Connecting to a common purpose
# 2 of Core values of Christian community values
Eric Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
October 13, 2002
What’s the difference between a southern zoo and a northern zoo?
A southern zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage, along with a recipe.
I don’t mean to pick on anyone it’s just that I am headed to Kentucky for a leadership conference this week and I hear that they have some really good food in the south.
A man was walking on a bridge and saw someone ready to jump when he tells the story like this, He said “I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said, "Stop! Don’t do it!" --"Why shouldn’t I?" he said. I said, "Well, there’s so much to live for!"
--"Like what?" "Well...are you religious or atheist?"
--"Religious." "Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"
--"Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
--"Protestant." "Me too! Are you church of Christ or Baptist?"
--"Baptist." "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
--"Baptist Church of God." "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
--"Reformed Baptist Church of God." "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
--"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" To which I said, "Goodbye, you heretic!" and pushed him off the bridge
You know it’s sad that we can come up with so much to divide us around the central issue that should unite us. The bible tells us that Jesus prayed for His church and it says this “I pray that they would be one”
You know that last story was supposed to be a joke but there are some who don’t think it’s very funny. In reality the sad truth is these jokes are born out of situations that are tragic. So I have to ask. Why all this division. When Jesus wanted us to be one.
Why break out words like “Heretic” to describe someone else who is struggling to know the full truth of Jesus Christ. That’s why it breaks my heart to hear someone stand on their soapbox and proclaim exactly who is going to hell. Please people you have to know Jesus offered woes but gave opportunities to repent. He never once left someone for dead and condemned them to hell. When he spoke harsh words He always left the door of faith open. He had compassion on everybody.
One of my favorite episodes of Sienfeld involves a character named “putty”. David putty is a Christian who is dating one of the shows main characters and when his girlfriend finds out he believes is Jesus she asks Him Why she isn’t trying to save him.
I think there are a lot of people out there who want to know why we don’t try to save them, Instead of pronouncing the death sentence and callously moving on with our lives.
There is an urgent need in our world for people to find Jesus because without Him the outlook is indeed bleak. Today we are talking about something different than a culture diverted. We are talking about people who can’t identify the real enemy.
In one of my favorite movies. “Clear and present danger” there is a tank battle and one tank is blown up. Then the distress call is heard and the people realize that they fired at the wrong tank. In the church today there seems to be a lot of people firing at the wrong tank. But the contrary word from scripture is “encourage one another and build each other up”
In fact the church of Christ movement was started by a group of guys who were from other denominations. One was a Methodist. One was a Presbyterian, One was a Lutheran. They came from all denominations and they said we don’t want a denomination. We want to be a church that is known for standing on the Bible. Let that Alone be our all-sufficient rule of faith and practice.
They knew that people naturally congregate. That we look for divisions. We try to find people who are like us so to help the church they set up some basic views. Probable the most important is “In essentials unity in non essentials liberty, in all things love.
Here we are 150 years later struggling to find common ground with those whose non-essential matters would separate us from them.
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
Jesus said, “I pray that they would be one”, I want them to be united
But we take great pride in our independence. More than not our independence turns into individualism. Please note the difference. Independence is standing on my own 2 feet, individualism however almost becomes a religion to many people. Individualism says, “I am the center of what I want to do” If these things are allowed to spin out of control what happens is called isolation.
There may even be some here today who have built their own prison of isolation. They sealed it off brick by brick. They build it with the blocks of individualism and sealed it off with the mortar of independence. Now this is rough for me because I tend to be independent and I really have to be careful that I don’t build walls and seal off God’s call to be involved in meaningful friendships.
That’s the weakness of independence. When we say “I can do it on my own”, “I can figure this out myself”, I don’t need anyone else. And the apparent danger is that we profess to not need accountability, and acceptance. Even more dangerous is when we decide that we don’t need the church, and we don’t need the minister telling us anything about stuff we can figure out the answers to.
We need God, and we need each other. Even with all of our differences we need our faith and our friends.
We are not all the same but we do have a common purpose
We have one Great God who brings us all together. But the message is not just about unity. It’s about connecting to others on a personal level. There are a lot of groups who unite but do not connect personally. There are a lot of great organizations that work for great causes but at the end of the day our unity need to spell out, meaningful relationships.
Finding a common purpose brings us together. In fact the purpose that we have tells us that our Job is to Love each other and show others God’s love.
For the Follower of Jesus there is one universal rule that when applied to our lives can only bring unity in our lives.
In the book of Mathew chapter 22:36 a man comes to Jesus and asks him which is the greatest commandment.
Listen to his answer Matthew 22: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Jesus lays it all on the line. Look at what he says. All the laws hang off these 2 commandments. Every rule that God gives is a branch directly off these commandments. Some have become terrified of God because of all the “rules” that are in the Bible. How are we supposed to know who is right? Who has it all down? Some even give to a bunch of different churches just to hedge their bet. But knowing Jesus is not about betting on your eternity, it’s about connecting to the grace of God through Jesus love.
