A Message About Division
Notes
Transcript
2 Samuel 20 (ESV)
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!” So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem…
And there went out after him Joab’s men… They went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri… Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. And one of Joab’s young men… said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.”
…And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.
Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you… I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.”
And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
Little sub-plot
Contrasts - two types of people - like Saul and David. - Here the contrast is between others in the covenant community apart from the king. Two types of people that handle problems within the community in opposite ways.
Warning about sarcasm up front…
Now I want us to note that this happens on the heels of Absalom’s rebellion which was part of God’s judgment of David for his sin. We saw that at the end of that story, David was restored to his kingship.
But as I mentioned, being restored and getting back to do doing what we are called to as God’s people does not mean that there won’t be trouble. There will be. If anything, the Bible tells us that trouble will be the norm for God’s people on this side of heaven.
So though David is restored and is now doing what he should be doing, that doesn’t mean the end of trouble for him. Far from it.
And I also wants us to note that David himself has very little to do with what happens in this chapter. He is there at the start, but this chapter is really about what others do. From the leaders under David, to the army of Israel, to divisive members of the community, and even unnamed people of God who are just living faithfully to God.
And that’s because what we will see in this passage is all about divisions among the people of God. We will see sin, by both believers and unbelievers. But we will also see faithfulness, and how those faithful of God, strive for unity.
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!”
We are introduced to our first character here: Sheba. And the character of this character is revealed right off the bat. He is called a worthless man.
We have met other worthless men in the books of Samuel. The sons of Eli the priest were called worthless men. Those who didn’t want Saul to reign were called worthless men. Nabal, the first husband of Abigail, was called a worthless man twice.
When Shimei cursed King David as Absalom ran him out of Jerusalem, he called David a worthless man.
This isn’t a term used of someone you like. It isn’t used of someone you think is a good person. The word means useless, or fruitless, or worthless. How would you like to be classified as worthless by someone else?
As a Christian, how would feel about others considering you fruitless?
So here’s this man, who we are told is a Benjaminite. Saul was a Benjaminite. That means our buddy Shimei was a Benjaminite. Why would this be important?
Well, because the northern ten tribes seem to have had a gripe with Judah - and the king - because the king favored them. Remember, when David first took the throne, he was only king over Judah. Saul’s son Ish-bosheth - a Benjaminite - ruled over the ten northern tribes.
But David displaced the Benjaminite dynasty.
And not only that, but if you’re familiar with the geography of ancient Israel, there is an important city that was originally part of the tribal inheritance of Benjamin. It is a city called Jerusalem.
When David took Jerusalem and made it his capitol city, David absorbed quite a bit of southern Benjamin into Judah. And this continues, to the point that when the kingdom splits, Benjamin is considered part of Judah.
And there are intimations that David did not quite treat the ten northern tribes - including Benjamin - like he treated Judah. We know even in the last chapter when David is restored to his throne and he makes amends with everyone, we are specifically told about his reconciliation with Judah who he calls “my brothers, my bone and flesh.”
And we know this favoritism of Judah continued with Solomon, because the people of the northern tribes come to his son Rehoboam after Solomon’s death, and talk about how poorly they were treated by Solomon. They refer to the “heavy yoke” and the “hard service” Solomon put them under.
This is referring to the forced labor Solomon put the people of Israel to for all of his building projects.
And this is the very reason the kingdom splits. When Rehoboam refuses to stop the forced labor, we read this:
1 Kings 12:16 (ESV)
And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel!”
Sound familiar?
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!”
And if we read this chapter and skip those seemingly unimportant details of those short lists of who did what the Old Testament loves to throw in, we’d miss something. At the end of this chapter we read:
Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; and Sheva was secretary; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
Seemingly unimportant. Just some historical facts that aren’t all that pertinent to the story, right?
Except… what was Adoram’s job?
This all started with David.
There is disunity in Israel already. There were already divisions - cliques, if you will - among the covenant community.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
So what happens because of this disunity, which if you’re not paying very careful attention is easy to overlook?
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjaminite. And he blew the trumpet and said, “We have no portion in David, and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse; every man to his tents, O Israel!”
This Sheba didn’t cause the original disunity. But he does something about it. He blew the trumpet. Literally.
We see in the Old Testament that the blowing of the trumpet means one of two things. It can be a call for the assembly to gather. Or, it can be call to war - including in a few cases - revolt.
