The Enemies of Unity

RECAP SLIDE. Look on the screen

And again, I want you to remember this,

“Satan loves chaos and,

Division is the devil’s playground.”

Have you ever watched a movie where if you could punch the character you would sock em’ right between the eyes? Some characters are so repugnant makes you want to righteously… in the name of Jesus! (Idea: add some slides of these characters)

Of all the characters in the Bible, we come across the self-righteous Pharisees. Let’s read Luke 18:9-12

Luke 18:9–12 NIV

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

What are we saying when we tell someone “Get off your high horse!”?

Pride elevates us above everyone else and ultimately above God!

The thing about pride is that it is elusive

Pride is elusive. And so the danger of pride and selfishness is it is easy to see in others but not in ourselves. And so we need godly people to help us make the proper corrections.

The first enemy of unity is Pride.

Pride

What does the bible say about pride?

James 4:6 “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.””

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty [proud or arrogant] spirit before a fall.”

Proverbs 6:16-17 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,”

ILLUS

This is the transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995.

Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations Oct 10, 1995

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES’ ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT’S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.”

Source Unknown

5783 If we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and self-seeking and pleasure and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God, and I believe many a man is praying to God to fill him when he is full already with something else.

Dwight L. Moody

When we talk about pride there are several expressions that come to mind:

(1) self-righteousness, (2) self-accomplishment and, (3) dogmatic/opinionated

1. Self-righteous pride is the idea that “I hold the high ground”.

this expression of pride looks down on people.

It expresses itself with a sense of spiritual superiority in comparison with others.

It is so easy for Christians to feel this way when comparing themselves to others who are struggling with “serious” sins such as sexual immorality, drunkenness, addictions, homosexuality, or other scandalous sins. We tend to feel more superior than those struggling. To some degree, all of us are guilty at practicing this!

2. Self-accomplishment or achievement

It is so easy to get caught up in our accomplishments and displace God and kick him to the curb.

The most dangerous element of pride is that it tells God, “I’ve got this!”

Any thing that we excel at we must be vigilant to protect.

Satan will aim to attack the very thing that you are good at!

And it’s true, some people will excel at things better than me! But all success must be attributed to Gods grace!

Another visible attribute of Self-achievement pride is an unteachable attitude. Have you ever met someone who acted like they know everything? The last decade in youth ministry has exposed me to all kinds of people. These folk pounce around with an attitude that they know more than the people actually in the trenches. Gallery preachers!

We see and hear this all the time in sports.

“Pass the ball, shoot, center it, etc”

I was at the Cincinnati open this summer and caught some really nice games. The most annoying things to hear is the gallery yelling at the players telling them what to do! Homie, taci! He’s got it!

3. Pride of dogma (opinions) (I don’t want to get too much into this but…)

A dogmatic person is convinced that they are right, and refuse to consider that other opinions might also be right.

This sense of pride permeates through everything but we can really see this when it comes to theological discussions.

“the assumption that whatever my doctrinal beliefs are, they are correct, and anyone who holds another belief is theologically inferior.”

Arminians vs. Calvinists

Eschatological positions about the rapture of the church

QUOTE: “Unity in essentials, liberty in incidentals, in all things charity (Love).”

I am not saying we shouldn't have convictions about doctrinal truths, but we should do so with humility.

You cant get a word in or your perspective across.

A second enemy of unity is envy and jealousy

Envy & Jealousy

Prov 14:30 “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

James 3:14 “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.”

Acts 5:17 “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.” Why is that???

1 Samuel 18:7 “As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”” What was Saul’s response?

 5   We all have seeds of jealousy and envy in us. The question is, who among us will acknowledge it?

David Wilkerson

A believer who above all wants the name of the Lord to be exalted, who genuinely desires the good of the people of God, and who is entirely content to entrust his or her reputation to God, will never succumb to the sin of jealousy.

D. A. Carson

A third enemy of unity amongst believers is a critical or judgmental spirit.

Galatians 5:14–15 NIV

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

What is a critical or judgemental spirit?

Someone with a critical spirit is prone to complaining, seeing the glass as half-empty, regretting unmet expectations, sensing failure (in others more than in oneself), and being judgmental.

“Spiritual fault-finders”

Listen to this,

“These people have a critical spirit. They look for and find fault with everyone and everything. Regardless of the topic of conversation—whether its a person, a church, an event, or anything—they end up speaking in a disparaging manner” (p.143, Bridges)

ILLUS: One of the sayings I hear among youth is “I don’t see any growth in our youth ministry or church!” (Bro, ma szgarie pe ochi!) How can you make a statement like that? Do you have some kind of special meter from God to measure back that statement up? Absolutely no growth at all? You saying God is limited in our church to transform?

ILLUS: We had a baptism this past Sunday and tother with the pastors we interviewed the candidates. One by one we asked them how they felt about the course and the general consensus was they enjoyed diving deeper into theology and the scriptures except for one guy. One of my youth wished the catechism course was more serious and theologically deeper!

Why cant we do our youth services like church X?

Why don’t we preach more sermon series? Why doesn't pastor preach more expository sermons?

Why, why, why?

In my opinion, of these three present thus far, this one is most tiring to be around. No one likes to be around this kind of person.

I say all of this with love and desire for the Holy Spirit to expose all the sinful attitudes and tendencies in me that does not build up the body of Christ.

Conclusion

What is our defense against these enemies? humility, gentleness, and patience

The solution to our unity as members of one body, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the possession of Jesus is found in Ephesians 4:2

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Paul to the Colossian believers said to “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Create reminders for you to live this out practically.

QUOTE: C.S. Lewis sad, “true humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.”

More of Jesus and less of me!