Relationships: Sink, Sail, or Swim

In relationships today, it’s so difficult to keep quality friendships. At times we fail at being a good friend or knowing how to be a good friend and due to our lack of knowledge or experience, these relationships sink. Or, we just try to go it alone.

Well, instead of bouncing from ship to ship, I want us to learn what it would take for our relationships to be built to weather any storm and to set sail into deeper waters.

In saying so, we are going to see what the Bible has to say about relationships and get to work.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

– I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

Question: What does it mean to be united in the same mind and the same judgment as well as agree and having no divisions among us?

“united in the same mind”

“united in the same judgment”

“agree”

“no divisions among us?”

The Problem:

1 Corinthians 1:11–13 ESV

11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

And…

5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men.[2]

1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV

5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

So…..if we are divided, how do we proceed? Which of the 4 is “right?” Or, which of the 4 is greater, and therefore demands our loyalty? Great question – Who’s the most powerful out of this bunch?

Well….let’s go ahead and start there. The problem is in your thinking. Relationships amongst you are not determined by “power, status, or nobility.” That stuff actually doesn’t matter at all when it comes to relationships because the way God decided to have relationship with us doesn’t make sense to the world. It actually sounds crazy and foolish to the world. Paul wrote that it’s actually a stumbling block to some people around during his day.

During those times, some people demanded a sign, or some kind of great strength, or family lineage to prove their status.

Well… God sent Jesus out of a place called Nazareth. In , there’s a local who’s quoted as saying – “can anything good come out of there?” Haha. I mean dang! There’s obviously an absence of status there!

So God sends Jesus into the world as a baby who would grow up to be publicly embarrassed and hung up for the world to see His Shame.

However, His Shame….is our Ship. His Shame is our status. His shame is our success. His Shame is our stability. His Shame is our significance. His shame is our satisfaction. His shame is our story, and His Shame is our settlement in our disputes or disagreements.

Let’s get on this ship and see what it takes to set sail.

United in the same mind, united in the same judgment, agree, no divisions among you (don’t measure each other by status, power, or nobility.)

Instead…

1 Corinthians 1:

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

We have to be united in this belief. If we all consider our upbringing, we all are in the same boat. We need to leave judgment of each other in the Lord’s hands

Romans 14:10 ESV

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

And we need to agree on this. Lastly, let’s not return to the selfish ways by which we determined our relationships with each other. Let’s leave those here tonight and remember that’s what divided us. That’s how we avoid divisions among each other.

- 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;[4]) And we need to agree on this. Lastly, let’s not return to the selfish ways by which we determined our relationships with each other. Let’s leave those here tonight and remember that’s what divided us. That’s how we avoid divisions among each other.

I hope this helps you to understand your relationships a little better.

Before we break out into our small groups I’d like to offer an opportunity to any of you here. If this is your first time with us tonight I’d like to thank you for coming and secondly I’d like to give you and us a moment.

If this is the first time you’ve ever heard of relationships like this I want you to be thankful. The way the Bible talks about relationships can and will change our lives forever. The most important relationship you’ll ever have will be 3 relationships I’d like to explain to you very quickly.

The first one is your relationship with God. The Bible talks about this relationship between God and us as “broken.” The encouraging thing about that is that God knows the relationship between Him and us is like that. He did something about it. He fixed it. It wasn’t just a minor fix, it was the biggest fix we’ve ever known. I explained it earlier as the foolishness of men and wisdom of God on display. If you have never entered into that relationship with God, I would like to give you that opportunity right now to believe, turn from your sin, and trust Jesus that God used Him to fix the relationship between us and that you now have eternal life forever.

The second is your relationship with His people. Maybe people are the exact reason your relationship with God is a little skewed or your turned off by it because of them. Well…..I’d like to give you the opportunity to think about that for a second. The part of the Bible we looked at tonight was ACTUALLY written to “church-going” people just like you and me. That means these people were messed up just like we’re messed up today. But the good news about that is that those people found hope in Christ because God sent them His Word and instruction to help them in their relationships. That means we have help right now to do better and to look to Christ.

The third is your relationship with His Word. I specifically hope you understand that it wasn’t eloquent words or wisdom tonight that God used to teach us. God used His very word to open our minds, ears, and hearts. If you don’t have a regular time with God’s Word I want to encourage you to start tonight. Don’t just let this stuff go in one ear and out the other. See about it for yourself. Read all of 1 Corinthians and then some. See what I’m talking about.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

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