Today we’re going to talk about a topic that was difficult for church folks in the days of Paul the Apostle. And it’s just gotten worse since then. That topic is unity. The “U” in FUEL stands for UNITY, and today we’re going to look into why it is so difficult and how we can achieve unity with the people around us. 1 Corinthians 1:10-12 “10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” They had divided themselves based on who’s teaching they followed. The ancient Greek word for divisions is “schismata.” We get our English word “schism” from this, and it actually means “tear or rend.” Paul is telling them to stop ripping each other apart, tearing up the body of Christ. There were four different groups arguing over who was correct and truly following God in the right way. How did that start? Do you think they began by asking “Who do you follow, Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Jesus?” Then, if you answered wrong, it was on. I’m glad Paul straightened them out and settled this issue once and for all, so we wouldn’t be dealing with it today. Or could it be that we are still doing this?
Isn’t that exactly what we are doing when we ask “what church do you go to?” It sounds innocent enough and I’m sure there are no bad intentions. But if we look past the surface, we will see the basic motive for this question. Whether we realize it or not, the motive behind the question is our judgment of who you are theologically...and to decide if we will accept you as a brother or sister...or if you need to be straightened out, avoided or even pushed aside as someone who is on theological lower ground than we are. We won’t often admit it, but we require that other believers “qualify” for fellowship with us. If they don’t, we can’t defile ourselves with association. Seems like a noble cause, but it is death to our unity in Christ. Can you disagree with a brother or sister on a topic of theology and still maintain unity with them? Do you have a need to be right at all cost, even to the point of damaging your relationship with other parts of the body? There are areas of the bible where a specific issue is not completely defined as right or wrong. It’s not black and white, so the question is do you have grace in the grey? Can you walk in unity with a brother, even though you don’t see every verse in the Bible exactly the same? It’s certainly time to put down the torches that we use to burn down a brother or even another evangelical denomination. I certainly hope you enjoy listening to several other teachers besides me. That’s a great way to be well rounded in your thinking. Anytime you can get inspiration, revelation and encouragement is good for your walk with God. If you want some other teachers names I’d be happy to pass them along.
But it’s not good for you, if the theological hill you’re going to die on has only one pastor or denomination at the top if it. Do you realize that in heaven there will be no Baptists, Charismatics, Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Independent or any other denominational divisions. Heaven will be full of people who have trusted in Jesus for salvation. Here at FUEL we do not have the market cornered. We don’t know everything or claim that our teaching is infallible. Only Jesus can claim that. No one denomination or pastor has it 100% right. You should stay away from anyone who claims that position. That’s why we need other believers. There are things we can and should be learning from each other. For example: Some churches have great structure and leadership, but lack the power of the Holy Spirit. Others have great power from the Holy Spirit, but lack the structure for growth and discipleship. I need to be surrounded by people who can provide structure because that is a weakness of mine. We can have a fantastic “Holy Spirit hoedown”, but if we can’t follow that up with structure and focus, we will not be effective long term. The key to unity is understanding that we are all different parts of the body of Christ and are necessary for the benefit of the Kingdom as a whole. We have to recognize and honor all of the body parts.
Honor is the Kingdom Key that Unlocks the Door to Unity That's why the Bible says so much about honoring others. Exodus 20:12 “12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Honoring your father and mother is the first commandment with a promise attached to following it. It’s also probably the most famous verse about honor, but it’s hardly the only one. The bible has lots to say about honoring people besides your own family. Let’s look at a passage that shows what happened when people didn’t honor Jesus. Mark 6:1-6 “Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. 4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.” The people in His hometown were offended by who Jesus was and who He claimed to be. Why would this bother them so
much? Because they were jealous and wanted to know His secret for the miracles they had been hearing about. They said “We know who You are. You’re just a carpenter, we know your family history (unwed mother). Who do You think u are?” When Jesus went back home, He was not honored by the people He grew up with. In fact, jealousy caused them to disrespect Him and miss seeing Him for who He really was...the Messiah. That is why jealousy is such dangerous thing for us to allow to grow in our heart. Jealousy prevents honor...and so it prevents unity. Up to that point in His ministry, Jesus was cleaning out hospitals everywhere He went, but not in His own hometown. Why? Did Jesus lose his power while He was there? No, it’s because they were only able to receive from Him at the level at which they perceived Him. Jealousy would not allow them to accept Him as anything but a regular carpenter, so a carpenter is all they got. If they could have looked past the carpenter, and accepted Him as the Messiah, they would have received the miracles that the Messiah had available for them. They had been praying for God to send the Messiah for over 500 years, but when God did, their attitude of jealousy and dishonor wouldn’t allow them to receive Him. It’s easy for us to talk about how blind they were and how they missed it completely, but do we do the same thing? When we are praying for God to help us in our life, He shows up by sending a person to provide the answer you need.
