Christian Unity the World Should See

I. Introduction

I want to describe a scenario

Describe a mansion that’s burning down. It is heavily engulfed in flames.

That’s not a good sight, is it?

Seeing this is a terrible picture.

Now I want to describe that same image of the same mansion from another angle

a more wide angle of the mansion, making it clear that it’s just a movie prop

what do you think now?

it isn’t really a beautiful mansion.

It’s just a Hollywood set made to look like a mansion

and it isn’t even a real fire.

That’s called a movie set facade.

its purpose is to look like something it isn’t

the intent of the facade is to make something look real in hopes that the viewer would see it as real

This directly relates to our message from Colossians tonight.

A quick recap of Colossians so far.

You've heard this at least seven times.

It sounds like I'm repeating myself, because...I am.

I want us to see just how much Colossians applies to us, the church in 2014.

The city of Colosse was in the Roman Empire.

The church was in a city under Roman influence.

Romans had gods for everything.

Colosse was a society of many gods and many types of worship.

The people of the Colossian church grew up and lived in this society.

And then they became believers in Jesus Christ.

They were a small group of believers in a large city who didn't believe like they did.

So they felt the pressure of a society that didn't like their difference.

It was a tough environment to be a Christian.

In the past messages, we've seen how Paul warned them to steer clear of these pagan ideas.

He also warned them to steer clear of people trying to add to the Gospel they believed.

Last week we talked about the Christian identity.

The Bible tells us who we are, now that we're Christians.

We can sum it all up in one word.

Jesus.

Our identity is Jesus.

We're not who we used to be.

So our actions are not what they once were.

Since we identify with Jesus, we should look like Jesus.

So, today, we're moving on in Colossians.

And what we're going to look at today adds to that identity we have in Jesus.

But Paul moves from our individual identities.

He now moves to our corporate identity.

Out identity as a church of Jesus Christ.

Today, we're going to look at Colossians 3:12-17.

Read Colossians 3:12-17.

Colossians 3:12–17 CSB

Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

II. Let's see how the Bible describes the church.

We are God's chosen people.

You may have been told you're special when someone had nothing better to say.

But, as a follower of Jesus Christ, you really are special.

You belong to God.

He chose you.

No one here is worthless.

Everyone here has meaning and purpose in the eyes of the only One that really matters.

We are holy.

Now that might not be a word you've been described as before.

But you are holy.

Set apart.

Sanctified by God.

For Him.

We are dearly loved.

God is not out to get you.

His purpose is not to sabotage your entire life.

He dearly and deeply loves you.

He sacrificed everything for you.

So we are special.

We are holy.

We are deeply loved.

There's one more descriptive term for us used in this passage.

You are members of one body.

Now what can that mean?

We've definitely sitting here as individuals.

There are many bodies in this building.

How can we be one?

Because we, as a church, are the body of Christ.

We are special, and holy, and deeply loved, as one organism, too.

God not only sees us individually, but as one – one body.

in fact, God sees us more as a unified body than as individuals

Ephesians 2:14–16 CSB

For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.

We are, collectively, the hands and feet of Jesus today.

We are the Jesus that this society sees today.

Now, let's go back to that facade talk for a minute.

We saw a picture of a beautiful southern mansion.

But then we saw behind the scenes.

Behind the scenes there was no substance at all.

From the front it looked good.

But when we saw the entire picture, there was really nothing there.

The front said something great exists.

The back said there's nothing there.

Paul says you are the body of Christ.

You represent Christ.

In a society who desperately needs Christ, you represent Him.

All this society will see of Jesus is you.

What does society see of Jesus today?

What does the church look like to society today?

Do they see Jesus really changing and making a difference in our lives?

Or do they just see a facade?

Do they see an empty, fake facade of Jesus?

Paul was concerned about the way the Colossian church lived in the middle of a pagan society.

He wanted them to make sure what they presented as the body of Christ was real.