And while we are distanced from this history by so much time and our culture is so different, something still doesn’t feel right about someone having an issue with someone else - be it leadership of the covenant community, or maybe one clique within the community - and their first course of action is to blow the trumpet.
To cause a ruckus. To jump right to opposition before ever seeking reconciliation, and causing only more division.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
Thank God we don’t ever see something going on that we don’t like and make a huge deal about our opposition to it without addressing the issue, person, or people we have the problem with.
I am so glad I have never heard the trumpet blown like that among Christians.
So, we see here in this first verse the problem. There is disunity. There are cliques. And this man does something utterly useless, or fruitless. He exacerbates the problem by causing more disunity.
So all the men of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
So now we have two very well-defined factions in the covenant community. And the community splits.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
And for good measure, we get mention of Judah following David to Jerusalem, which was taken from Benjamin. That undercurrent of the king favoring Judah remains until the kingdom actually splits permanently.
So the split happens, so now, David has to respond, right?
Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.”
Here we have our second major player in this story: Amasa. David says to Amasa to call the army of Judah and be ready for battle in three days.
Who is this Amasa? Well, I mentioned him briefly last week, and since I know you all went back and read that portion of Scripture like I suggested, you all know who he is.
But just in case you’re the one who didn’t read those chapters, Amasa was the man Absalom set in charge of the army of Israel when David fled and Joab went with him.
And when David comes back and makes nice with everyone, and makes particular efforts to make nice with Judah, David says to Amasa:
2 Samuel 19:13 (ESV)
‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab.’
As part of “making up” with his own tribe, David appoints Amasa over the army of Israel. He unceremoniously fires Joab, a man who has been nothing but faithful to David and even chose his side against Absalom - in fact, he won the war against Absalom! - and David gives Amasa his job to ensure the relationship between himself and the traitors is repaired.
Man, it’s like reading about modern day politics, isn’t it? Backdoor deals, jobs given to people for advantage, and one hand washing the other and all that.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
Now how do you think Joab felt about all this? He stays loyal to David - fights against this traitor, Amasa, and even defeats him in war. Then he loses his job to him.
And remember, Joab is David’s nephew. He is a Judahite, too! He is quite literally David’s flesh and blood.
Uh-oh. It seems like there is some in-fighting within the clique. What are the odds something like that happens when you become your own faction within a broader community?
Factions within factions. That has to be rare.
It reads like a soap opera, doesn’t it?
Say it with me: Thank God its never like that in churches.
So here's Amasa, the new commander of the army. David says to him: “rally the troops, and in three days we fight!”
And then:
So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him.
What are the odds that you would take an officer that betrayed you, and just lost a war even though the numbers were in his favor, then make him your commander for all the wrong reasons, and then it doesn’t work out?
So we have Sheba the trumpet-blowing, fruitless pot stirrer. And we have Amasa, the responsibility-shirking “leader” who already had a poor track record.
Now what’s David gonna do?
And David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom. Take your lord’s servants and pursue him, lest he get himself to fortified cities and escape from us.”
So David tells Joab to take command of the army and get after Sheba.
Oh, wait. He doesn’t tell Joab. He tells Abishai.
That’s Joab’s brother.
Man, things are getting pretty hairy over there in that Judah clique.
So Abishai goes. And Joab’s men go with him. And David’s personal guards go out with him. And all David’s mighty men go out with him.
But whatever happened to Amasa?
Well, we read this of the army of Judah:
2 Samuel 20:8 (ESV)
When they were at the great stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them.
When the army gets to Gibeon - which, by the way, is about halfway into the original inheritance of Benjamin, but now under the control of Judah - when the army gets there, there’s Amasa. Just chillin’.
He was supposed to be leading the army, but instead just catches up with them while Abishai does the work. And he isn;t only irresponsible, but clueless. He doesn’t even suspect anything is wrong.
That guy who came in late on his first day because his roommate got fired and he was trying to make him feel better
This is Amasa here. I see maybe why he didn’t win the war against Joab. He’s not a very responsible fellow.
And worse, his lack of responsibility put the rest of God’s people in a really bad position. Him shirking his responsibility to them made their jobs all the more difficult. This is what happens within a community. When one person - even one - doesn’t do what they’re supposed to, it makes it more difficult for everyone else to carry their load.
But Amasa is completely oblivious to that fact.