Sometimes we get scared and confused about all the rules. But they are all broken down into 2 simple rules, Love God, Love your neighbor.
Listen to what the apostle Paul writes in Colossians chapter 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Our common purpose is Jesus. Our reality comes through Him. And we don’t have to be afraid of our eternal home as long as we stay close to Him. Loving God and loving others.
That’s quite a journey in itself. But the trip is not over there. Once we have finally found out that it is Jesus who unites us then we have to begin the next part. After we have found the common element. We then have to begin living a common purpose
This is where it gets tough because this step translated into action. We have to actually start behaving in a way that is consistent with our set of beliefs.
Living a common purpose means hands on it means getting dirty and in short it means SERVICE. Here are some practical ways that the functions of biblical community relate to our everyday lives
It should relate to our Spiritual formation.
Living out a common purpose affects our beliefs and struggles. It assists is setting goals for our spiritual walk. Spiritual formation is equivalent to the construction of a house. How is your spiritual formation? Are you continuing to grow? Are you continuing to build? And if you have troubles with a sin or with growing in general are you willing to ash others for help to continue to grow spiritually?
It also relates to our Evangelism. Are you willing to or are you currently praying for specific families in your neighborhood who need to embrace the gospel of Christ? Are you sharing Christ with them in a way that best portrays the love of God? I know that sharing your faith can be intimidating. But the message is serve. Get out there. I think that’s why the bible says what it says about fear. That we don’t need to fear the laws of God, we don’t need to fear sharing our faith, we don’t need to fear other nations. We need to have a fearless spirit and begin sharing our message of Hope that comes from God.
Living a common purpose relates to our Reproduction. Don’t get ahead of me I mean it relates to our spiritual reproduction. Finding people who will take our place. Mentoring another into the area of service or community action that you are currently involved in. Jesus called this, making disciples of everyone.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
When you can no longer serve in your area, who knows how to do your Job? Part of connecting to others in Christ means making sure your base is covered. But in the early church the disciples were not worried about who would step up in case of an accident, they wanted people to step up so that the body of Christ would be stronger.
Right now we need people who are learning how to be better leaders and elders. Not because we have 3 and we need people to fill the roles of those who may one day not be able to serve in that capacity. But we need people to train for eldership because every time a godly leader is added the structural integrity of the church is strengthened.
Our mature active members need to start mentoring some of our younger members so that the church can continue to grow and become a force of influence and unity in this community
Living a common purpose affects our Volunteerism. It gets us excited and we want to become a part of what God is doing. Having a common purpose makes our blood percolate and we want to jump in and say how can I become involved. We become willing participants prepared to put in extra effort and long hours without complaining because we know that the cause of Christ will be expanded in our efforts.
We have found some common projects which are still in the works but God is clear that the thing that unites us and spurs us on toward action is Jesus and his love for us. Because of that we come saying where can I help. Where can I serve?
Because of our desire to live our common purpose we have a hunger for International missions. Because we want to share Christ with everyone, we become involved in the lives of foreign missionaries. Weather it is through prayer, an encouraging card or letter, or perhaps even by supporting their mission financially, or even a trip to help that involves hands on experiences that help us to connect with them.
Because of our common purpose we care about each other in the church. We do our best to meet whatever need arises. Keeping in mind that sometimes the greatest need is often to have someone who cares.
There is a popular song by Michele Branch that expresses this sentiment
If you want to I can save you I can take you away From here So lonely inside So busy out there And all you wanted Was somebody who cares
There are a lot of people who can agree with that sentiment. There are quite a few people who are just looking for someone to show them the way. But in an effort to look like it’s all kept together they load their schedules so that they don’t have to think about where life is headed.
In the church there should not be one lonely person. This is the place where meaningful friendships are formed and the message is clear. Connecting to the church should be a place where the compassion overflows.
Which is the last practical aspect of biblical community. Extending Compassion. Showing Jesus and sharing in the lives of those who need compassion. There is a world of people who are looking for answers. One of my favorite songs is an old one by a secular group named stix. There is an apparent searching in the song .
Every night I say a prayer in the hope that there’s a heaven
And every day I’m more confused as the saints turn into sinners
All the heroes and legends I knew as a child have fallen to idols of clay
And I feel this empty place inside so afraid that I’ve lost my faith
Show me the way, show me the way
Take me tonight to the river
And wash my illusions away
Show me the way
Some here today are saying that’s me. I need to know God. But there seems to be a million churches. Will someone show me the way? Jesus said. If you are looking for answers they are found when we connect with him. When we become obedient to him. Here you can connect with others for a common purpose.
Wherever you are today I pray that you will find a way to connect with this body because Jesus is Lord.
