--ILL>One of Aesop’s fables is the story of the Lion and the Boar. On a summer day, when the great heat induced a general thirst among the beasts, a lion and a boar came at the same moment to small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of mortal combat. When they stopped suddenly to catch their breath for a fiercer renewal of the fight, they saw some vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one that should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying, “It is better for us to make friends, than become the food of Crows or Vultures.”
The truth is, when Christians fight among themselves, the vultures of the pagan world lie ready to attack Christianity.
<>Today we’ve come to the final message in the series, “Pursuing Unity.”
-->We’ve seen that unity, our being united together as believers, is important to God, and absolutely essential to our accomplishing the mission He’s called us to as Christians...as His church.
-->We’ve seen the importance of focusing on what it is we have in common: we’re all loved by God, we’ve all sinned, Jesus died for us all, salvation has been offered to all of us, and heaven is waiting for all who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.
-->And we’ve seen what unity looks like: being united in our consecration and being God-centered, united in our cause and purpose, being united in our commitment and being servants, united in our compassion and concern for helping people in need, united in our comfort and support of fellow-believers, and being united in our confidence in God’s ability to meet every challenge we face.
-->We know that God has not called us to be lone rangers...we need each other.
-->And we’ve seen that being united together miracles can and do happen.
-->But we also know that we’re involved in spiritual warfare. Satan stands opposed to us, and one of his favorite and most powerful weapons he brings against us is discord, disunity, disputes, and trying to get us to be divided.
So today we close the series looking at what the Bible teaches us to, and how to fix it (unity) when it’s broken.
I invite you to open a Bible and turn to Matthew 18:15-18.
JESUS TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES A 4-STEP APPROACH IN SEEKING TO RESTORE AND MAINTAIN CHRISTIAN UNITY.
<>STEP #1...What is to happen first when unity has been threatened or has been broken.
--a) We’re to GO PERSONALLY, INDIVIDUALLY.
-------Mt.18:15a--“If your brother sins (against you), go & show him his fault in private;”
----<>The FIRST person to know that you’re upset about something, that you’ve been offended, hurt, or you’re concerned about something is the person who did the offending.
------->We’re not to “air our grievances” with someone else.
------->We’re not to ask others to pray for the offending person until we’ve first gone and spoken to that person individually, and privately, confidentially.
----------Unfortunately, I’ve heard a lot of what I call “gossip praying” in my time.
----------It’s nothing short of gossip when we tell people another person’s faults with the guise of asking others to pray for him or her.
----------God is not IN it, and God is not pleased WITH it.
------->God’s plan for handling the problem calls us to go to the person privately and confidentially before bringing anyone else into the mix of repairing the broken unity.
----<>Also, we’re not to confront the person while he/she is in a group...but in private only.
----<>And, if the matter is resolved, then the matter needs to remain private forever, never to be brought up in public.
-------->It’s done. It’s over. It’s resolved.
----<>If it doesn’t get resolved, there are further steps Scripture tells us to take, and we’ll talk about them in a moment.
--b) Go REDEMPTIVELY.
-------Mt.18:15b--“...if he listens 2 you, you have won your brother.”
----<>We are to go and speak to the offending person with the hope that everything will be resolved without ever having to “expose” the reasons for this encounter.
----<>We’re to go and speak to the person with the hope that reconciliation and restoration will be the end result.
----<>You’re to go and speak to the person with the hope that you and the offending person will actually come away from the encounter closer to one another than ever before.
-------ILL>Woodrow Wilson said it this way: “If you come at me with your fists doubled, I think I can promise you that mine will be doubled as fast as yours. But if you come to me and say, ‘Let us sit down and take counsel together, and, if we differ from one another, understand why it is that we differ from one another, just what the points at issue are,’ we will presently find that we are not so far apart after all, that the points on which we differ are few and the points on which we agree are many, and that if we only have the patience and the candor and the desire to get together, we will get together.”
----<>In the middle of a disagreement it is imperative that we realize that a fellow believer is NOT our enemy.