Now, before we read this next portion, understand that Scripture often just records what happened in history without giving any editorial on it. So just because it records what happened, it doesn’t mean God approves of what happened - don’t make the mistake of pointing to someone who was redeemed in the Bible and thinking if they did it, it’s okay!
That is often not the case. Like here:
And Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword that was in Joab’s hand. So Joab struck him with it in the stomach and spilled his entrails to the ground without striking a second blow, and he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.
Graphic descriptions here, huh?
Because there are factions, and because they were’t addressed properly: there is infighting, there is indifference by some, ill will towards others, jealousy by some towards others, and it ends with deceit, betrayal, and a downright bloody mess.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
So we have Sheba, the worthless man.
We have Amasa who was a traitor who was made a leader - and not a very good one - and who is now dead by the hand of Joab.
We have David who, for the most part, isn’t even really part of this story, but whose mistakes helped cause the factions.
We have Abishai who was put in a bad position by David because of his mistake of making Amasa the commander of the army. He is an innocent bystander who is hurt because the disunity caused by others.
And then we have Joab. He was wronged, for sure. But is he any better than Sheba who took matters into his own hands instead of actually addressing the problem? Has he been any more fruitful than Sheba in this whole thing?
Does the fact that he was wronged change that fact?
So we have two types of people in this story so far: those who contribute to division, and innocent bystanders who are hurt by the division.
But, thankfully, we have another character introduced here.
And one of Joab’s young men took his stand by Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” And Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the highway. And anyone who came by, seeing him, stopped. And when the man saw that all the people stopped, he carried Amasa out of the highway into the field and threw a garment over him. When he was taken out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri.
Finally, we have someone step up and call for unity. He reminds everyone that they’re all supposed to be on the same side. He makes a call for faithfulness by all the people.
He then does what he can to make right what David and Amasa and Joab and Sheba did wrong.
He does what he can to clean up the mess left by all the infighting.
And everyone, in unity, got back to the task at hand.
And here is the striking thing. This man is the hero of the story to this point. And we don’t even know his name.
We have all these big name players involved here, and most of them are on the wrong side of things. Most of them are hurting the cause of unity more than helping and making the mission of the community more difficult.
This guy is the only one to step up and actively work for unity, and this hero isn’t even named.
He is just a faithful member of the covenant community who wants to see everyone unified in carrying out the mission of the community. And he is willing to do what needs to be done to make that happen, even though he gets no credit for it.
I am so thankful that this happens in churches.
I am so very thankful that this happens in our church.
Here’s the deal. We are a community. We are members of the covenant community and the people of God.
But we are all still sinners.
Mistakes will be made. By leaders. By members.
There will be opportunities for ill will to take hold between members of the community - between them and one of the leaders, or between them and other members.
There will be opportunity for jealousy. There will be, at times, indifference by some to what needs doing. Balls will get dropped when responsibilities are shirked and the jobs of others will be made harder at times.
There will be - within our community - plenty of chances for disunity. I promise.
And some will, at times, tend toward forming cliques. And that will, at times, make us really want to blow our trumpet and call people out the wrong way, which will cause even more disunity.
And this usually starts very subtly. You know, if we aren’t paying close attention to the details, the seeds of this disunity can easily go unnoticed. We can read right past it like we do parts of Scripture without ever seeing what God is telling us.
And sometimes, all it takes is one person who instead of seeking reconciliation, jumps right in to blowing their horn. Maybe by calling someone out in the wrong way. Maybe even doing it publicly. Maybe by forming a faction in order to get their way.
Or maybe more subtly. Maybe through gossip. Maybe by passive-aggressively dropping comments. Maybe by nothing more than rolling our eyes when someone mentions certain names to let it be known how we really feel.
Act it out
There are a million ways to cause disunity in the church.
But there is only one way to strive for unity. And we have that example in this anonymous hero.
We need to actively work for unity. We need to remember that we are all on the same side, and that side is the one that is for Christ.
We need to strive for faithfulness to Him. And we need to call each other to that faithfulness. We should expect it from each other.
And when one from among our community makes a mistake, we don’t blow our trumpet. We seek reconciliation. We try to make right what someone else has done wrong. And, brothers and sisters, we have all done wrong in this regard at some point.
We need to clean up each other’s messes, so we can get back to the task at hand.
