“Uprooting Bitter Roots”
Hebrews 12 addresses three specific life goals to consider as individuals and as a church family.
It is my hope that they will guide the direction of our church family throughout the year.
a) Promote Healing among the body
b) Pursue peace with ALL men
c) Pursue purity (sanctification)
This is where true meaning in life is found. This is the Divine Directive for EVERY true follower of Christ.
Minister to one another.
Pursue meaningful relationship with each other.
Pursue deeper relationship with God through our pursuit of purity and life transformation.
Just as God instructs every follower of Christ to passionately and continually promote and pursue healing, peace and purity, we are also commanded to continually address three specific peace and purity busters in the Christian community. The three things listed in this passage are three top issues that fracture families, crack communities, rip relationships, split churches.
They also are the top three infections that stunt the development of our relationship with God.
Seeing 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;
that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. Hebrews 12:12-17
Hebrews pinpoints three major hindrances to spiritual growth.
A failure to appropriate God’s empowering grace.
A failure to forgive resulting in a bitter root which defiles and poisons all those around.
A failure to pursue eternal values.
Top three life struggles are Pride – Bitterness – Temporal values.
God instructs EVERY believer to watch out for one another. We find fewer and fewer models of family unity and connection. People used to live in communities that looked out for one another. They watched each other’s back. The protected their property and guarded the neighborhood children. They shared tragedies and genuinely cared about each other.
Today it is rare to find such a community. More than ever we need followers of Christ to become that community. People need to find a place of acceptance and camaraderie. Scripture describes both healthy and unhealthy Christian communities. Since God created us for community, He continually urges us to pursue Him and pursue a healthy relationship with all our Christian brothers and sisters.
God instructs EVERY believer to watch out for one another. We are to see to it that none of us Paul's victim of these devastating infections. We find fewer and fewer models of family unity and connection. People used to live in communities that looked out for one another. They watched each other’s back. They protected one another's property and guarded each other's children. They shared tragedies and genuinely cared about each other. Such communities become harder and harder to find today. More than ever we need followers of Christ to become that community. People need to find a place of acceptance and camaraderie. Scripture describes both healthy and unhealthy Christian communities. We are to guard against bitter roots in the community.
1. Guard against falling short of God’s enabling grace
2. Guard against bitter roots
Seeing to it…that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
It is my observation that this disease runs rampant in the church of Jesus Christ today. For the most part, it goes unaddressed. Its gravity in the community is underestimated. It has destroyed more lives and more churches than probably any other single issue. I also believe it is among the top five destroyers of mental and emotional health.
Although I am not a mental health expert I would venture to guess that two of the top reasons why people become institutionalized have to do with bitterness or guilt. Guilt is the failure to receive forgiveness and blessing.
Bitterness is the failure to reciprocate (give) forgiveness and blessing.
I. The character of bitterness
A. Definition
Bitterness describes the intentional cultivation of negative thoughts and emotions toward someone I hold responsible for an actual or perceived offense intentionally or unintentionally inflicted upon me or someone I care about.
The neighbor’s dog makes regular deposits in my front yard. The bitterness is not toward the dog (dogs do what dogs do). We direct our negative thoughts and emotions toward the dog's owner who fails to properly restrain his dog from doing business with my lawn.
A church member failed to acknowledgment me at the grocery store. In this case, it was not a direct hurtful action but the failure to respond to my presence. This may have been an actual or a perceived neglect. Regardless, I choose to cultivate negative thoughts and emotions toward that individual.
The core of bitterness is negative thoughts and emotions toward a person which I choose to embrace and cultivate. Bitterness is a soul disease. It is a response to life that comes about as a result of something going on within me. Bitterness is always directed toward a person. We don't hold bitterness toward our car for having a flat tire. We don't cultivate bitterness toward the weather. We focus our bitterness (our negative thoughts and emotions) toward the person that we perceived caused an injury of some kind. The offense may have to do with a hurtful action or a failure to act according to our expectations. It may be a response to attack or a response to neglect. That response may be the cultivation of negative thoughts and emotions of anger, revenge, ill will, rejection, avoidance or blame which eventually manifests in negative words or actions on my part. I will direct my negative thoughts and emotions toward God, other people or even myself.
