Unity In the Face of Diversity
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Title- Unity In the Face of Diversity
Passage- 1 John 1:1-4
Attention- What is fellowship?
Fellowship is like a good salad, there are various ingredients that work together to make one healthy, nutrition, and delicious salad.
Introduction-
In a similar sense that a good salad will have a mix of greens, some spinach, pepper, tomatoes, and a number of other options...
Similarly, the church is made up of numerous backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, occupations and so on.
The church in Johns day was no different
Referring to the makeup of the typical Pauline church, which would have been similar to a Johannine church it would have looked Scott McKnight says it would have looked something like this:
“Paul’s house churches were composed of probably thirty or more people, this would have been their approximate make-up:
a craftworker in whose home they meet, along with his wife, children, a couple of male slaves, a female domestic slave, and dependent relatives
Also, some tenants, with families and slaves and their dependents, also living in the same home in rented rooms
some family members of a householder
A couple of slaves and Some freed slaves
A couple homeless people
a few migrant workers renting small rooms in the home
Add to this mix some Jewish folks and a perhaps an enslaved prostitute and we see how many “different tastes” were in a typical house church in Rome: men and women, citizens and freed slaves and slaves (who had no legal rights), Jews and Gentiles, people from all moral walks of life, and perhaps, most notably, people from elite classes all the way down the social scale perhaps to homeless people.”
This is the demographic of the church in the first century…add to that the Jewish theology nad the Gentile idol worship all brought together under one roof...
This understanding brings into perspective the monumental task that the first church faced.
How do you bring together all of that diversity
Main truth- The only way to unite a group like this is by the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Transition #1-
This is what John is doing here in these first verses...
What is being taught? (Explain the passage and draw out the 1st century truth)
So to conclude the sentence John says that the purpose for the declaration is fellowship.
If there is a verse in Scripture, which I believe there are several, to support Salvation being more than just avoiding hell this would be towards the top of the list.
The declaration of the seeing, hearing, and handling of the transcendent Son of God was all for the purpose of fellowship.
So if we took our contemporary use of the word fellowship and applied it to this verse it would have this meaning...
The transcendent son of God cane and was seen, heard, and handled by men like John for the purpose of standing around and eating.
I say this because thats the contemporary understanding of fellowship.
But that doesn’t fit Scripture does it?
So what does John mean when he talks about fellowship?
John is using the Greek word koinania which John uses to mean that sense of community that is developed by way of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
There is a sense of the use that denotes the fellowship that is restored between us and the Godhead upon acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice.
And I believe that when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented it ought to be presented from this relational aspect.
But before John gets to that he is giving the purpose to be for the union of Jew and Gentile into one body.
The different divisions among the Jews could set aside their issues and become one in Christ.
Whatever God the Gentile believer use to worship was now of no importance because the different divisions of Gentiles became one in Christ
All of the different variations of Jewish belief and the different variations of Gentile worship are all replaced with one body…the corporate body of Christ.
I think understandably we would give precedence to the union and peace that we receive in relationship to the Godhead.
John is writing to believers and wants to establish that first they need to set aside their differences and get along
The other issues will be dealt with in the future verses and chapters.
John needs to establish the unity of the congregation before he moves forward.
So John reminds them of the unity they have around the truths of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
He then moves on in verse three to declare the truths of the fellowship of our fellowship with the Father and the Son Jesus Christ
Why the Father and the Son?
The ultimate relationship to be restored is the relationship we have with the Creator God.
That is the one restored relationship that can bring peace to every other area of our lives.
We have guilt, we have fears, we deal with sin and and so many other issues because we are trying to fix a relational disconnect from the one relationship in all the world that matters and we are going about it completely wrong.
Stuff, relationships, nothing else will bring us true peace until we are at peace with the Father.
That essential relationship with the Father can only be made right by the free gift of His son Jesus Christ.
That is why Jesus came, died, and rose again.
Not for the purpose of keeping you out of hell, although hell is a reality, but to bring you back into a relationship that can finally bring peace into your life.
Transition #2-
How do we understand this in our context? (Bridge 1st century truth to today)
So beside the peace that God can bring into our lives what else is John trying to tell his readers that we can understand for our current situation?
I think that the main driving point for you to walk away with today is that regardless your background, regardless your age or gender or race or experiences…we are all one in Christ
None of those factors ought to come into play when you are a child of God.
There ought to be fellowship…and not the coffee and cookie type
There ought to be a sense of unity that is based on Jesus’ blood that has purchased each of us from our sins
So John is dealing with some tense relational issues in this church.
I think John’s readers, as well as us need to remember the foundation of our faith.
When we are constantly reminded we are only who we are because of Jesus’ sacrifice and working in our lives it really levels things
Transition #3-
How do we live this out in our context? (Application of the biblical truth to us personally)
So practically, how do we apply what John is teaching based on our current situation?
I think first and foremost we remember that we are Christ’s and not our own
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Jesus paid the debt I couldn’t pay and now it is my reasonable service to obey Him and serve others
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I think secondly, we would do well to remember that the Christian on the other side of the auditorium is a fellow image bearer of God
We aren’t going to go into all the details of us being image bearers but remember what it says in Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Also, James writing in reference to the tongue says James 3:9
Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
James is saying that regardless their view of the acronym TULIP in Calvinism they are an image bearer of God and according to John we are to live in fellowship…unity with them
Regardless your opinion about wearing masks in a pandemic…that person who comes to a different conclusion is an image bearer of God
That leads to a final application.
Those who are unsaved are still image bearers of God.
At the present they are not a part of the fellowship that we enjoy with the Father and the Son but they are still image bearers.
So regardless their view on our theological debates they are still image bearers
Regardless their position on the Safer at Home order they are still image bearers.
Paul writes in Romans 12:18
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Not just those in your theological or political presuasion
Can I bring it home a bit?
Donald Trump is an image bearer and we ought to live peaceably with him
Nancy Pelosi is an image bearer, I would submit that the majority of the reason you are at odds with her is because she needs to have the relationship with her creator reconciled
Same with Governor Evers and Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway
These are image bearers of God
Live peaceably with them
We do not live peaceably with them because of a fellowship in Christ
We live peaceably with them because of their need for fellowship with the Father and the Son.
We are declaring to those we worship with and we declare to the world around us that the transcendent Son of God came to bring about a fellowship between God and man that produces peace and joy.
How we live that out in our behaviors
How we live this out in our relationships…in our church, our homes, with our spouse, with our neighbors, coworkers, friends
How we live impacts not only our fellowship with them but for the unsaved potentially their fellowship with the Father.
In this verse verse John is referring to our declaration…how we speak and what we speak of.
In the near future John is going to challenge his readers on their physical actions and responses.
So in a sense the challenge so far is to talk the talk…soon it will be prove it by your actions.
When our declaration and our behavior match the world is impacted.
Conclusion
Review-
So be about declaring the transcendent Son of God
Share your experiences with Him
And remember that those around you, those you get along with and those you don’t, are image bearers in need of fellowship
Call to action-
If you have accepted Jesus as your savior make sure you speak up and declare Him
Declare Him to those you like
Share Him with those you dislike (in love)
Our responsibility is not to determine which image bearer hears, our responsibility is to ensure that all image bearers hear.
Closing song-