Someone else’s mistake is not an opportunity for us to get what we want. It is an opportunity for us to give God what He wants.
And we do it, out of faithfulness to Christ, even when it means we will get no credit. Because it is His way that matters, and His Name that counts.
And we need to be careful here. Credit is a wonderful thing. And there is nothing wrong with giving credit where it is due. It can be a great encouragement for people to know that their efforts for the kingdom are having an impact.
But seeking credit can become an idol.
As Christ said:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
This is a real danger.
But there’s another danger. When disunity begins to be repaired, and reconciliation begins, we have two choices. We can be faithful to Him Who has called us and work together, or we can fight back even harder to get our way.
The story isn’t over yet.
There is still disunity in Israel:
And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.
So Sheba is still trying to garner support for his side, here. And he goes through all of Israel to try and get support. He goes to all those in the covenant community to try and convince them to see things his way.
Thank God its never like that in churches.
But I want us to notice something here. He goes through all of the tribes of Israel, but we are told that all the Bichrites joined him. Who are they?
Well, remember what we saw when we were introduced to Sheba:
2 Samuel 20:1 (ESV)
Now there happened to be there a worthless man, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri…
So essentially, that the Bichrites followed him means that only his clan was with him on this. It wasn’t all of Israel, only his own little clique within the community. He garnered the support of a small group who saw things his way, and they took their stand against the otherwise unified people of God.
And Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah, and all the Bichrites assembled and followed him in. And all the men who were with Joab came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah. They cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart, and they were battering the wall to throw it down.
Things have gotten ugly here. Instead of Israel being able to move outward and bring the nations into the kingdom, like we’ve seen them do, they are instead inward focused and putting all their efforts toward infighting.
*Thank God its never like that in churches.
So we had the anonymous hero that unified Judah. Through his words and actions, those around him remembered Who they needed to be faithful to.
But there was still a faction that was not faithful. And they wind up in Abel of Beth-maacah. That is about as far north as you could go in Israel, in northern Naphtali.
In other words, this faction was on the fringe of the covenant community. And yet, their disunity was still causing the entire community harm. It drew the focus of the leaders away from their true purpose. It drew the focus of the members of the community away from their true purpose.
And it might be easy to see a handful of people on the fringe of a large group and think it’s no big deal if they blow their trumpets every now and again, because they are few, and they aren’t really in the middle of what’s going on.
But that would be a huge mistake.
Disunity is a spiritual cancer. Joab knows that. And even though he has made mistakes and has contributed to the disunity, the anonymous hero - his brother in the faith - has worked reconciliation. He has been an agent of restoration, as we talked about last week.
And now Joab - reminded Who He is to be faithful to - wants to end the disunity.
And that’s how it works. Sheba is a worthless man because what he did was fruitless. Disunity is useless.
But when we sew seeds of reconciliation, we bear fruit. The desire for unity is contagious. Faithfulness is stronger in numbers.
Joab has made mistakes, but having seen the example of faithfulness by that young man, and his efforts to repair relationships and clean up the mess that others caused, Joab now wants to clean up the mess Sheba and his faction have made.
And Joab begins an all out assault on disunity. He wants to remove the faction sewing discord from among the community.
But he can’t do it alone. It takes a village, as they say.
Just like our anonymous hero can’t do it alone. He did what he could do, but what the community needs is more heroes of faithfulness to God.
Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, that I may speak to you.’ ” And he came near her, and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” And he answered, “I am listening.” Then she said, “They used to say in former times, ‘Let them but ask counsel at Abel,’ and so they settled a matter. I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up the heritage of the Lord?” Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! That is not true. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David. Give up him alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head shall be thrown to you over the wall.” Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, every man to his home. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
Another anonymous hero arises. She is simply referred to here as a wise woman. She is wise, because she remains faithful to God and wants to put an end to the disunity. And like the young man, she is willing to do what it takes, even if it means she gets no credit.
Because she is faithful. She is a peacemaker. She sees the problem and sees that there will be more collateral damage if this doesn’t end. Everyone will continue to suffer if there isn’t unity among the people of God.
So, what does she do?
In her wisdom, she does what the young man did. She unifies. He calls God’s people to act together in faithfulness. She calls God’s people to be agents of restoration and reconciliation.
And the one sewing discord is removed from the community.
