The Psalmist must have also felt this way, because he said in Psalm 133:1, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
But if it is true that a church full of people who love the Lord and each other is the nearest thing to heaven on this earth, it must also be true that, “The nearest thing to Hell is a church full of people who do not love the Lord nor do they love each other.”
Unity is a very important part of our life. It is important-
• In the Home
• In the Work place
• In the church
But even though unity is important in our life, it seems to be something missing in many areas of our life. Instead of seeing UNITY today, it seems in many areas of our life we see a lot of DISUNITY.
WHY DO WE HAVE DISUNITY? It is because of a number of reasons.
(1) SOMETIMES IT IS A CULTURE DIFFERENCE
Many times we who live in the South see things differently from those who live in the North.
Illus: In a small southern town, there was a "Nativity Scene" and it was obvious that great skill and talent had gone into creating it. A Yankee, who had never been to the South, examined it closely and he noticed the three wise men were wearing firemen's helmets.
Totally unable to come up with a reason or explanation, he left. But he stopped at a 7-11 at the edge of town, and he asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.
She exploded into a rage, yelling at him, "You dumb Yankees, if you read your Bible you would know why the wise men are wearing the helmets!”
He assured her that he did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible. She got her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage. Sticking it in his face, she said, "See, it says right here, 'The three wise man came from afar’!"
We have a lot of disunity because of cultural differences.
Illus: Every now and then we see the bumper stickers that read, “We don’t care how you did things up North!
But then there are other kinds of differences, such as the-
(2) GENDER DIFFERENCE
I believe the fact that God made men and women so different proves God has a sense of humor. Men are always trying to figure out women, and women are always trying to figure out men.
Illus: A man was walking along a beach when he stumbled across an old lamp. He picked it up and rubbed it, and out popped a genie. The genie said: "OK, you only have one wish."
The man sat and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii but I'm too scared to fly, and I get very seasick. Could you build me a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over there?"
The genie laughed and replied, "That's impossible.”
• “Think of the logistics of that. How would the supports ever reach the bottom of the Pacific?”
• “Think of how much concrete.... how much steel !!!!”
“No, think of another wish."
The man agreed and tried to think of a really good wish. He said, "All my life I have been trying to figure out women.”
• “I want to know what they are thinking when they give me the silent treatment.”
• “I want to know why they cry when they can not have it their way.”
“I wish you would explain women to me!”
The genie replied: "You want that bridge two lanes or four?"
But another kind of difference we have today is the-
(3) COMMUNICATION DIFFERENCE
Sometimes we use the same words but they have different meanings to different people. This is particularly true when it comes to women and men. A woman’s vocabulary is different than a man’s vocabulary. I pulled some stuff out of my domestic counseling folder, and thought this might be of some help to some of you fellows in understanding women. For example:
• THE WORD “FINE” - This is the word that women use at the end of an argument when things are not fine. She closes the conversation with “Fine!” But that is not what she means.
• THE WORDS “FIVE MINUTES” - To a woman, this means a half hour. But it is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before you take out the trash, so she feels that it's an even trade.
• THE WORD “NOTHING” - This means something, and you should be on your toes. "Nothing" is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. "Nothing" usually signifies an argument that will last "Five Minutes", and will end with the word "Fine".
• THE WORDS “GO AHEAD” (with raised eyebrows) - This is a dare. She says, “Go ahead”, but she really means you better not! This argument generally ends with the word "Fine".
• THE “LOUD SIGH” - This is not actually a word, but is still often a verbal statement very misunderstood by men. A "Loud Sigh" means she thinks you are an idiot at that moment, and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over "Nothing".
• THE “SOFT SIGH” - Again, not a word, but a verbal statement. “Soft Sighs" are one of the few things that some men actually understand. She is content.
• The word “OH” - This word is used to start an argument. Something like this, "Oh, let me get this straight". If she says "Oh" before a statement, it means you should run, do not walk, to the nearest exit. She will tell you that she is "Fine" when she is done tossing your clothes out the window, but do not expect her to talk to you for at least 2 days.