But in order to receive the answer you have to accept the messenger. You can’t access what God has for you, if you disrespect the person God sent to bring it to you. Honor is the key to unity Romans 12:10 “10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” This verse falls under the heading of “Marks of a true Christian.” In America, we have a problem. We do not live in a culture of honor. We live in a culture of dishonor and disrespect. Kids don’t respect parents because adults don’t respect police, teachers, presidents or any authority. If you watch the news, you’ll see both sides of the political parties celebrating disrespect. Those who lead have set the tone. We celebrate an atmosphere of disrespect. We promote the worst behavior by honoring politicians, reality tv shows, and celebrities who promote a culture of disrespect. The church has fallen into the trap and adopted the same culture. Could that level of disrespect and dishonor be the reason we don’t see many miracles in America today. Can miracles exist in an environment of jealousy, division and disunity. According to what Jesus experienced, the answer is NO. Honor and Unity are a foundational culture of the Kingdom. We are called to go farther in our faith, and live life at a higher spiritual level. In order to understand the next level, we have to learn from someone who is already there. And that can’t happen if we dishonor them.
Here is an important KINGDOM KEY What you honor moves towards you and creates Unity. What you dishonor moves away from you and causes division. Being unified with other churches and believers, allows us to unlock and access the knowledge within them. And knowledge is the seed for change. You only gain knowledge by listening to people who know more than you do. If you always hang around with people who know the same things you already know, there will never be an opportunity to increase your knowledge and move your life forward. How do you begin the process of growing? By putting yourself in a position to learn. If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. You need to be in a place where you can learn how to get to the next level. If you want a better life, you need to be around people who are living the life u desire. But you don’t get access to them, by being jealous and tearing them down. You only gain access by honoring them and being in UNITY. Jealousy is the lock that prevents you from having access to the knowledge you need, but honor is the key for that lock. Jesus told the parable of a Treasure in a field. When Jesus begins a parable saying “The kingdom of heaven is like”, He’s explaining to us how His Kingdom operates.
Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” What does that have to do with honor? People have fields and people have treasures. Everyone has things they are gifted with (treasure) and also some things that are less than appealing (field or dirt). Honoring people is the process of digging past their dirt in order to reveal their treasure. Some people are full of treasure and they are a joy to be around. Others make it very difficult to imagine they have any treasure at all. Have you ever written someone off because they annoyed you when you first met them? In the parable, the treasure had been hidden. It wasn’t exposed and obvious. So, in order to find it, searching was required and searching requires digging through the dirt. That’s the hard part, because you aren’t looking for dirt, you are looking for treasure. But you have to deal with the dirt before the treasure is revealed. My dad was a coal miner when I was growing up. He used to try and describe what it was like underground in the mine. As a kid I didn’t really grasp what he was talking about. Then one day when I was in high school, he asked if me and my brother wanted to go see it for ourselves. Of course we did. I remember getting all dressed up like a miner with boots and a hard hat with light attached. It was exciting and everything was great...right up until we started to go into the mine. Dad was in front and had us
attached with a line so we could stay with him. He said later that he knew something was wrong when he felt the line get tight. So, as it turns out, Randall had decided that maybe going down into the mine wasn’t such a good idea after all. I looked at the dark tunnel, the machines and the dirt, and thought I don’t think the mine is for me. Let me tell you about how a mine works. In a mine you have to move tons of dirt in order to find something of real value, it takes time and hard work. Getting past the dirt is just part of the job. If you allow the dirt to discourage you, you’ll never find the treasure. Honoring people is the same, It’s hard work and it will require you to get your hands dirty, because dealing with people's dirt is just part of the process of revealing their treasure. Nobody likes dealing with the dirt. Maybe it’s just their personality that rubs you the wrong way. Maybe they said something to you that hit you wrong and you don’t want to be around them. Sometimes digging past the dirt means going against what your friends are saying about someone. One way of digging past the dirt that you perceive someone has is to evaluate yourself. Here's what I mean. Do you really understand who you are from a personality perspective? Maybe you’re the problem. If you don’t understand your own personality, then it’s impossible for you to know how you come across to others. Years ago I was a volunteer at a church and I had a meeting with the pastor to discuss how things were not working and how they would be better if the people I was serving with would do things differently. There had been arguments about who was right in their approach to ministry...and in order to help me see the real issue, he asked me a question.
He asked: “What’s the common denominator in all these arguments?” I thought about it for a second and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was the only thing common to all the arguments. My involvement was the issue. I wasn’t able get past the idea that my point of view was the only right way to think. That day everything changed. Once I realized who I was, it was easier to honor others and have unity in the body. It was a perfect illustration of one of the verses I talked about last week. Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Don’t talk about the issues that other brothers have, until you deal with your own issues. I’d encourage everyone to take a personality assessment. It will help you better understand why you do the things you do. There are no bad personalities, but there are personalities that don’t naturally get along with the personalities. Maybe you’ve just encountered a person who has a personality that naturally rubs you the wrong way. So what do we do as Christians in that situation? It’s our job to understand how we should approach them in order to honor them. 1 Peter 2:17 “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” When you decide that you are tired of your life staying in the same place year after year because you keep hanging around the same people who know the same information that you know...
That’s when it’s time to make an effort to set jealousy aside, roll your sleeves up, grab a shovel and start digging. It will be hard work, but the treasure you’ll find will be worth it. Honoring other believers will allow us to have unity, and together we can advance the kingdom. Honor breaks down walls and creates an environment of unity.
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