A superior culture in a local church starts with humility. When members have a lowliness of mind—rather than thinking more highly of themselves then they ought (Rom. 12:3)—church body life is transformed, which builds up the oldest to the youngest. It was this virtue that ended the Māori tribe’s Utu culture of revenge, spreading literacy and transforming social structures in New Zealand—all through a wave of humility that recognized that it’s the grace of God that makes us who we are. 

 

Sermon: https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/681854abf78c68570332d30e

Romans 12 is a treasure. It really describes the superior culture of a local church. And in chapter 12, verse 3, we learn that the beginning of that superior culture is humility. Where the apostle Paul tells the Roman church, do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. And the word, it's a very interesting Greek word that he uses, huper and fro-ne-o, in other words, to hyper think.

So what the apostle Paul is saying to the Roman Christians is basically, get a grip, for I say through the grace of God, given to me. In other words, everything is from the grace of God. A man can receive nothing unless it's given him from heaven. Paul himself said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. So the apostle is dealing with humility and the problem in the church where people think more highly of themselves than they ought to think and it causes such dislocation in local churches.

In 1835 a Presbyterian missionary Alfred Brown went to New Zealand and one day a 12 year old Maori girl named Tarori got the courage to go see Mrs. Brown, the wife of Alfred Brown. This girl Tarori was asking Mrs. Brown if she would teach her how to read. So Mrs.

Brown agreed and she gave her a copy of the Gospel of Luke in the language of the Maori. So she prized this gospel so much she hung it around her neck it was precious. She became a Christian and but Mrs. Brown taught her lots of things not just how to read but how to sit at a table instead of eating on the floor, how to eat with utensils instead of with their hands, to sleep in bed instead of the floor. At first, Terori's father rejected the message, but then he said, those are the words of truth from the one true God, and he became a Christian.

Okay, so then a revenge war broke out and Turori's tribe was attacked. And so The tribe transported the children to what they thought was to safety. But there was a war party in the area and the children were taken. The warriors killed Torori, beating her with clubs. The raiders came and they took away her book.

It was a symbol of pride, of the booty of the war. The attackers went back to their tribe, and there was a slave in that tribe who could read English. And so when the book was read aloud, they heard about the forgiveness and the love of Jesus Christ. And it changed the hearts of those men. And they were reading things like, Love Your Enemies and Do Good to Them, Father Forgive Them for They Know Not What They Do.

And then that book went into the hands of another tribe and the chiefs read it and they repented of their culture of revenge. And so two warring vengeful chiefs met and they reconciled. This was the beginning of a culture of forgiveness among the Māori tribes. It transformed society. And that's why the Apostle says, do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think.

When that happens in a church, it transforms the culture of that church And it transforms fathers and mothers and marriages and workers. And it begins with recognizing that you ought not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.