------->Our enemy is the devil, and he is the one behind any divisiveness between believers.
---------ILL>Although George Whitefield disagreed with John Wesley on some theological matters, he was careful not to create problems in public that could be used to hinder the preaching of the gospel. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, “I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”
----<>Our goal of going and speaking to the offending brother is redemption, resolution, and restoring a right relationship between us as fellow-believers.
--c) Go QUICKLY.
-------Hb.12:14-15--“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;”
----<>Allowing the “sore” to fester is NOT going to bring healing.
------->Someone has described insanity as “doing the same things and expecting a different result.”
------->Similarly, in counseling, I offer the following “advice” to counselees: “If you keep on doing the same things, the same things are going to happen.”
------->In short, the cycle has to be stopped, a change in behavior is called for...and it needs to happen quickly.
----<>The longer the offense remains without any attempt to resolve it, the deeper the divide can become.
------->If you think the festering sore is going to disappear, you’re being deceived and are playing right into Satan’s hand.
------->The Bible refers to this issue as “a root of bitterness.”
----------The key word is root. It’s what nourishes, feeds, causes the thing to grow.
------->When we let bitterness “settle in,” get “rooted” in our mind, it will cause the issue to become bigger and bigger in our focus and thinking, and will lead to more and deeper bitterness, bringing about less and less effectiveness and no real fruitfulness in our lives.
----<>Nothing does more damage to the church’s effectiveness in reaching a lost community for Christ than when Christians have trouble getting along with one another.
------->God knows it.
------->Satan knows it too, and he’ll try to exploit it.
------->Therefore, we need to resolve any differences properly and quickly.
----<>The longer the offense remains without any attempt to resolve it, the more time is wasted from moving forward in the mission God has given to us to achieve.
--------Eph.5:16--“redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
------->Satan knows our brains are pretty limited when it comes to concentrating on more than one thing at a time.
------->So, if our mind is distracted, disturbed by a sense of having been somehow offended, and we’re taken over by bitterness or distrust toward another believer, we’re not going to be busy in moving forward on the more important matters of accomplishing our God-give mission.
---------ILL>I’m reminded of the story told of border security officers at the American-Mexican border who knew a Mexican man was smuggling something across the border into the U.S. but they couldn’t figure out what it was. Each day for several days in a row he would show up early in the morning, pushing a bicycle with the baskets and saddlebags on the bike full of stuff. But each time as they checked the bags and baskets all they found was normal stuff a person would use as part of being a laborer, and a lunch. They even took the wheels off, emptied the tires of air and checked inside them, but never found anything at all out of the ordinary. And then each day the man would return home after working in the U.S. But one day, it finally dawned on the border guards what it was the man was smuggling...BICYCLES. They had focused so much on the small stuff they had failed to see the big thing that was right there in front of them all along.
------>That’s how it is with us. Satan wants us to be focused on the small stuff. He wants to blind us to the fact that the more attention and time we give to our hurt feelings and how we’re upset at another believer, we’re NOT going to be engaged in the bigger activity of winning the lost, meeting people’s needs, and fulfilling our God-given mission. THAT’s what he’s most concerned in stopping...and we let him do it when we let our feelings and disputes over small stuff keep us from accomplishing the more important stuff of serving the Lord.
<>STEP #2: What is to happen if the first step doesn’t end in restoration.
--<>We’re to EXPAND THE “CIRCLE OF RESOLUTION” BY TWO.
------Mt.18:16--“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”
----->We’re to take two other believers with us as we make a second attempt at resolving things with the offending person.
--------These should be persons that both the offending person and you respect, people of unquestionable character.
----->The purpose of this meeting is so that the truth can be clearly known...and any misunderstanding of the truth can be clearly exposed.
--------Perhaps these objective “outside observers” can “see” what perhaps you and/or the offending person are not able to see by being so close to the problem.
----->Again, the purpose of this meeting is the same as the first: restoration.
--------It’s not a matter of casting blame nor chastising, but resolving the issue that is endangering unity.
