Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-15

This church (not this building) has been around since 1847…

When a handful of families came together…

And began assembling together

But just over a decade later…

The building where they were assembling…

Would be burned to the ground

And it was no accident

It was intentionally set on fire

Why?

Because the Christians who met there…

Were allowing their building to be used…

As a temporary hospital for Confederate soldiers…

And some Union soldiers found out about it

This was a time when The United States were not so united

Division led to an all out war of brother against brother

The Civil War became & still remains…

The deadliest conflict in American history

Our church was literally set on fire…

Because of the division that was taking place in our country

But that wasn’t the last time division set fire to this church

Not with torches…

But with pride, self-righteousness, and fear

And it isn’t just our church

Many churches have figuratively burned to the ground…

Because of division & civil wars taking place within

Unity In A Nutshell

We know that Jesus prayed… A LOT

But we only have a few of those prayers recorded

And usually they are very short

But in John’s account…

We have the recording of a long prayer by Jesus

A prayer that He prayed just before His arrest

After praying for His closest disciples & friends…

Jesus says these words:

John 17:20–23 NLT

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Jesus prayed for all who will ever be His disciples…

That they would be one — Perfectly united

Jesus wants perfect unity among His followers…

Because He knows the potential for perfect unity

When God’s people are united…

The world comes to believe that Jesus is God’s Son

If that is true, then the opposite must also be true

When God’s people are divided…

Not only does the world move further from Jesus—

Even believers start to distance themselves from Him

We can see this for ourselves, can’t we?

Generally, are COCs growing or shrinking right now?

And I’m not talking about…

People leaving one church to go to another

That isn’t growth

Without doubt, in America, the COC is swiftly declining

We aren’t bringing in the lost & we aren’t even keeping the saved

And I believe it has everything to do with Unity

Or, to be more specific, the lack thereof

I don’t know about your experience…

But based upon my own…

We in the COC’s are lacking in the unity department

And that is made even more clear…

By the fact that our numbers are consistently shrinking

In the midst of a divided America on the brink of Civil War…

Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

He took those words straight from Jesus Himself

A church that is divided…

Is a church that will eventually die

And I believe that’s what we are witnessing in many COCs:

A slow death

Jesus prayed that we would all have perfect unity

And yet here we are, so often:

Drawing lines of fellowship where God never did

Dividing over every little difference in opinion

Choosing judgment over mercy

Pushing people away from Jesus & into the world

It’s time for the division to end

Paul wrote a lot of letters to struggling churches

And one of the major issues they were struggling with…

Was unity

The early church had a lot of things that kept them divided

And that means we have a lot…

Of good advice to turn to in our own struggles with unity

At the beginning of his 1st letter to the Corinthians…

Paul said:

1 Corinthians 1:10 NET

10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.

Agree Together

End Your Divisions

Be United in Mind & Purpose

I’ve heard many interpret this text to mean that…

Paul is urging uniformity—

That is, that the Corinthians agree on everything

That they believe all the same things

That’s not what Paul was telling them

A simple read-through of the context will show that…

They were aligning themselves after different teachers

Paul tells them that the only one they ought to align themselves with…

Is Jesus

What they all ought to agree on…

Is being disciples to Jesus & Jesus alone

And if that isn’t a lesson for us today…

I don’t know what is

I know far too many Christians…

Who will believe any word that comes out of certain men’s mouths

And naturally that means…

They label anyone who disagrees with such men…

On any number of issues…

A false teacher deserving to be publicly marked & disfellowshipped

Following after men has caused more division than we can imagine

There is only one perfect man & teacher…

And He is the only Man whose every word…

Deserves to be trusted & followed

The 1st thing we must do to stop dividing & start uniting…

Is to agree together on that truth

Stop following & being disciples of mortal men…

And start following & being a disciples of Jesus alone

When writing to the Ephesians Paul said:

Ephesians 4:1–3 NET

1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called,2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Paul urges his readers to live worthy of our calling

What is our calling?

A major theme of the first 3 chapters of Ephesians…

Is how, in Christ, all people have been reconciled together…

Into the family of God

Through the gospel, we have been called…

To live in harmony with our brother & sisters…

Despite the fact that we come from very different backgrounds

(Jew & Gentile)

Paul urges the Ephesians to live worthy of their calling to unity

We were saved to live in unity with one another

Well, how do we live in unity with one another?

