Introduction: Today we are continuing our series of messages on the importance of love and unity in the Church. When we began two weeks ago we saw that the key to unity within the Body of Christ is love. That is why Paul said in Colossians 3:14—“Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.” The key truth that is guiding our study is:
Love and Unity go “hand-in-hand” without Love there will be no Unity.
Last week I used the illustration about the difference between sitting in “coach” and sitting in “first class” on an airline. And I’m pretty sure that we all agreed that it wouldn’t make any sense to sit in “coach” when you have a “first class” ticket. In the same way, it is equally silly to settle for “coach” or “second-class” living when we have a “first class” Savior. As Jesus Himself said, “I came that they must have life, and have it abundantly.” That is “first class” living, and we shouldn’t settle for less when Jesus died and rose again to give us the best.
Today we are going to add two more “first class” qualities from this list of unity builders that Paul gave to the Colossian believers. Before we do, let’s take a quick look at the qualities we’ve already addressed.
Paul listed 8 important qualities that should be displayed in the lives of those who are followers of Jesus Christ, and so far we’ve looked at: LOVE, COMPASSION, KINDNESS, & HUMILITY.
It all begins with LOVE which is the perfect bond on unity. We have identified LOVE with the expression: Give of Yourself like Jesus Gives. And our application challenge is: BE LIKE CHRIST.
The second quality we looked at was COMPASSION. And we saw that COMPASSSION requires us to Feel like Jesus Feels. The application point we made was that we need to: BE SENSITIVE.
The third quality that will build unity in the Church is KINDNESS. To make that a reality we have to Treat Others like Jesus Treats Us. This is where things started getting a little tougher, but we applied this principle to God’s Word: BE NICE!
Last week we added HUMILITY to the mix and were challenged with the fact that we need to See Ourselves & Others as God Sees Us. We do that by first seeing God correctly, and then, and only then, can we see ourselves and others through His eyes. The application point was simple, we need to BE HUMBLE.
Let’s go back and read our text from Colossians 3 again, and then look at two more qualities that I believe can build unity within the Church, and can help us move up from a “coach” congregation to a “first class” body of believers sold out to serve our Savior Jesus Christ.
Text: Colossians 3:12-14
Both of the qualities that we are going to look at today are qualities that Paul addressed in his other letters. GENTLENESS & PATIENCE are described in Galatians 5 as “fruits of the Spirit”:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faith, GENTLENESS, self control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (HCSB)
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul included both of these qualities as challenges to walk worthy of Christ’s calling:
I…urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and GENTLENESS, with PATIENCE, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. Ephesians 4:1-3 (HCSB)
Christ-like Qualities that Can Bring Unity in the Church
GENTLENESS
Surrender to Christ so You can Serve Like Christ.
We are called to salvation, but we are also called to service. Jesus said of Himself,
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
If that is Jesus’ testimony, it ought to be ours as well. One way to make that happen is through applying this principle of GENTLENESS.
When you hear the word GENTLENESS (or meekness as it is sometimes translated), you may be tempted to associate it with “weakness.” Here’s something to remember, when it comes to being like Christ, “meekness is not weakness” there has never been, nor will there ever be anyone stronger than Jesus Christ, and yet He described Himself as GENTLE and humble in heart.
The meaning behind this word is: “strength under control.” The Greek philosopher Aristotle who obviously understood his language far better than we ever could described this virtue as the perfect balance between too much and too little anger. That is his way of describing “strength under control.”
In everyday life this word was used to describe the training of an animal, particularly the training of horses. A horse had to be “broken” in order for it to be useful to its master. The “strength” of the horse had to be brought under “control.” Once a horse was broken it didn’t “lose” it’s strength, it “submitted” it’s strength to the reins of it’s master.
That is exactly what we need in our lives—we need to be broken so that we can learn to surrender to Christ. To be GENTLE as described by the Apostle Paul is to allow our strengths to be submitted to the control of Jesus Christ. If we want UNITY within the Body of Christ we must be willing to allow Christ to “reign” in our lives. He “reigns” by using His “reins” to train us and guide us into His perfect will.