And while this is not a sermon on church discipline - we’ll get plenty of that when we preach through 1 Corinthians - I just want to note that sometimes, if sin goes unrepented for, the faithful thing to do is remove the sinner from the community.
Granted, we don’t take measures quite as permanent as the people did here. Because even church discipline is for the purpose of achieving unity. It is done for the good of the community, and especially the one stuck in sin. The goal is to bring that person back as a faithful brother or sister in Christ.
Because unity is the goal.
And that has been achieved in our story here through the faithfulness of two anonymous heroes.
And Joab now blows the trumpet. But not as a call to war - as a call to assemble in peace. Not to be divisive, but to unify.
And reconciliation has happened:
2 Samuel 20:22–23 (ESV)
And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel…
Even Joab - who lent to the disunity - is restored to where he was.
And, obviously, I have been tying this all in with how the community of those in the New Covenant is to be unified - but we see even under the Old Covenant, unity was very much an important part of what Israel was called to.
Because, again, faithfulness is stronger in numbers.
And that is why we - our community here at MCC - we need to be faithful, but we need to do it together.
The unnamed young man wanted unity. He called for unity. He needed the leadership to be unified with the community. They together needed the wisdom of the unnamed woman to unify the whole community.
As I said last week - brothers and sisters, we need each other.
We need to stir each other up to love and good works. We need to call each other to faithfulness. We need to remind each other that we are all on the same side - and that is the side of Jesus Christ.
Because remember what the young man called the people to. Faithfulness to their king. David wasn’t even there. He sent his people to do what needed to be done.
And our King has done the same. He has sent us to not only bring the Gospel to the lost, and to reclaim the nations for Him - but to grow together into one holy Temple and make disciples of the King.
To make disciples out of each other.
So I say to church leadership - to the elders and the leadership team and the ministry leaders: realize, church leadership is not David.
We, as leaders, are Joabs and Abishais and Zadoks and Abiathars. Because the real King is Jesus. The One Whom David points us to. It is faithfulness to Him that maintains unity.
We as leaders must remain faithful.
And I say to everyone here, we need you. We need you like the young man to help keep us accountable. And we need you like the wise woman to help us carry out the will of the King.
And we need all of us to do it together, with the goal of unity in the community.
Note that the people of God - not the leaders, not the ones out front - the people of God were the heroes by simply being the faithful people of God. So must we all be.
Because we see the contrasts in this passage.
The rebuke of those from within the people of God (the right way - the young man of verse 11, the wise woman of v. 16; and the wrong way - Sheba, Joab)
Faithfulness to God (pictured by faithfulness to David, who point us to Christ) - faithfulness to the King as the point of unity, and self-interest as the cause of disunity
So we need to consider how we use our trumpet. Because there are two ways to use it - to use our influence, and our words, and our efforts - to sew discord, or to seek unity?
And there is only one way to use our trumpet to be faithful to Christ.
So I want to give you a few final encouragements. Some things to remember as we have covered a lot in this chapter.
Don’t ignore the reality of sin. Don’t push it aside as unimportant. Without understanding sin, you’ll lose the Gospel. Because it is only good news because of what sin has done.
Even more - don’t ignore the reality of sin within yourself, you’ll lose blessings and we will cause harm to the people of God and the name of Christ if we don’t seek to live dead to sin and alive unto Christ!
And our trend towards sin can go unnoticed if we aren’t paying careful attention to ourselves and how we walk.
Don’t ignore sin within the church - we’ll lose our church. I am not asking you all to watch each other and call out every small point of disagreement. I am asking you to love each other by not letting problems go once they’re evident. Problems don’t go away on their own. All they do, is sew discord.
So we need to keep watch on each other (this is part of being agents of restoration - we are being restored to the image of God through sanctification even though we are restored at our justification) - and we are supposed to do this together.
So keep an eye on yourself, first, and help each other stay faithful second.
Unity is always the goal. Respond to sin with grace. With Love. Actively be an advocate for reconciliation, willing to do whatever it takes to be unified.
And if we do this, oh the great work God will do through us. When we are unified as one - all moving in the same direction, all loving each other enough to encourage and rebuke the way we are called to - neither sin, nor Satan, nor anything in this world can divide us.
And, MCC, we need to do this together, because our story isn’t over yet.
God has great things in store for us.
So let us turn our attention to our King, Jesus Christ, and pray for His Spirit to rule in our hearts and our lives and our church.