• THE WORDS “THAT'S OKAY” - This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can say to a man. "That's Okay" is often used with the word "Fine", and used in conjunction with a raised eyebrow, "Go Ahead". At some point in the near future, when she has plotted and planned, you are going to be in some mighty big trouble.
• THE WORDS “PLEASE DO” - This is not a statement, it is an offer. A woman is giving you the chance to come up with whatever excuse or reason you have for doing whatever it is that you have done.
• THE WORD “THANKS” - A woman is thanking you. Do not faint, just say you're welcome while you are ahead.
• THE WORDS “THANKS A LOT” - This is much different than "Thanks". A woman will say, "Thanks A Lot" when she is really angry at you. It signifies that you have hurt her in some callous way, and will be followed by the "Loud Sigh". Be careful not to ask what is wrong after the "Loud Sigh", as she will only tell you "Nothing”, everything is “Fine”.
There are many things that cause disunity. But when it comes to the body of Christ we MUST NOT HAVE DISUNITY. The Bible says we are-
I. ONE IN BODY
When people are born again, WE BECOME THE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST! That is, we all belong to the same body. There is not one body for the Methodists and one for the Baptists. We all belong to the same body.
Look at Eph. 4:4, we read, “THERE IS ONE BODY, and ONE SPIRIT, even as ye are called in ONE HOPE of your calling.”
Now we all know something about bodies, because we all have one, and we live in them each day. We cherish these bodies, and do everything we know to PROTECT EACH MEMBER OF OUR BODY, because we know that when ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, THEY ALL SUFFER!
Listen, if I belong to the same body that you belong to, it is impossible for me to do something to hurt you and not hurt my self. And since Christ is the HEAD of the body, it is impossible for me to hurt you and not hurt HIM!
The Bible says we who are saved become the members of the BODY OF CHRIST! And when we become members in the body of Christ, when ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER!
Illus: We can walk through a door, but we are careful before we close it that all of our fingers are out of the way. We know that we can slam a door on our little finger, and every member of our body hurts with it.
This is what the Bible is teaching about the BODY of Christ.
Illus: Some politicians will raise our taxes and say to us, “I feel your pain”. No, they do not! If they did, they would not keep raising our taxes causing us more pain.
But the fact is, all of us who are blood-washed saints feel each others pain. And if you can hurt a child of God and not feel the pain, it is probably because you are not a part of the body of Christ.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was sitting at the table eating with a group of Christians. One man brought up the name of a dedicated Christian man that attended another church. It was stated that this fine Christian man attends a church where the title of the church was in the minister’s name. A man said to Dr. Belger, “Have you heard that this is true?” Dr. Belger said, “Yes, I heard that this is the situation”. But as soon as he said that, the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart and reminded him he did not know that was the situation for sure, and he should not have said that about someone unless he knew it was the truth. Several days passed, and still the Holy Spirit dealt with him, and he told his wife he was going to have to do something that he dreaded doing. “I need to go by and see Glenn, and tell him I am sorry for stating something about his church that I did not know to be the absolute truth.” He did just that, and Glenn thanked him for caring enough about him to do such a thing.
Unity in the Body of Christ does not just happen, we have to make it happen! Every church has to STRIVE FOR THE UNITY OF THE FAITH.
Rom. 12:5 “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
HOW CAN WE FUNCTION AS ONE BODY THAT BRINGS GLORY TO THE LORD? It is going to involve some things, such as:
A. THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH
1 Cor 1:10, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
Did you ever hear someone say of a young person that was having a difficult time growing up, that they needed an “Attitude adjustment?”
• That young person needs to change their way of thinking
• But what is sad about this is that a lot of adults have an ATTITUDE PROBLEM also. That is, they need to change their way of thinking.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR ATTITUDE? Their attitude is that the whole church should revolve around them. They need their ATTITUDE ADJUSTED!
We are many members, but ONE BODY!
• What I do affects you
• What you do affects me
• And what we all do as the body of Christ ULTIMATELY AFFECTS CHRIST
If I have the RIGHT ATTITUDE, I recognize I can not hurt you without hurting myself, because we are ONE BODY!