1st, by being “completely humble” with one another

Humility says, “I could be wrong”

2nd, by being “completely gentle” with one another

Gentleness says, “I’m willing to listen & change my mind”

3rd, by “patiently bearing with one another in love”

Patiently bearing with one another in love says:

“I’m not going to let my emotions get the best of me in this disagreement”

“Instead, I’m going to remain calm & respectful to you…”

“Because you’re my sibling & I love you”

4th, by “being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12…

We are all different, but we have the same Spirit living within us

We are all one because we all have God’s one Spirit living in us

We’ve all been adopted into the family of God has His children

Being eager to maintain unity through peace says:

“I really want this to work out”

“I refuse to make a fuss over our differences”

“I will strive to make & keep peace between us…”

“So that our unity can be maintained”

When each of us make it our mission to:

Be humble

Be gentle

Be patient

Love

Strive for peace

Unity in the church will not just survive…

But it will thrive…

Despite our disagreements

Agreeing to disagree is essential to having unity in the church

But, that doesn’t mean we don’t have to agree on anything

There are things that we must agree on…

To have unity in Christ

And Paul immediately gives us a list…

Of 7 primary doctrines we must agree upon:

Ephesians 4:4–6 NET

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We must agree that:

There is one body/church that belongs to Jesus

Those who belong to Jesus are all a part of one big, worldwide community

There is one Spirit who lives in each of us

There is one hope of resurrection to eternal life

There is one Lord/Master, Jesus the Christ

There is one faith/loyalty/allegiance…

And it must belong to Lord Jesus

There is one baptism into Jesus…

Where we die & are reborn into a new life…

With a new identity as a citizen of God’s eternal kingdom

There is one God/Father over all things

These are the things on which we must agree

We can’t agree to disagree on these 7 things

To dismiss even one of these is to throw them all out

But when we start to draw lines of fellowship beyond these things…

We need to do so very carefully

Notice what Paul told the Romans…

When they were apparently allowing every little difference of opinion…

To divide them:

Romans 14:1–6 NET

1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions.2 One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

Some Christians are “weak” in faith & some are “strong”

That doesn’t mean one is more faithful than the other

It just means that they see things a little differently…

Based upon their understanding of the Gospel…

And their maturity level in Christ

The weak brother has a shallower understanding of the Gospel…

And it not quite as mature as the strong brother

This leads to their conscience hindering them…

From doing things that are perfectly fine for them to do

The strong brother has a deeper understanding of the Gospel…

And is more mature

His conscience is clear…

And he recognizes the freedom he has in Christ on such matters

Paul tells the strong to not look down on the weak

“They aren’t as mature as you yet, and that’s okay”

“Don’t argue with them over their matters of conscience…”

“But accept them as your siblings in Christ”

“As long as they are doing what they are doing to honor Jesus…”

“Then they are perfectly accepted by God”

Paul tells the weak to not judge/condemn the strong

“You believe that what they are doing is a wrong, but it isn’t”

“If you believe it is, then you should abstain from doing it”

“As long as they are doing what they are doing to honor Jesus…”

“Then they are perfectly accepted by God”

An extremely important point is found in verse 4:

“Who are you to judge another’s servant?”

“God is the judge, not you”

“And God has accepted it, so you should too”

Toward the end of this discussion, Paul says:

Romans 15:5–7 NASB95

5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

It’s possible to be of the same mind & still see some things differently

Being of the same mind doesn’t mean we agree on everything

It means we accept one another…

love one another…

And fellowship one another…

Despite the fact that we disagree on some things

For some reason, for too long, we have bought into the lie of the Pharisees

“Whoever draws the tightest lines of fellowship…”

“Is obviously the one who is the most sound in the faith”

That is a ridiculous & totally unscriptural

Aligning ourselves with those who are always drawing lines of fellowship…

Is exactly what Paul told us not to do

Romans 16:17–18 NET

17 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them! 18 For these are the kind who do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By their smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of the naive.

Titus 3:9–11 NET

9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the law, because they are useless and empty. 10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 11 You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself.

There are too many Christians following the teachings of “sound brethren”…

Who make it their ministry to fight, argue, divide, & disfellowship

Paul says these men aren’t “sound/faithful” at all

They don’t serve Jesus

They only serve themselves

They are twisted by sin & should be avoided, not followed

Conclusion

If we’re going to be the church Jesus prayed we would be—

A church that’s focus is on unity & not division…

Then we need to:

Stop drawing lines of fellowship where God hasn’t

Not every issue is a fellowship/salvation issue

The more we mature in Christ, the more we’ll recognize that

It’s okay & even necessary…

To agree to disagree on such matters

Give people time to grow at their own pace

Stop labeling & start listening

Unity thrives in environment where open minds can discuss…

And don’t have to fear that they’ll be marked or labeled…

For simply seeking to grow in their knowledge & understanding

Recognize that diversity in the church is a good thing

Diversity in gifts, backgrounds, & interpretations…

Makes us stronger, not weaker

Treat each other with humility, gentleness, patience, & love

The world doesn’t turn to Jesus…

When our focus is being right on everything

The world turns to Jesus…

When our focus is on being:

Humbly

Gently

Patiently

And Lovingly…

United together in Christ