DISCUSSION: Chapter 7 — How Do I Love Members Who Are Different?

Matthew 16:18 CSB

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

ENCOURAGING REMINDERS

“I needed to hear that”

Isaiah 2:4 “He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.”

P. 103, Par. 1 — “That’s why we need to rediscover church as the fellowship of differents. The local congregation is where Jesus teaches us to love all kinds of people, even our enemies—one tribe and another, one race and another, one nation and another. And like the morning sun peeking over the horizon, so the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy should begin in our fellowships: [Isaiah 2.4]”

Acts 17:6 “When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,”

PP. 106-107, ‘How to Get Noticed by the World’ subheading — “…When a church follows these patterns of the world, it does not get noticed by the world. [EXCEPTION: MAGA focused churches have seriously been noticed by the political world.] Why? Because members don’t need the church for this kind of community. You can join a protest march or political party if you want shared ideological zeal….The church that gets noticed by the world brings together people who don’t normally associate—the tax collectors and Zealots, the sinners and the Pharisees. That’s what made the early church so strange that some said it had turned the world upside down [Acts 17.6]

[[This is a difficult mindset to bring to the forefront. Too many of our ‘recent’ church growth approaches have focused on homogeneity principles.]]

[[[STARTING HERE.]]]

1 Corinthians 13:7 “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

P. 109, ‘Withstanding Divisions’ subheading — “…The church’s divisions inspired his famous teaching about love: [1 Corinthians 13.7].”

CLUELESS CONCEPTS

“I’m not sure what this means.”

CHALLENGING CONSIDERATIONS

“I’m not sure I agree.”

PP. 105-106, ‘Negative Community’ subheading — “…the world’s ideas about community…One perspective asks us to celebrate diversity by prioritizing differences in ethnicity, nationality, gender, and, increasingly, sexual orientation….A second perspective asks us to celebrate uniformity. In much of the world, you can’t—or at least aren’t supposed to—mix different ethnicities. You might live in a remote territory with only one economic class or ethnicity….Or in a political system that demand obedience to the state in all things, including religion….Both perspectives create community through exclusion. It’s more obvious in the uniformity perspective. If you put out the wrong yard sign, don’t go to the right church, or associate with people from the wrong caste, you’re excluded from the community. The same thing happens, though, in the push toward diversity. Only a certain kind of diversity is allowed. You can be from a different ethnicity, but you cannot disagree on sexual ethics. You can be proud to come from another country, but you cannot support the wrong political party. You can be celebrated for your gender, but not for insisting on biological differences between the genders.”

KEVIN’S MESSAGE

Ephesians 4:1–6 “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

Fellowship of Differents = Matt & Simon Z (Acts 1.13; political); Matt & Pete, James, or John (economic)

[[Acts 1:13 “When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.” ]]

“Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (4.3)

OTHERIZE… ‘they are human—ish…’ [v. understanding imago Dei amid differences]

CAUTIONS:

Unity doesn’t mean uniformity [exclusion based on any/all differences]

Unity doesn’t mean taking soft stances regarding (condoning) sin [exclusion based on whom you accept— “if you’re not willing to accept/condone xxxxx, then…”]

Isaiah 2:4 CSB

He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.