Acts 17:6)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

Recently, one of the biggest piece of news is the passing of Steve Jobs. If you visit the Apple website, you will see a photo with the caption – `Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, only 56 years old, but he had touched the lives of many in this world. He was co-founder of the Apple Computer. Forced to leave Apple in 1985, he returned in 1996. In the decade following his departure from Apple, Apple faced bankruptcy. When Steve returned to Apple, he turned the company around such that the company had reserves more than that of the United States Government by July 2011 (Apple: 75.876 by Billion / U.S. Government: 73.768 by Billion). This is really a remarkable thing. He also began the so-called i-generation – the iTunes, the i-touch i-phone, i-pad. On the day he left the world, the newspaper carried the headline “i-Sad”. Steve Jobs had indeed affected the whole world.

In the Bible, there is a man known as having disturbed the world, too. This is the apostle Paul. How are Steve Jobs and Paul similar and different? Their similarity: both of them were full of visions, they both wanted to change the world, they were both great salesmen. They are different in that Steve Jobs did not simply sell some products, but he sold dreams. This was one of the reasons for Steve Jobs’ success; while the Apostle Paul did not sell any product, but offered the life-changing Gospel.

I recently read a book entitled: “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs”. In it, Steve Jobs shared the seven principles of his success. After finishing the book, I felt deeply that since the church has the life-changing Gospel, which is more valuable and more important than any i-product, how then can we become a church which turns the world upside down with the gospel? I borrowed four of the seven secrets mentioned by Steve Jobs and applied it to CBCP, hopeful that we may become a church that turns the world upside down.

A. Do What You Love

When reporters interviewed Steve Jobs on the reason for his success, he said, “The only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” If you do not like the work that you do, you will never find real success, because you do not have the kind of passion that will keep you going. A person with passion isn’t exempt from difficulties and obstacles, however no amount of difficulty can put him down. We see this in the lives of many successful people and Steve Jobs is one of them.

From the time I graduated from seminary, I have been shepherding the church for 23 years now, do you think that pastors don’t encounter difficulties? Do you think that people in the church are all virtuous? I believe the difficulties I have encountered couldn’t be any less compared to yours, however, because of my passion for the church, I continue and remain in this place to serve God. Paul had been a successful evangelist, and it was all because he loved what he did.

In the Book of Acts, in 1 Corinthians and 2Corinthians, we see Paul’s heart for the Gospel. Last month in Canada, I preached a sermon in a large church, I spoke on the topic, “Three Keys to Opening Prison Doors”. One of the keys I mentioned was the key that opened the prison door for Paul, the key of praise. Paul had often been beaten for the sake of the Gospel, he often sat behind bars, the most famous of which was his imprisonment for preaching in Philippi. There, not only was he beaten but he was dragged into prison. Yet, Paul and Silas sang praises unto God in the middle of the night. Do you know why they were not sleeping but singing in the middle of the night? It was because they could not sleep, their bodies had wounds and cuts all over, they simply couldn’t lie down, so they sang praises instead. If we had been in their place, I am sure we will sing too, but it probably wouldn’t be praises to God, but songs of complaints – perhaps we’d groan, “Oh, what a difficult life! What a difficult life!”

Hudson Taylor and his wife went by faith as missionaries to China. Once, they faced a very difficult time, such that they didn’t even have rice to eat. The couple put their heads into the jar where they store the rice, and the two sang the doxology aloud. How could they sing when they had no food to eat, unless you love the gospel more than having rice? This was the case with Paul and with Hudson Taylor, how about you? Do you love what you do now, your ministry? If you do, would that bit of criticism or that small incident of persecution cause you to give up your ministry? If so, you do not love what you do, you only love yourself. Oh Church! Do we love what we do for the Lord?

II. Put a Dent in the Universe

Steve Jobs was a man who had vision. This is one characteristic that a leader must have – to see what others cannot see. During the decade after he left Apple, the company floundered. When he returned to Apple, he gave the company its vision. He made his team understand the company’s long-term vision. When Steve was only 23 years old, his property was worth one million U.S. dollars. At 24, he had more than 10 million U.S. dollars. By the age of 25, he had 1 billion dollars. But he said, “I never work for the money. To be buried as the richest man in the world holds little attraction for me; what I care about is, “Can I tell myself – `I have done a great job.’” This year, he was buried and he had indeed done a great job. He had left his mark in this world. Church, how about you? God had given the Great Commission to the Apostles, the apostles left the world a good example, it had been passed from generation to generation, the baton is now in our hands; when we leave the world, how much of a mark will we have left behind for the Gospel?

Our church is a purpose-driven church, for without a purpose, without vision, we cannot leave any mark. A church without purpose and vision wouldn’t even know what it is doing. But we know, we use “Carry the Cross” to remind us of the five things we are to do: 1.Celebrate Christ, 2.Reach the the Lost 3.Obey the Word 4.Share our Lives. 5. Serve One Another. May we not forget that these are the five major purposes of our church. To `Reach the Lost’ is one of our goals. Jesus said, “I came to seek and to save the lost.” This is the mission and vision of Jesus. Paul said: “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”

Paul sought to left a mark for Christ, how about us? One day, when we are about to leave this world, can we tell our children, `I have done a great thing for Jesus, because I left a mark for the Gospel of Jesus in this world’? When Pastor Rick Warren’s father was about to leave this world, he suddenly wanted to get up from his bed. His children and grandchildren, who were surrounding him, asked him, “Where are you going?” He said: “I’m about to leave this world, I want to save one more for Jesus.” But before long, he passed away. His father’s words, `Reach one more for Jesus’ touched Rick Warren deeply and so, he asked someone to write a song called “Reach One More for Jesus, which became a well-known gospel song.