God is concerned about the way our church lives in the middle of our society today.

He wants to make sure what the world sees in us as the body of Christ is real.

So this passage tells us what a real church looks in a pagan society.

These are the attributes we should have, together, as a church.

This is what society should see when they look at the church of Jesus Christ.

What about the Church today?

Is the Church today showing our godless society what Christ actually looks like?

Do you think the world believes after seeing Christians behave that this faith we talk about is actually worth considering?

It’s no secret that the church today is fractured and divided more than ever (not just denominationally)

Within the walls of evangelicals (baptists, to make things more narrow), the Church is not very unified

America has become so individualistic, which has seeped into the church.

That’s why it’s so hard for Christians to think about themselves in terms of one unified body

that’s why it’s hard for us to regard others as more important than us

III. They should see Jesus in how we treat one another

Paul lists some ways we are to treat one another.

And these also describes how we should treat those outside the church, as well.

With compassion.

With kindness.

With humility.

With gentleness.

With patience.

Ephesians 4:1–6 CSB

Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Compassion is a virtue of the church.

Compassion has to do with mercy.

In Paul's time, there wasn't much mercy in society.

The elderly were thrown away.

The handicapped were thrown away.

The mentally ill were thrown away.

Anyone who didn't meet society's requirements for value were thrown away.

Paul says the church is different.

We have compassion.

We have mercy.

Kindness is a virtue of the church.

Kindness has to do with how we think about others.

If we regard someone as less than us, then their value is less.

Kindness regards others as equal.

We value them.

And we treat them as someone of value.

Humility is a virtue of the church.

The Greek language had no word for humility that didn't relate to submission.

Think of humiliate.

But Christianity redefined humility.

We see each other as equals.

We were all called and saved by God.

None of us would be anything without God's actions.

That puts us on equal ground.

Gentleness is a virtue of the church.

Jesus has been gentle with us.

We have not received what we should.

So we emulate Jesus by not always giving someone what they deserve.

Patience is a virtue of the church.

There are some foolish people in this world.

There are some people who never seem to learn.

There are some people who never say anything good about anyone.

There are some people who always think and say the worst about someone.

Sometimes we just want to wring their necks!

But we have been foolish, never learning, never saying anything good, and thinking the worst.

And Jesus forgave us.

He still took us as His own.

That's what patience looks like.

Like Jesus and you.

Those virtues should be seen in the church.

We should treat everyone who is part of our church like this.

And we should treat everyone out in society the same way.

With compassion.

With kindness.

With humility.

With gentleness.

With patience.

Like Jesus treats us!

Now, it's hard enough for one of us to treat others like that.

How in the world can we do that as a body?

How can we really be this church Paul describes?

How can we have and display these virtues?

How can we be more than just a facade?

How can we really be the church of Jesus Christ today?

Paul tells us.

IV. Put on Love

Love is what holds us together.

Love is what binds us together.

When we really love each other, then we don't have to fake it.

It will be who we are.

When we really love each other, we will have compassion.

We'll be kind and humble and gentle and patient.

We love one another.

How do we do that?

I mean, how can I love these people here?

I can barely tolerate them!

First of all, you have to know what love is.

It's hard to love someone when you don't know what love is.

And we know what love is - in Jesus.

He is love.

You can't know love without Jesus.

So you have to know Jesus.

Not know about Him.

You have to submerge yourself in Jesus.

Get to know Him better.

Make the investment of time with Jesus.

As we know Him and His love more, we will love more.

We can't been around Jesus without Him rubbing off on us.

So you see that the secret to unity for Christians begins with how we view ourselves within the body and how we view others

Philippians 2:3 CSB

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

Disunity in Church often begins with us acting selfishly and considering ourselves as better than others

Philippians 2:4 CSB

Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

If we are experiencing disunity today (and we are), it’s because we are concerned with ourselves (wants, needs, passions, desires, problems)

That behavior is characteristic of unbelievers and should not be who we are if we say we are apart of God’s family.

