Right Posture

Introduction

Godly relationships are not focused primarily on making you happy, they’re focused on making you holy.

When you live a holier life, you will know greater joy.

How do we help each other when we’re not living holy lives?

I think one of the biggest problems in REACH is not knowing how to address sin—not knowing how to address when someone has sinned personally or against you.

Our biggest obstacle to winning our campus is less Matthew 28 and more John 17.

Our love for God and each other often is not attractive to outsiders.

New folks — you might’ve felt like you showed up at a friend’s house and their family is in the middle of an argument…but you need these tools too.

You need to know how to receive loving correction.

You need to know how to give loving correction.

You need to know how to respond to Christians hurting you.

If you don’t have church hurt, you haven’t gone to church long enough.

As long as there are churches, there will be church hurt

“If you find a perfect church, don’t join it, because you’ll mess it up.”

Going to another church won’t solve the problem.

Staying at church and avoiding them won’t solve the problem.

Helping each other become like Christ is what we’re called to.

Matthew 7/Ephesians 4 — principles to know

Address your own sin before you address the sins of others. (Mt. 7:5)

You can’t see to help others with their sin when you’re living in sin yourself.

Matthew 5:8 — Sin clouds your vision.

Some of the more mature ones are the ones who point out the weaknesses in REACH the most (3 out of 4 times)

People who have planks in their eyes can’t see that they have planks in their eyes.

Jesus is not stopping us from telling someone they’re wrong. He’s getting at an issue—when we are self-righteous, unfair, and dismissive of others.

1 Cor. 4:5 — don’t judge motives v. 1 Cor. 5:12-13 — correct sins

2 of Greear’s 7 ways to know you’re the problem (to see your own plank): “You’re more enraged at someone else’s sin than you are embarrassed by your own.” + “You refuse to forgive/when you forgive you refuse to forget.”

If you want to avoid that type of self-righteous thinking, focus on your own sin 1st.

Share grace with others in the way you want to receive grace yourself. (Mt. 7:2)

If you’re fine with God forgiving you as long as you never mess up again, feel free to forgive people and only give them one more strike.

Get rest for your bitter heart before you get rest for your tired body. (Eph. 4:26-27)

My bitterness this summer

If you have something against another Christian, prayer for God to help you move on needs to become more urgent than sleep.

Live out the gospel by choosing grace over gossip. (Eph. 4:29-32)

Addressing an elephant

One area this has come up more is underage drinking/drunkenness

It’s killing our witness on campus

Getting a fake ID/planning when to go out is like a dating couple planning when to buy condoms to fall into sin. It’s not hearing the crowd shout “crucify him! crucify him!” and noticing your voice among them. It’s conspiring with the Pharisees a plan to kill your Savior.

At the same time, we have people running our witness through gossip and pride.

The Bible lists gossip alongside murder (Romans 1)

You’re never gonna hear me publicly disparage Emma

I wanna be that way with everybody

This is why our groups are emphasizing encouragement

Our biggest obstacle to reaching our campus more might not be a failure of Matthew 28, but of John 17.

When you walk into a room, do people see you as the most encouraging person in the room? When you encourage, do people see it coming from the depths of a humble heart, or meeting a prideful quota?

Exhortation

My frustration with Tim and Coleen only seeming to talk nice about others — could you just be human for a bit?

Now I see my tendency and feel the other way, couldn’t we all be more like Christ for a bit?

The only way to enter into that humility is to constantly be reminded of what Christ has done for me