III. Say No to 1000 Things

In 1997, when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he discovered that the company had 15 different Apple products. Each product had many different models. He said that even he himself couldn’t know all the unique features of each product. Three weeks later, he decided to retain only four products and he pooled all efforts into developing those four products. He succeeded, and as a result, the I-generation began. I often remind my co-workers that we don’t have to do too much, however we must excel in whatever we decide to do.

For example: October is Mission Month. We hold Missions’ Night and Missions Fair. We don’t have to hold this yearly as if it is a tradition, as though it is mandatory. We must check if the situation warrants it. And if we want to do it, we must do it really well. Sometimes, we want the whole church to attend these activities, but if we do not properly prepare this year, next year they will no longer come. On the contrary, if this year we do a great job, those who didn’t come this year will come, because they will hear good testimonies regarding it. This is the same for all ministries. For example, if we prepare well for Sunday worship services (from the praise and worship, to the song offering, to the sermons, even the church reports), people will naturally be delighted to come to Sunday worship. Conversely, if the lead singer did not properly prepare, if the sermons were carelessly delivered, the reports were long-winded, do you think people would still like to come?

One secret to doing the various church ministries well is simplicity, that is, simply focus on one thing. This is what Paul said, “I do only one thing, forgetting what is behind, pressing on towards what is ahead.” If we consider its population, CBCP is no longer a small church; when the new church building is finished, and we consider its land area, it would be an even larger church. However, I would like to remind each co-worker, whether you are a pastor, a deacon, a small group leader or a lay man involved in some church ministry, you must remember this acronym: ASAP – As Simple As Possible.

We must not let CBCP become a complicated church; do not lay down too many rules – should not’s, may not’s, do not’s, must not’s. In CBCP, I am your senior pastor, every one of you can come and approach me directly or see me in my office. We have no hierarchy; we have only one purpose – to proclaim the gospel with one heart and mind. Do not let gospel work become very complex.

For example, we have Classes 101-104. All these courses are interrelated. Therefore, we ask you to take 101, 102, 103, 104 in succession; but from Class 201 upwards, the courses are independent of one another, so there is no need to take them in succession, particularly Class 203. Class 203 is a training class on the use of the Evangelism-Cube (E-Cube), every believer can attend this class. Some churches require their members to participate in a lot of training classes before going out to preach the gospel. They do that because they fear that, 1.they will share the gospel erroneously or 2. they will not be able to answer questions thrown at them. Because of this, gradually, sharing the gospel becomes a task they leave only to the experts; lay believers become afraid to go out and share the gospel. The gospel is very simple, all of us came to believe the gospel through the moving of the Holy Spirit, not because those who shared it to us were eloquent or highly-educated.

If we want to be a mission-minded church, not only should we ask: “What should we do?” We must also ask: “What are we not supposed to do?” As businessmen, you have to ask: “What should we do?” But more than that, you must also ask: “What are we not supposed to do?” Do not think that by having many products, you will have many customers. In fact, it is just the opposite, think about it.

IV. Kick-Start Your Brain

Jesus said:” The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” King Solomon said: “Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Solomon was of course not referring the heart as an organ. Asians usually refer to the whole being when they say heart, while Westerners usually say the brain or mind to refer to a person’s being.

If we really want the church to become a church that influences the world, we must use our mind more, we cannot be too narrow-minded; we must be big-hearted. When a church has too many `no’s’- cannot, may not, must not, should not – this church is closing its own doors. In the Garden of Eden, only the fruit of one tree was forbidden for consumption, that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the fruits from every other tree can be eaten. However, some churches have slowly changed this rule, forbidding the eating of fruits from all trees except one; they have narrowed down the truth more and more, and curtailed the freedom of Christians more and more. We have forgotten that Jesus said, “The truth will set you free indeed.” Church! We must have a generous heart to become an influential church.

Steve Jobs came up with a very significant term: Innovation. What is innovation? Innovation is a new way of doing things which brings about positive changes; innovation can improve life. Innovation is not necessarily more costly, the most important goal is increasing something’s effectiveness or efficiency. The ability to innovate depends on whether we know how to employ the power of association- that is making connections between seemingly unrelated matters. Steve Jobs said that once he walked into a Macy’s Department Store to buy something, there, he saw a blender, noticed its color and appearance. Immediately, he said to himself, “This is how the Apple II computer should be designed.” A blender and a laptop computer, how can they be related? Yet, with innovation, one can associate these two things together.

Apple has a popular slogan – `Think different.’ Oh Church, we often say, `The truth never changes’, but we must remember the method for transmitting it can vary according to the times and situations. Although we say this, however, whenever we hear a new approach, we put forward many reasons to oppose it. We argue that we have never done things that way, we limit our present and future work by our past experiences!

Next year is the church’s 25th anniversary. We are already 25-years old, we have 25 years of experience, but we must not allow any past experience to limit our growth. We must be more innovative, and think of more effective ways to spread the gospel of the kingdom. Steve Jobs left this world a better place. Christians! When we leave this world, how many people would we have helped enter the kingdom of heaven, how many lives would we have helped changed?