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 our church family. When I was a kid I remember being in church every Sunday, but there was one specific Sunday that I will never forget. I didn’t understand the details, but I knew something was different. Things didn’t feel right. There was a tension, that even as a kid I could sense. There was an official from the district office of our church denomination who had shown up, so I knew something was happening. Well sure enough, as soon as the service started our pastor walked up to the pulpit and said he could no longer be a part of our denomination and was starting a new church about 2 miles up the road. He then invited anyone who wanted to join him to stand up and walk out right then. And that is exactly what half of the people did. Those of us who were left, just sat there in disbelief. We had just experienced a church split in the worst possible way. The district official tried to comfort us and let us know that they would do everything they could to make sure we would be alright. But that church would never be the same. They have never fully recovered and healed from that awful day.
There was a theological division that had been growing for years and the pastor believed he was justified in splitting the church over it. He was wrong. He had a choice. He could have resigned and walked away quietly, but he chose to make a spectacle of the situation and draw away as many people as he could, which caused deep wounds on both sides. I don’t know that his theological stand was wrong, but his actions certainly were. 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. And 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 pushed aside as someone who is on theological lower ground than we are. We won’t admit it, but we require that other believers “qualify” for fellowship with us. If not, we can’t defile ourselves with association. Seems like a noble cause, but it is death to our unity in Christ.
Now I’m not talking about accepting the teachings of Budda or Hinduism. But it’s certainly time to put down the torches that we use to burn down other evangelical denominations. You may enjoy listening to several other preachers besides me. That’s great. 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 one pastor or denomination at the top if it. The hill you die on, is the one with Jesus on top with you. 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 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. Currently Fuel is in the second category and I don’t mind saying so. 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” on Sundays, 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 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 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 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. Ever heard a pastor or church leader verbally tearing down another church or preacher that had a bigger church? 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. Being unified with other churches and believers, allows us to unlock and access the knowledge within them.
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. What you honor moves towards you and creates Unity. What you dishonor moves away from you and causes division. 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.
In Matthew 13:44. Jesus says: 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. 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 hardhat 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. 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 you have 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. 1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
コメント