ORDINARY PEOPLE

Scripture

Romans 12:9–16 (NLT)

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Introduction

It’s been a minute, but we are back to the book of Romans tonight. We’re going to finish strong in the gospel of grace and glory, but we’re also going to continue talking about a topic we started a few weeks back that fits nicely into our study of Romans, which is the subject of RELATIONSHIPS.

We’ve talked about dating. We talked about friendship. Tonight, we’re going to talk about God’s call for us to have relationships in the body of Christ. You might be asking yourself how that’s different than friendship. Well, let me ask you this: are you friends with everyone in the church?

I’m not just talking about the people at this church. I’m talking about the global body of Christ. Of course you’re not. You’re never going to be friends with everyone, but we are all still called to be a part of the body of Christ and treat one another the way the Bible commands for the purpose of accomplishing both our individual missions and the great commission of the Church.

With that in mind, let’s talk about SEVEN standards for living and loving in church.

Be So For Real (Romans 12:9)

It’s so easy to get caught up in the hype of the filtered world around us. Love can’t be filtered or fake. You have to keep it real. God can’t bless who you’re pretending to be. The way we treat one another can’t be based on pretense. Love can’t be about getting something from someone. It has to be about loving people with God’s love as the source. Regardless of what they’ve done to you or can do for you, we can love people with sincerity when we set aside our own feelings of love and choose to live in love that God has given us.

2. You Don’t Owe Me One (Romans 12:10) [THE OFFICE CLIP]

What does it mean to take delight in honoring one another? What does it look like to prefer the interests of others over our own? We often fail to do this out of fear that we’ll be neglected and our own needs won’t be met. When you put the expectation on people to meet your needs, you’ll always reach a place of disappointment. They can be the best people in the world, but they’ll let you down if they’re put in a position to fail. Only God is capable of carrying your burdens and meeting your needs. Let people off the hook and have fun honoring them.

3. Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work (Romans 12:11)

Serving the Lord should get your best effort. Serving alongside brothers and sisters in the body of Christ should be fun! This is ours to build, and ownership demands a greater effort than a lease. I want to encourage you to find the place where you can serve the church and build the Kingdom of God with your gifts with His people. What if we focused more on the gifts that God is bringing together for this purpose instead of criticizing one another’s contributions? People aren’t perfect, but we can love them and work well with them when we recognize that what we’re doing here is bigger than any individual. Whether you’re a leader of a team or just someone who’s helping serve dinner or stack chairs, your contribution is meaningful and vital to the successful building of the house of the Lord.

4. You Can Sit With Me (Romans 12:13)

Practicing hospitality means welcoming people into our lives and giving to them selflessly. If you’re my brother, what’s mine is yours. I’m not gatekeeping generosity. We share, because we know who gave it to us in the first place. If you believe God gave it to you, you believe He can give you more than enough to take care of you and others at all times. This party isn’t just for my crew. Church shouldn’t be exclusive. The body of Christ shouldn’t have social requirements. It’s important that we are welcoming to all. There’s no bouncer at that door. Every name is on the guest list.

5. Viral Positivity (Romans 12:14)

Don’t let someone else’s negativity bring you down. Don’t let complaining be your relational norm. Pray for people who stab you in the back. Make attempts to reconcile. Stop ostracizing people you don’t like and calling it “boundaries.”

6. Highs and Lows (Romans 12:15)

Being the Church means being there for each other when it was a good day and being there when it was a bad day. When someone gets promoted, we all celebrate. I love being a hype man. I love cheering for people when they’re crushing it. It’s a good exercise in humility. Can you be happy when someone else succeeds or is there jealousy there? What about when the trash hits the fan? How quickly do you jump to action? When someone hits a low point, we should all respond. I can’t find a single example in the Bible or real life in which wishing someone well or telling them you’re thinking about them has ever changed anything. James 2 calls this “faith without works.” It’s one thing to say you’ve got someone’s back. It’s another to show it. Regularly.

7. Give Peace a Chance (Romans 12:16)

You’re not too good for anyone. Paul tells us to enjoy the company of ordinary people. The ESV says to associate with lowly people. Regardless of someone’s social status, they are brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe they don’t look like you or talk like you. Maybe they weren’t raised with the same level of excellence you were. You don’t know people’s stories. You don’t know why they are the way they are. Not thinking you know it all is the best place to start here. You can’t assume anything about anyone. When you do, you’re most likely going to be wrong. On top of that, you’re going to set yourself up to miss an opportunity to love someone with the love of Jesus. Harmony means singing a different note that complements another. It doesn’t mean looking the same. It means that the sum is greater than the parts. We are better together.

Invitation to Response

I want you to know that you are loved here. You are family here. If that has not been modeled to you by anyone here or at any church that claimed to represent Jesus, I want you to know that wasn’t God. He has a place for you in His body. The devil would like to separate you from the place you belong by lying to you about your worth and your place. Years of hurt and pain can build up in our souls and cause a blockage to form that prevents us from flowing in the fullness of life that God desires to give us. If you’re here tonight and you have hurts that are preventing you from connecting to Jesus or people, I believe that the Holy Spirit wants to heal your heart tonight. He wants to set you in the place where you belong and uproot everything that is taking room that He desires to occupy. I want to invite you to join me at this altar tonight to receive prayer for healing and wholeness in your soul, so that you can step into the fullness of what He has for you.