What NOT To Do To One Another

HOW MEMBERS OF CHRIST'S BODY TREAT ONE ANOTHER

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12–27

INTRODUCTION — WE ARE ONE BODY

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12–27

Paul's analogy is simple:

We are many members.

We have different functions.

We are not identical.

But we belong to one another because we belong to Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:25

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.”

That is the issue we are addressing today.

The question is not merely:

“What should I believe?”

It is also:

“How should I treat the other members of Christ's body?”

Over the last several weeks, we have been looking at the biblical commands concerning how Christians are to treat one another.

Today we are going to look at several things Scripture tells us not to do to one another.

These commands all have something in common:

They are warnings against allowing our own desires, opinions, liberties, or offenses to damage the body of Christ.

1. DO NOT JUDGE ONE ANOTHER

Romans 14:1–13

Read Romans 14:1–13

Our focus is verse 13:

“let us not therefore judge one another anymore:”

Clarification

This is NOT the same thing as calling out sin in one another or discerning the actions of others to see whether they are Scriptural.

There is plenty of evidence and there are several examples that point to the necessity of addressing sin within the church.

It is important, therefore, to consider the context of verse 13.

That is why we read the previous twelve verses.

Paul is dealing with Christian liberty and differences of conscience.

Last week we talked about the exercise of our liberty in Christ and that it should always seek to edify others.

Here, Paul is expanding that thought to encompass both sides of the coin.

Not only should the one who feels at liberty respect and defer to the weaker brother—

so should the weaker brother defer to the other.

The issue is not merely:

“Am I allowed to do this?”

The issue is:

“How does my liberty affect my brother?”

Supporting principle — Matthew 7:1–2

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

God takes seriously how we treat one another.

And that brings us to the next warning.

2. DO NOT BITE AND DEVOUR ONE ANOTHER

Galatians 5:13–15

Read Galatians 5:13–15

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Once again, this passage addresses our obligation to exercise our liberties to edify rather than tear down each other.

Illustration — The Road

Imagine giving someone a driver's license and telling them:

“You're free to drive.”

That doesn't mean:

“You're free to drive wherever you want, however you want, regardless of everyone else on the road.”

Your freedom to drive actually comes with the responsibility to consider everyone else on the road.

Think about what happens when we forget that.

Someone cuts you off, and suddenly you think:

“How dare they!”

So you speed up and cut them off.

They respond by laying on the horn.

Now you're angry, they're angry, and before long you've got road rage.

What started with two people exercising their freedom to drive has turned into two people using their freedom selfishly at the expense of one another.

Key transition

The problem isn't that either driver is exercising freedom. The problem is that neither driver understands that his freedom carries responsibility toward the other.

And that's exactly the kind of picture Paul gives us in Galatians 5:15:

“But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Paul uses almost animalistic language—

bite and devour.

That's what happens when people are determined to have their own way.

You hurt me, so I'll hurt you. You cut me off, so I'll cut you off. You won't let me merge, so I'll make sure you can't get around me.

And where does it lead?

Anger. Wrecks. Traffic jams.

One person's selfishness creates more selfishness, and pretty soon everybody is frustrated and nobody is getting anywhere.

That's what happens in the church when Christians use their liberty selfishly.

“I have the liberty to do this.”

“Well, I have the liberty to do that.”

“You offended me.”

“Well, you offended me first.”

And this is sometimes manifested in petty things, like:

the color of the carpets

the flavor of the coffee

whether we have pews or chairs

But often this happens even in seemingly important things:

doctrines

Bible translations

traditions

worship styles

music styles

But remember what Paul said:

If we bite and devour each other, we will end up consuming each other.

Road rage can lead to wrecks, which lead to traffic jams, which sometimes lead to injury or death.

And even when nobody is physically injured, everyone's day is disrupted.

Sometimes the consequences affect everyone on the road—not just the two people who were involved.

And the same thing happens in the church.

Central statement

Christian liberty isn't freedom from responsibility toward others.

It is freedom for loving service toward others.

And if everyone on the road drove that way, we'd have a lot fewer wrecks and a lot fewer traffic jams.

More importantly, if every Christian lived that way, we'd have a lot fewer conflicts and a much healthier church.

3. DO NOT PROVOKE OR ENVY ONE ANOTHER

Galatians 5:26

Read Galatians 5:26

“Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Paul gives us three correlating vices:

Conceit. Boasting. Envy.

All three are self-serving.

Conceit

Conceit thinks too highly of himself.

Boasting

Boasting provokes others to think more highly of you than they should.

Envy

Envy desires what you do not have—which, if you did have it, may cause you to boast and then be conceited.

All three turn our attention toward self.

And that is precisely the opposite of what Paul has been teaching.

Context of Galatians 5

This verse comes at the very end of chapter 5.

It follows:

Christian liberty

the works of the flesh

the fruit of the Spirit

Then Paul immediately moves into chapter 6, where he begins instructing the church about restoring someone who has been overtaken in a fault.