B. Description
Offenses do not cause bitterness anymore and than wounds cause infection. Infection comes from a failure to properly attend to the wound. Bitterness results from failure to properly respond to offenses. Everyone gets offended. Not everyone becomes bitter. Clearly, offenses do not cause bitterness. We choose to cultivate bitterness.
I can't control what happens to me but I can control what happens in me.
I cannot control how others act toward me, but I can control how I react to them.
I consciously choose to entertain and nurse negative thought and emotions. I intentionally choose to become bitter or better in the face of life's disappointing events. Disappointment and offense by people is unavoidable. Bitterness is! Negative reaction to the instrument that caused the wound will not prevent infection of the wound. We think we will find healing for our wounds by demanding something from or punishing the one who caused the offense. If they would just…I would feel better. I wouldn’t be bitter anymore. I’ll feel better if they hurt like I hurt.
Bitterness is an attempt to either demand repayment or exact punish on the perceived offender. We think the cultivation of these negative feelings will somehow cause the offender to do something that will heal my hurt. The reality is that the cultivation of bitter roots in my soul has far greater consequences for me than it will ever have on the offender.
Bitterness demands payment and imparts pain to the perceived offender. I want the offender to pay me back and to hurt like I hurt. The opposite of bitterness is love.
Love dismisses debt and imparts favor to the perceived offender. I want to release the offender and to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
I'm here to tell you today that the issue of bitterness has to do with me NOT with anyone else.
Bitterness only grows in the soil of selfishness; self-centeredness. We are responsible for the active cultivation of healthy soul soil where we can receive the word implanted which is able to continually renew our soul. We are responsible to eradicate bitter roots that choke the truth.
We are responsible to be sure that our thinking, feeling, and choosing are directed and protected by the truth of the word of God and daily surrender to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
We are responsible for a healthy immune system that prevents the infection of bitterness from ever taking root in our soul.
C. Characteristics from Hebrews 12:15
1. Bitterness is a community issue
“Ya all seeing to it” Everybody is to look out for one another; to watch each other's back.
2. Bitterness is distasteful and poisonous
Scripture calls it a bitter root. It brings no pleasure. It is unattractive. It causes repulsion.
The word “bitter” as to do with something that is pungent, acidic, piercing, sharp, bitter, biting.
3. Bitterness begins underground
Hebrews called it a root. This indicates that bitterness begins unseen as something deep in our soul. It is a plant incubated over time. It draws energy underground as if continually feeds on negative thoughts and emotions. It thrives in a particular soil in the soul.
4. Bitterness eventually surfaces
"springing up" a primary verb; probably original to “puff” or blow, i.e. to swell up; to germinate or grow (sprout, produce), literal or figurative :- spring (up).
Bitterness cannot remain underground. Eventually it will break the surface. As long as there is root there will be fruit. Dealing with bitterness must extend beyond managing its occasional outbreak. We must eradicate its very root. We often try to control our angry responses and attitudes toward people. That is like trying to continually cut off the plants that break the surface. The only effective way to eliminate the noxious weed is to eradicate its poisonous root.
5. Bitterness entangles us
This passage tells us to beware of the roots of bitterness that breaking the surface trouble us.
The word for “trouble” means to "crowd within", "annoy", "vex", "harass", "mob".
He uses a third person singular form of the verb. The idea is that bitterness pushes out the good things in our heart and takes over our life. Bitter roots destroy us from the inside out. It's been said that a rattlesnake, if cornered, will sometimes become so angry it will bite itself.
Bitterness is an odorless, colorless, tasteless poison that you administer to yourself and it kills you. It ties us all up inside. It paralyzes us. We think we’re punishing the offender when in reality we are destroying ourselves. God instructs us to address paralysis within the Christian community. Spiritual paralysis comes from a failure to appropriate God's grace. Spiritual paralysis comes from the cultivation of bitter roots in the soul.
6. Bitterness defiles others
Bitterness spreads in the community. A bitter person is not content to keep his or her negative thoughts and emotions to themselves. Bitterness is probably the number one peace buster.