If we truly are putting on gentleness, compassion, kindness, patience, and humility; if we are actually bearing with one another and forgiving one another; if we are truly elevating love above all else, then the result would be a unified body.

The result would also be that the world around us would see an accurate portrait of Christ on display, and be more likely to be drawn to him

but if God’s family can’t get their act together and start loving one another as we ought to, we might as well stop coming to church because it’s just as much about coming together in unity as it is about worship. We can worship anywhere.

Church on Sunday should emphasize the unity in the body of Christ, but we aren’t doing that.

If we are actually humble, we will see our own faults, failures, and imperfections in light of the perfection of Christ.

Not someone else’s, which we are so good at doing.

We are so good at noticing some else’s imperfections, while we are really bad at asking, “what’s wrong with me? What evil am I blind to that I’ve been doing? Lord, will you show me?”

Instead we more often hear things like this:

“Ugh! I can’t believe they came here wearing that shirt!”

“I’m so glad I have my life together, unlike some people.”

“I’ll never be as bad as they are!”

“They should really learn to discipline their kids. Mind are so much better.”

“They missed two Sundays in a row.”

“They used to be so bad, who are they to act so holy?”

From gotquestions.org:

The truly humble person sees his own faults in light of the perfections of Christ; he does not seek to see the faults of others, but when he does, he speaks the truth in love and desires their sanctification so they will be built up in the image of Christ. He sees his own heart and the corruption that lies hidden there, along with impure motives and evil ambitions. But he does not seek to notice the errors, defects, and follies of others. He sees the depravity of his own heart and hopes charitably in the goodness of others and believes their hearts are more pure than his.

Christians need to see each other in light of the Cross

Christians are those for whom Christ has dies a horrible death so that he might exchange his righteous perfection for their sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

How can we not show one another the love God has shown us?

Ephesians 2:1 CSB

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins

News flash: How you love others is a reflection of how you love God.

1 John 2:9 CSB

The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.

Mark 12:30–31 CSB

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

Were we not slaves to sin when God, by his grace and nothing we did, called us to himself?

The truth is we don’t deserve this salvation any more than the person we resent in our hearts.

Dirty house illustration

Dirty house, but talks about others’ houses.

comes home to an empty house

should have stayed home and cleaned

V. Let the peace of Christ rule

The Greek words used here are interesting.

Paul literally says "Let the peace of Christ be your umpire." (Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible, p. 185).

A man named William Barclay said this about letting the peace of Christ rule.

"It is a word that is used of an umpire who settled things in any matter of dispute. If the peace of Jesus Christ is the umpire in anyone's heart, then, when feelings clash and we are pulled in two directions at the same time, the decision of Christ will keep us in the way of love, and the church will remain the one body it is meant to be. The way to right action is to appoint Jesus Christ as the one who decides between the conflicting emotions in our hearts; and, if we accept His decisions, we cannot go wrong." (Barclay, p. 185).

The peace of Christ ruling means we let Christ keep us together.

Our love for Him keeps us loving each other.

We put up with others because Christ puts up with us.

We are unified because Christ wants us to be unified.

This verse if too often taken out of context.

It is often taken as a way to know if you’re making the right life decision.

“well only do it if you have the peace of Christ in your heart.”

Well, obviously this has nothing to do with that.

it has to do with the peace of Christ being the result of true Christian unity

VI. Society thinks of the Church as hypocritical

And in many ways they're correct.

They see us saying one thing and doing another.

They've seen past the facade and see there's no substance.

So what we have to say is disregarded because it's doesn't seem to matter.

The Bible tells us how to tear down that facade.

To become real.

We do it all in the love of Jesus.

And we do it all for Jesus.

Our identity.

This afternoon, we're back in society.

Tomorrow we'll be right in the middle of it.

How will they see the church?

How will they see Jesus?

What will you show them of Christ?

Do you know Him?