--------The desired result is that the issue will be lovingly resolved, and the four of you will be closer together than ever before.
----->Again, if the matter is resolved, the four who now know about the issue are to drop it forever, never bringing it up or making it a matter of public record.
<>STEP #3: What if even the second attempt does not lead to restoration? Then what?
--<>We’re to bring the matter to the WHOLE CHURCH.
------Mt.18:17a--“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;”
----->It now needs to be brought to the attention of the whole church because it is now affecting the whole church’s ability to accomplish its mission.
--------The “two witnesses” need to testify of their objective involvement and their desire along with you that the matter be resolved in an amicable way.
--------It is important, though, to notice that this is a LAST resort, a final attempt to resolve the issue and bring restoration, restore harmony within the body of Christ.
--------It’s not to be the FIRST step...but the final attempt at resolution.
----->Hopefully, with it being out in the open now, and with the testimony of the objective witnesses aiding in bringing out the real facts involved, the offending person and you will set aside the offense, and restoration will occur.
<>STEP #4: What is to happen IF RESTORATION DIDN’T OCCUR.
--<>Sadly, the church is to treat that person as if he/she is a NON-BELIEVER.
------Mt.18:17b--“...if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
---->At first this can sound really mean or cruel, but it was not meant in this way. Jesus was the one who said it, so we know it was not said with anything meant other than in bringing the person to a place where he/she could experience God’s love and forgiveness up close and personal.
---->Specifically, treating the offending person as though he/she is not really a believer would mean...
---a) NOT being “best friends” with this person.
--------2Cor.6:14 reminds us...”for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
------>It is significant that Jesus taught us to treat such people as tax collectors.
---------The tax collectors of that day were deemed “traitors” by their fellow Jews.
---------They were known for not having the interests of others in mind, just furthering their own interests, padding their own pockets and purses.
---------They were Jews by birth, but they worked for the oppressive Roman government and usually became very wealthy by charging other Jews excessive taxes, then gathering up those taxes and keeping a large portion for themselves.
---------Hence, they were usually known in their full title of beng "despised tax collectors.”
------>In the same way, while it may be true that the offending person might still be a believer, just one way out of a right fellowship with the Lord, it is also apparent that he/she is not really interested in furthering the kingdom. Otherwise he/she would have been willing to set aside trivial matters for the bigger cause.
---------Therefore, this person is not going to be a helper, but rather a stumbling block, in the achieving of God’s mission for His church.
------>Remember: Satan is still involved.
---------This person has chosen to NOT be “in fellowship” with other believers, has determined to NOT be two fellows in the same ship with believers, but rather to chart his own course, and swim in waters outside where God is leading.
---b) However, it means to be praying for him/her.
-------Lk.6:28--“bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
----->Their biggest need is forgiveness and a relationship with Jesus.
--------If they’re already a believer, they just need to let go and let God lead his/her life again, and restore to him/her the joy of his/her salvation.
---c) Be friendly and kind to him/her.
-------Lk.6:35--“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
----->He/she needs to see God’s love shining out of you and from other believers.
----->There’s still hope for him/her...and our prayers need to be for that result.
BRINGING IT HOME...
--<>As we move forward in accomplishing God’s mission we need to realize and remember:
----->The farther we go, the more miraculously and powerfully we’ll see God at work through us.
----->The farther we go, the more exciting and fulfilling it will become as we are allowed to participate in His unfolding mission.
----->The father we go, the more opposition and challenges we’ll face.
--<>We need to be vigilant, and united.
----->In our consecration, in our cause, in our commitment to serve, in our compassion and putting the needs of others ahead of our own, united in our confidence in God’s power to bring us through anything and everything, and united in our comfort and support for one another.
----->We need to be aware that it’s precisely in our relationships with one another that Satan’s attacks will come.
--<>And we need to be aware that Satan is only as effective as we allow him to be.
----->So, let’s not allow him any latitude, not allow him any foothold.
INSTEAD, LET’S PURSUE UNITY.