I believe one of the reasons we are not more effective in making an influence on our world is that we don’t understand or apply this quality to our lives. Jesus included this as one of the “blessings” in the Beatitudes when He said: “Blessed are the GENTLE for they will inherit the earth.” If we want to make a difference here in Crescent City, then we are going to have to learn the quality of GENTLENESS.
My application point for this quality is:
BE TRAINABLE
Christ-like Qualities that Can Bring Unity in the Church
PATIENCE
The KJV uses the word “long-suffering” to describe this next quality that can bring unity within the Body of Christ. The inference behind this word is the ability to handle the difficulties of life without giving in to seeking revenge. It is used to describe a runner who has the endurance to finish a race without running out of wind.
While coaching track one of the things that I had to teach my runners was the importance of breathing. You would think that something that is as automatic as breathing wouldn’t be an issue, but when it comes to running it really is. I have seen many runners, especially long-distance runners, literally “run out of air” and collapse on the track. Why? Because they didn’t “control” their breathing. As they got tired they began “gulping” or “gasping” for air and didn’t get full breaths. Eventually the lack of sufficient oxygen in your blood will bring on fatigue throughout all the muscles in your body.
This idea of PATIENCE or LONG-SUFFERING is the spiritual ability with Christ’s help to “breath” in the Holy Spirit so that you don’t give out under the stresses of life. Here’s the way I want us to remember this quality:
Act Like Christ so You won’t React to Life’s Problems.
Most of us are more “re-action” oriented than we should be. The spiritual quality of PATIENCE teaches us to “act” in a Christ-like manner when dealing with difficult circumstances and difficult people as opposed to “reacting” based on our own selfish nature. We need to realize that this ability doesn’t come natural to us, and that it only is possible when we acknowledge that God is the ultimate source and provider of true PATIENCE. Listen to what Paul said in the 1st Chapter of Colossians:
We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father… Colossians 1:9-12 (HCSB)
Paul’s prayer was that believers know God deeply, and that they continue to grow in Christ so that His strength would become there own. And for what purpose? So that they will endure and have PATIENCE. To use our key thought—so that we can learn to “act” like Jesus instead of “reacting” to life’s problems.
Why are we called to be PATIENT? Patient with circumstances…patient with people? Because God has shown His patience with us. Listen to these powerful portrayals of Divine patience:
The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting an to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (HCSB)
This is a trustworthy saying and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. But I received mercy because of this, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate the utmost patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (HCSB)
Remember how when we began this study I told you that all of these other qualities hinge on love? Well PATIENCE is no exception to that. In Paul’s great description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 he simply states: “Love is PATIENT.”
If you’re like me, patience is a daily challenge, especially when it comes to dealing with people. But we need to remember the patience that God has shown us when we are struggling with others. What if God “reacted” every time we did something that didn’t honor Him? We’d all be in a lot trouble! But He doesn’t, He “acts” in His time, and in His way, to draw us into His will.
I read an interesting statement about being patient with others this week, and I’d like to conclude our time this morning with this thought:
Christians can be patient with others because they really believe God is able to change people.
Our simple application point is:
BE PATIENT
Conclusion: Do you believe that God is still in the “life-changing” business? I do! Because He is still changing me! Sometimes He does it be “reining” in my wild nature and “training” me to serve Him. Other times He lets me run and is “patient” with me allowing me to realize that I need to lean on Him so that I can stop “reacting” and instead begin to “act” like His Son everyday.
So what is the Lord saying to you today about GENTLENESS & PATIENCE? Do you need to surrender again to the Lord so that He can train you for His service? Do you need to learn to “act” like Christ instead of “reacting” on your own when you are faced with difficult situations or difficult people? Let’s ask the Lord to show us how to apply these principles to our lives today.