The Kudu plant is a perfect picture of the pervasiveness of bitterness. It was first introduced in America from Japan in 1876. It was first used as an ornamental shade plant and later to control soil erosion. Because of its rapid growth by 1948, it was established that the Kudzu was growing on 500,000 acres in the Southeast. The plant can grow up to 1 foot per day and up to 100 feet in a single growing season. It has the ability to choke out native plants and completely take over anything in its path. One source estimates it costs $500 million a year to control the spread of the Kudzu plant. It spreads both by its massive root system and my seat which could lie dormant for years under the ground before it germinates and sprouts a new root. The root crowns range in size from a pea sized to the size of a basketball and can be found as deep as 12 feet underground. The only effective way of eradication is to completely destroy the root crown which may sprout as many as 30 root systems. Any piece of the root ground left in the ground will sprout new roots.
II. The cause of bitterness
A. The cause pinpointed
How is it that two people suffering the same offense respond so differently? One becomes bitter. The other grows from it and becomes better. One becomes paralyzed by it. The other becomes empowered by it. It has to do with something in the soul. Bitterness thrives in the sour soil of a self-centered soul. It is the seedbed for disorder and every evil thing in the community.
The bitterness can only take root and survive in a sour soul. As we said before, it has nothing to do with the nature or size of the offense. In one, the soul was susceptible to infection.
In the other, the soul's immune system enabled them to sustain the wound and heal quickly.
There may be scars but no infection.
James addressed the underground soul issues that breed bitterness and break out in destructive behavior; prejudice, destructive tongue, failure to care for others, mistreatment of others.
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. James 3:13-16
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:1-3
James diagnoses two faulty thought patterns underlying all conflict and bitterness.
? Bitter jealousy (I deserve better.)
? Selfish ambition (I'm going to do anything it takes to what I deserve.)
James says that this way of thinking and living comes from this world, from the flesh and from demonic suggestion. Much of what shaped our thinking was picked up along the way. It's the way our parents thought. It's what we learned from our peers or those around us. But there is a way of thinking and living that comes from God that produces community not chaos.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18
We will either live by a divine perspective energized by his Holy Spirit or we will live by a worldly perspective energized by the flesh or demonic forces.
What feeds bitterness and broken relationships in the community of believers? Bitter jealousy and selfish ambition! But what energizes jealousy and selfish ambition? I believe James answered that question as well. James called it pride and unblief.
The same pride that prevents me from approaching the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need is the same pride that becomes the soil for a root of bitterness to grow. Pride demands that life revolve around me; my comfort, my dreams and ambitions, my sense of well-being, my pleasure, my feelings.
It's all about me! My way or the highway! Pride is the core of all sin.
Pride refuses to entrust my life to the Father’s loving care.
Pride refuses to offer my life for the Father’s eternal purpose.
God created us for community. Pride destroys community. Therefore God must resist the proud but He promises supernatural enabling grace to the humble. Pride keeps us from coming to God's throne of grace for the grace to help in time of need. Pride energizes the bitter jealousy and selfish ambition that becomes the perfect soil for the cultivation of bitterness. Some plants like acidic soil. Bitterness thrives in acid soil of negative thinking. Bitterness is my reaction when the world doesn't revolve around me. Bitterness is my reaction when I am no longer the focus of attention. The central cause of bitterness is pride. Until I deal with pride I will never eradicate bitterness. Every offense, every wound of life will become infected to the point where it not only vexes me but will defile all of those around me. I will become a bitter person.
I will become the chief guard of the debtor's prison in which I have incarcerated all those who have offended me until they fully repay or I feel their punishment is complete.
Bitterness describes the intentional cultivation of negative thoughts and emotions toward someone I hold responsible for an actual or perceived offense intentionally or unintentionally inflicted upon me or someone I care about due to my failure to entrust my life to the Father’s loving care and offer my life to the Father’s eternal purpose.
B. The cause pictured
Hopefully some pictures will bring us into sharper focus.
I want to close with one picture and we will begin two weeks from now with some others.
1. The polluted stream
Jesus promised that out the innermost beings of the true follower of Christ would spring rivers of living water not only for our refreshment but for the refreshment of others.
When we allow the pollution of pride, selfish ambition, jealousy and bitterness in our soul, the very waters that God intended to refresh those around us become poison.
What have we left lodged in our soul that keeps us from being a refreshment to others?
How many people have we injured by our bitter spirit?
We will look at the specific cure for a bitter root next time but today is time to deal with pride.
The cure for pride we touched on last week is still the cure for pride this week.
Let’s walk through it.
1. Submit therefore to God.
2. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
3. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
4. Cleanse your hands, you sinners
5. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
6. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
7. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
