As I said on Sunday, the new sermon series, “Better Together,” is one that we want all of our people to hear. So, if you call CLF your home church, we’d ask you to make a point of listening to each sermon in this series and seeking ways to apply them. Please make it a goal to attend church as much as possible, and if you miss, please listen to the sermon on our podcast (on Spotify & Apple). We believe this will be a foundational year of sermons for our church.
Why “one anothers?”:
It’s always been interesting to me how the New Testament makes a point of discussing how we treat one another as Christians. This gets ignored in our world with the rush to evangelism and trying to reach the lost (which we should be burdened about). But oftentimes, we forget or ignore the commands about how we treat other Christians. So, why are these passages so important? Here are a few thoughts:
- A biblical community done well reveals to the world that God sent Jesus. We see this in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-26.
- The ‘one another’ passages are about real life. We will mistreat one another, fail to serve each other in love, and we’ll hurt each other. Sinful living is implied in the ‘one anothers.’ We would not need to be reminded to encourage one another if we were good at it. The ‘one anothers’ are about rubbing shoulders with other Christians, attending church and groups together, and doing life together. David Jackman put it best when he wrote, “The unexpected knocks and irritations of life are similarly a very good indicator of the quality of the life within. How do we habitually react towards other people? More importantly, as a Christian, how do I react to my brothers and sisters in God’s family? We should love one another, says John, establishing that this is foundational to all genuine Christianity.”
- The ‘one anothers’ imply that true, authentic Christianity is not lived in isolation from other Christians. Listen, we must realize that while other Christians are weird (like we’re not) and they can be irritating (like we’re not), they are a unique tool of God’s grace in our lives, like no other relationship. We cannot ‘do’ Christianity alone, and the ‘one anothers’ remind us of this.
Categories for ‘hate’ or ‘love’:
On Sunday, I gave some categories that helped reveal how we live like Cain or like Christ. This is a good spot to list those again, and so they can be used for self-reflection. I’ll speak personally at the end of this section.
The Cain-like categories are: what we harbor, what we say, what we withhold, what we fail to protect, and what we allow. Here they are:
- We show Cain-likeness by what we harbor in our hearts: Sinful anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy, resentment, unforgiveness & hostility.
- We show Cain-likeness by what we say to or about others: Mocking comments, hateful or contemptuous speech, gossip & slander, angry sarcasm, & harsh, mean & words that tear down.
- We show Cain-likeness by what we withhold from others: ignoring real needs, Indifference toward their suffering, withholding encouragement, presence, time, energy, or resources, showing partiality or favoritism, & refusing friendship or fellowship.
- We show Cain-likeness by being unjust, unreasonable & lacking objectivity. We do this when we fail to protect their reputation, safety & well-being when it is within our power. When we neglect them or selfishly try to ruin them. When we allow meanness, cruelty, or injustice, when we excuse evil, overlook moments of harm & normalize rudeness toward them.
The Christ-like categories are: what we harbor, what we say, what we give, and what we protect.
- We show Christ-likeness by what we harbor in our hearts: we’re patient, kind, we don’t hold grudges, we treat them with grace & give them room to make mistakes, we believe the best about them because we know Jesus is at work in them, & we’re forgiving. We keep short accounts & we stay current with them.
- We show Christ-likeness by what we say to or about others: we’re encouraging, honoring, speaking with kindness, honesty & loving truth for their good. We say things to build them up, rather than tear them down. We find ways to see & speak about God’s work in their lives.
- We show Christ-likeness by what we give: we’re eager to meet their needs, we notice people, we don’t just walk by them, & we make eye contact. We’re willing to give our time, energy, presence & resources. We welcome them, as Jesus has welcomed us.
- We show Christ-likeness by being just, reasonable, & willing to hear all the facts before making judgments. We’re objective, knowing that we’re prone to believing the worst about others & only listening to our close friends or family. We protect other Christians’ reputations, safety & well-being when it is within our power. We want them to succeed & we weep when they hurt & we rejoice when they’re honored.
In the opening pages of the Bible, the serpent (Satan) began his temptation of Eve with “Has God really said?” I thought the same thing as I wrote my sermon and preached it. God has said that biblical love looks like Jesus, and when we don’t, we need to evaluate the reality of our faith. I was deeply convicted as I studied last week. After church, I told one brother that I felt like Jesus had taken me to the backyard to play catch, and He kept hitting me in the eyes with the ball. He said that he learned to play catch all over again on Sunday. That’s how I felt.
When we take being ‘unloving’ out of the ‘murder is a bad sin’ category, and we put skin on it, we see how icky these things are. Jerry Bridges would call some of these ‘respectable sins.’ The type of sins that no one puts their finger on or sees as a problem. But God does, and that’s the point.
A word of caution:
I said this right before taking communion, but it bears repeating. More than likely, after listening to a sermon like this, conviction from the Spirit of God settles in, and we want to do business with God and others. That’s a great thing. However, if we’re not careful, we will unintentionally hurt others by our open/honest confession and we’ll burden them unnecessarily.
Here’s why:
If our sin is before God, in our hearts and minds, but we have not done anything sinful to another person, except think sinfully, there is no need to go to them to ask them to forgive you. It isn’t helpful to go to someone and say, “Would you forgive me for thinking bad things about you?” or “Will you forgive me for hating your guts?” or “Will you forgive me for being jealous of you?” Those internal sins (with no subsequent external sins) are between you and God. Deal with Him on those issues. But, if your internal sin has led you to treat others meanly, say nasty things to them, or take something from them, then by all means, go to them and seek their forgiveness.
Looking ahead:
This week, we will look at the command to serve one another from Galatians 5:13-15. The alternative in vs. 15 to serving one another gives us another reason why this series is so crucial for us.
Reminder:
This Sunday, about 15 minutes after the Sunday service, we will have our Annual Family Meeting. It should take about 60-75 minutes. If you’re a CLF member, we ask that at least one adult in your family attend.
Cheap Seats:
- Colin Cowherd is too much of a noise maker for me, but I thought this was really good: https://x.com/colincowherd/status/2007835831067660416?s=12&t=ANRRmEDhNWbghelISD7Rvw.
- This is hilarious. Which current NFL coach has more rushing yards than Bo Jackson: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTBBH5GDvcy/.
- Ok, I’m not an Oregon fan, but I do like Dan Lanning (a lot actually). Curt Cignetti is an assassin, but so is Dan Lanning. Both are uber-competitive, outstanding coaches. That game should be outstanding. I picked Texas Tech over Oregon last time and think Indiana is just better. But if the Oregon defense plays as it did against Texas Tech, it’ll have a chance.
- NFL playoffs are set. I’m pulling for the Seahawks and the Bills. I think the Josh Allen-led Bills might be on their last leg until they need to go through a rebuild.
Happy New Year!
Christ is King!
In Christ,
Dave York