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was preaching in Hendersonville, North Carolina. It was in the Mid-week service, and prayer requests were being taken from the congregation. A man said, with a very sad heart, that a neighboring church was having some relationship problems within the church, and he said, “Let’s pray for our friends!” THIS IS THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE!
We all know people who claim to be Christians, yet they take delight when some other church is having a difficult time. The reason they are this way is because they are not a part of the body of Christ. For the body of Christ to function as it should, we have to have THE RIGHT ATTITUDE in the body of Christ about others.
We have looked at THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH, but also let’s look at-
B. THE ACTIONS OF THE CHURCH
Phil 1:27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”
The devil knows that the best way to destroy a church is to get the people in the church to have the WRONG ATTITUDE, because he knows this leads to the WRONG ACTIONS!
HOW DOES HE DO THIS? The devil has had thousands of years to study human behavior, and he knows that if he does certain things he will get certain responses
For example, the devil has convinced some people that the only way they can get attention is through WRONG ACTIONS!
It is the responsibility of every believer who belongs to the BODY OF CHRIST TO UNIFY THE CHURCH, NOT DIVIDE God’s church.
Look at Eph. 4:3, we read, “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
We have looked at THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH and THE ACTION OF THE CHURCH. We are ONE IN BODY, but also we are -
II. ONE IN SPIRIT
It is astounding what professing Christians blame on the Holy Spirit. Absolutely ASTOUNDING!!!
Illus: A man that lead the singing in his church, came to the pastor on Saturday evening. He said, “Pastor, I need to talk to you.” The pastor invited him into his home and the man immediately said, “I feel led by the Holy Spirit to leave the church.” The pastor explained to him that it was Saturday evening and he had no one to lead singing. But still this man insisted God was leading him to leave the church in this bind. The pastor reminded him that God is not the author of confusion, but still he insisted it was God leading him to cause this chaos in the church.
Listen, people blame the Holy Spirit for all kinds of things. Some folks have bounced from church to church, and every time they leave, it was not their fault they were leaving, it was the Holy Spirit leading them.
Illus: One lady in Florida said that the Holy Spirit led her to divorce her husband and marry a man that was young enough to be her son.
Many folks are going to be in trouble when they stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ, because He is going to say, “I never led you to do such a thing, NEVER! Why did you tell a lie like that and make me look bad?”
We live in a world that is looking for a way to blame someone else, they are not willing to take personal responsibility.
Illus: Let's see if I understand how the world works lately...
• If a man cuts his finger off while slicing salami at work, he blames the restaurant
• If you smoke three packs a day for 40 years and die of lung cancer, your family blames the tobacco company
• If your neighbor crashes into a tree while driving home drunk, he blames the bartender
• If your grandchildren are brats without manners, you blame television
• If your friend is shot by a deranged madman, you blame the gun manufacturer
• And if a crazed person breaks into the cockpit and tries to kill the pilot at 35,000 feet, and the passengers kill him instead, the mother of the deceased blames the airline
I must have lived too long to understand the world as it is anymore. So, if I die while I am seated in front of my computer working on a sermon, I want my wife to sue the pants off of Bill Gates...BECAUSE IT IS HIS FAULT!
We live in a “BLAMING SOCIETY”, but some folks ought to feel embarrassed to blame the Holy Spirit of God for some of the foolish things they do.
As Christians, we are ONE BODY and we are also ONE SPIRIT. We are ONE IN BODY, ONE IN SPIRIT all heading in the same direction.
Conclusion:
We are ONE IN BODY, and ONE IN SPIRIT, but also the Bible says we are ONE IN HOPE!
The reason we as Christians live a godly life is because we all have that same BLESSED HOPE, that any day Christ is going to come back, and when He does we do not want Him to find us causing trouble in His church.
• A divided home is a bad home
• A divided nation is a bad nation
• A divided church is a bad church
We to are to endeavor to keep unity in the church.
I. ONE IN BODY
II. ONE IN SPIRIT
