Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
HARMONY
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
(NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Rejoice. Change your ways. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace.
1 Peter 3:8 (NKJV) “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.”
(NASV) “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.”
Introduction: If the church is going to have an impact on the world, it must demonstrate to the world the reality of its faith. It can only do that when Christian virtues are lived out daily by the members of the Body of Christ. One of the most important and most observable is harmony. Galatians 5:15 states that “…if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” Harmony is critical both to church survival and outreach.
I. What is Harmony?
A. Homophrone - of one mind, concordant (1 Peter 3:8)
B. Harmony is defined as follows: 1- Agreement in feeling or opinion, accord, 2- a pleasing combination of elements in a whole. Harmonious mutual understanding: accord, agreement, concord, concordance, concurrence, consonance, rapport, tune, unity.
C. In music, to understand harmony, you first need to understand melody.
Melody is a group of notes played one after the other. Melody is the tune. It’s often the easiest part of music to remember, the part that you hum. Harmony is also a group of notes, except these notes are played behind, beneath, and around the melody. Harmony supports the melody and gives the music texture or mood.
D. Harmony in the church is when the Body of Christ supports the message and mission of the church with unity and singleness of mind enhancing and deepening the beauty of life in Christ.
E. The purpose of this church is to exalt Christ through discipling men, women, boys and girls. When you are a member of this Church, this should be your purpose. If we’re in harmony, we will all be striving to fulfill that goal. Harmony can never be achieved if only the melody is played. If we are to live in harmony every one of us will help work toward the main focus exalting Christ.
F. Harmony is not every one singing the same note or being identical to the person next to them.
G. 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 “There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
H. Harmony is unity of thought and feeling not the loss of individualism.
II. What hinders Harmony?
A. Legalism
1. Acts 15:1 “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
2. Legalism is “Taking a commandment or opinion of men, and teaching or promoting it as a doctrine from God. It gives man’s word the same weight as God’s word. If I say, “In my opinion, you should no longer eat hamburgers from MacDonald’s” then you are free to say “That’s a nice opinion, now leave me alone.” But when someone says, “God says you should no longer eat hamburgers from MacDonald’s” then they make it seem like you are opposing God if you don’t do as they say.” – adapted from David Guzik, Study Guide for Mark:
3. We are not alike within the congregation; the fact is that we are very different. God never intended for all of us to be alike doing the same things.
4. Romans 14:5-6 “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
B. Criticism
1. Romans 14:13 “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”
2. The critic uses his criticism as a means of raising himself in the eyes of others. Dr. M.R. DeHaan made this statement, "It is a dead giveaway when you meet a person who is always criticizing and finding fault with another brother. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred he’s trying to divert attention from his own sins by pointing an accusing finger at someone else."
3. A man and his wife once pulled into a gas station to refuel their car. As the tank was being refilled, the station attendant washed the windshield. When he finished, the driver of the car said, "The windshield is still dirty. Wash it again." Yes, sir," the attendant answered. As he scrubbed the windshield a second time, he looked closely for any bugs or dirt he might have missed. When he finished, the man in the car became angry. "It’s still dirty!" He yelled. Don’t you know how to wash a windshield? Do it again!" The attendant cleaned the windshield a third time, carefully looking for any place he might have missed, but could find no messy spots anywhere. By now, the driver was fuming. He screamed, "This windshield is still filthy! I’m going to talk to your boss to make sure you don’t work here another day. You are the lousiest windshield washer I have ever seen!" As he was about to get of the car, his wife reached over and removed his glasses. She carefully wiped them with a tissue, and then put them back on his face. The driver embarrassingly slumped down into his seat as he observed a spotless windshield. Critical people view others through their own dirty glasses.
4. Luke 6:41-42 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ’Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
C. Change
1. Howard Hendricks, in The Monday Morning Mission says that there are 5 kinds of attitudes about change:
a. Early innovators (2.6%), run with new ideas
b. Early adaptors (13.4%), influenced by (1) but not initiators
c. Slow Majority (34%), the herd-followers
d. Reluctant Majority (34%)
e. Antagonistic (16%), they will never change
Unfortunately the majority of pastors are being nibbled at by the last group. They focus on the minority opinion and resist change vehemently.
2. Some are like the Duke of Cambridge who said in the late 1800s “Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored.”
3. Harmony is what sets the tone for the tune. The Tune never changes but harmony does need to fit the tune to the heart of the listener. Likewise, the message (the tune) never changes while the methods and manner of presenting the message must change and adapt to reach the heart of those we seek to disciple.
III. How do we achieve Harmony?
A. Keep your focus on Christ.
1. Jesus Christ is to be the focus of attention in His church which is His body.
2. Colossians 1:17 - 18 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
3. Don’t focus on the pastor; don’t focus on the music; don’t focus on those who are not living for Christ. Focus on Christ! Jesus Christ is to be the central focus of the Body of Christ that is carrying out the Great Commission harmoniously.
4. 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
B. Keep your spirit humble and yielded
1. Humility is having the same understanding as a dear friend. “Friendly thoughtfulness.”
2. Philippians 2:5 - 8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
3. A church realized the importance of humility, so it formed a committee to find the most humble person in the church. Many names were submitted and numerous candidates evaluated. Finally, the committee came to a unanimous decision. They selected a quiet little man who always lived in the background and had never taken credit for anything he had done. They awarded him the "Most Humble" button for his faithful service. However, the next day they had to take it away from him because he pinned it on. (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 122).
4. 1 Peter 5:5 “…all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
C. Keep your heart tender
1. Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another
2. Someone said that “Brotherly love is a holding a dear friend as a brother.” It is “tender affection.”
3. Christians state glibly that they love the whole world, while they permit themselves animosities within their immediate world. World love is a philosophical credo. But loving the world at large can only be done by loving face to face the world that is not so distant. It is foolish to say we love humanity; its people we can’t stand. - Calvin Miller in The Taste of Joy. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 11.
D. Keep the Unity of the Holy Spirit.
1. Ephesians 4:1 – 3 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
2. We need to remind ourselves that God the Holy Spirit lives in every born again believer. How many Christians have the indwelling of the Spirit? Every single one of them.
3. Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ’unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