Paul's message could not be clearer:

The works of the flesh produce one kind of church.

The fruit of the Spirit produces another.

Light and darkness are in stark contrast.

And we should pursue light because it was the true Light that made us who we are.

We must bear the effects of that Light in how we deal with one another.

4. DO NOT LIE TO ONE ANOTHER

Colossians 3:1–10

Read Colossians 3:1–10

Once again, Paul draws a distinction between darkness and light.

This time, however, he points to the cause of our coming into the Light:

our death to sin and resurrection in Christ.

Look back at verse 1:

“So if you have been raised with Christ...”

And then verse 3:

“For you died...”

Paul is not speaking to spiritual zombies.

He is speaking to people who have been truly born-again in Christ.

These are Christians whose lives have been renewed and transformed.

Yet Paul reminds them that even though they are new people, their earthly nature still must be conquered.

God gives us the grace and strength to do it, but He gives the command to us: we must put these things to death.

Yes, Christ will help us, as Paul reminds the church in Philippi:

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

But notice the commands in Colossians 3.

They are directed to you.

seek the things above

set your minds on things above

put to death earthly nature

put away sinful practices

Two categories of sins

Internal sins — rooted in the heart

These are idolatrous:

sexual immorality

impurity

lust

evil desire

greed

External sins — out-workings of internal sins

These affect our treatment of others:

anger

wrath

malice

slander

filthy language

lying

Why lying is particularly dangerous

The fact that lying is at the end of this list is not merely that it is tacked on as a footnote.

It is perhaps the one we can commit without people knowing who we are.

Our lying can be bald-faced and egregious, but perhaps still hidden until the rot has reached incurable depths.

Application

We cannot claim to be walking in the light while deliberately deceiving the members of Christ's body.

5. DO NOT GRUDGE ONE ANOTHER

James 5:9

We move out of Paul's epistles for this last one and look at the words of James, the brother of Jesus and the first pastor of the church at Jerusalem.

Read James 5:9

“Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”

His instruction is clear and to the point:

Do not complain about each other, because the Judge stands at the door ready to judge you!

And notice who this Judge is.

The same Judge who:

pardoned your sin

gave you a new life

gave you a new name by adopting you into His family

actively seeks to strengthen and renew your mind

is watching to see how you treat the other members of His family.

And those other members have received the same gifts and benefits as you.

How will the Judge treat us?

You might ask:

“In what way will He judge me?”

Nobody knows for sure exactly how that judgment will be administered in every case.

But Scripture does give us a sobering principle.

James 2:13

“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”

James 2 is specifically addressing mercy, so we should not say that every complaint automatically means judgment without mercy.

But it establishes a clear principle:

God cares deeply about how we treat one another.

The Christian who has received mercy from God cannot treat mercy as though it is something he is free to withhold from everyone else.

Matthew 18:21–35

Jesus gives us the parable of the unforgiving servant.

The servant had been forgiven an enormous debt by his master.

But then he refused to extend mercy to another servant.

And the master responded by judging him according to his own unwillingness to show mercy.

Application

When you are tempted to grumble about your brother— remember the mercy you have received.

When you are tempted to hold a grudge— remember the debt that Christ forgave.

When you are tempted to complain about another member of Christ's body— remember that the Judge stands at the door.

We should therefore be very careful how we treat one another.

So:

Do not grumble.

Do not grudge.

Do not complain against one another.

CONCLUSION — CARE FOR THE BODY

So what do we see in these passages?

We see a series of actions and attitudes that should never darken the doors of our minds regarding how we treat one another.

Five warnings:

Do not judge one another.

Do not bite and devour one another.

Do not provoke or envy one another.

Do not lie to one another.

Do not grudge one another.

But remember where we began.

1 Corinthians 12:25

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.”

Why?

Because we are one body.

The person sitting beside you is not merely another person in the room.

He is a member of Christ's body.

She is a member of Christ's body.

And therefore the way you treat them matters.

Your liberty matters.

Your words matter.

Your attitudes matter.

Your disagreements matter.

Your treatment of one another is a reflection of whether we understand what it means to belong to Christ's body.

So before we ask: “What am I free to do?”

Perhaps we should ask: “How can I use my freedom to serve my brother?”

Before we ask: “Who's right?”

Perhaps we should ask: “Am I treating my brother as a member of Christ's body?”

Before we complain about someone else— remember that the Judge stands at the door.

And before we bite and devour one another— remember that we are members of the same body.

The goal is not merely that we avoid conflict.

The goal is that we love one another well.

Because Christ did not save us merely to make us individuals who happen to worship in the same building.

He made us members of one body.

And members of the same body should have the same care one for another.

Final Thought

Christian liberty is not freedom to live for ourselves.

Christian liberty is freedom to love and serve one another.

And if we truly understand that we are members of one body, then we will not ask merely: “What am I allowed to do?”

We will ask: “How can I care for the body?”