Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] If I have not had the joy to meet you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. And welcome to week six in our series called traps. The goal of this series is to open up God's word and to help you discern as a follower of Christ, the different ways that the evil one has laid out apps for christians so that you don't stumble over them, and you're like, oh, what was that? We want you to be eyes wide open so that we do not unnecessarily fall into demonic traps. Their aim is to trip you up. It is to trap you. It is to make you useless for the kingdom of God. And can I just get an amen that none of us want that amen. We want to actually be fruitful. So let's jump in.
[00:00:48] What makes you uniquely angry if you live with someone else? I have a strong hunch they might be able to identify one or two, three things that they're like, oh, that really makes them angry. I'm not talking just irritated. I'm talking angry to the point where you're going to do something about it. If you were going to make a list of all the things that irritated you guys, that would be a really long list. I'm talking like, these are the things that when you see them, you're like, we're talking about this now. We're going to resolve this issue. Or if your children do this, you're like, discipline immediately. Do you guys got the things? Okay, so what's interesting is that in scripture, there are a whole bunch of things that irritate God. There are things that make God angry, but there is a small handful of things that the scriptures teach that when we do them or engage in them, that they make God uniquely angry to the point where he is more likely to enact swift judgment than not. So, like, could you raise your hand if you've done something that the word of God might say makes God angry? Could we just all raise our hands for a moment? And did you get disciplined on the spot? You're like, probably not, but there are a few things that kind of just rise above the rest, and I want to share just a couple of them with you. This isn't exhaustive, but three things that make God angry. Number one is messing with sexual immorality. First, Thessalonians chapter four, verse three. This is the will of God, your sanctification or your holiness. And then he explains it that you abstain from sexual immorality. And in this context, this is primarily about unmarried people. But look at verse six, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter. Most people don't think of that. Like, this is a transgression against a brother or sister in this matter. But then it says this, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. And so, of course, the culture says, no big deal, no big deal, no big deal. And God's like, oh, no, this actually is a huge deal. Here's another one messing with children. Matthew 18, verse five. Whoever receives one such child in my name, there are kids around. Jesus receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned into the depths of the sea. And by the way, for the Jews, where is hell? For them? We say, where is hell? They go, we point down. They're going to point to the sea or to the ocean. And so he's like, honestly, if you mess with these little ones, you are provoking me to a point where it is better for you to leave now and go to hell than to experience my justice. And here's number three, messing with church unity. Titus, chapter three, verse ten. This is a letter written to a pastor, Titus, and to the pastoral team. As for a person who stirs up division after warning him once, then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self condemned. And so division in a church is so serious that church leaders, this is their commission. You get one warning, and the second warning, we have nothing more to do with you. That's how serious it is. Like, judgment is in that God's like, I am releasing the elders or the leaders to announce judgment immediately. This is a really big deal. Now, there's a few more. We'd be here for, like, an hour and a half. I don't want to do that right now.
[00:04:22] But this last one, this is going to be the subject of a trap that I am telling you so many churches fall into, people fall into all throughout history, all throughout America. If you were to take a snapshot of all the churches in America, the quantity of them that are infighting with each other, it's devastating. I will not ask you to raise your hand when I say this, but as we go through this sermon, there are going to be stories, especially if you've been in church for like 510 15, 2040, 50, 70 years, there are going to be stories that go through your head of congregational meetings you were in, where people were just fighting with each other and yelling. I mean, this might be one of those messages that for some of you, you're like, oh, I've seen this. And I understand why God is so grieved in this. All right, so I have two big desired kind of outcomes as we talk about unity and division in the church. And number one is that we might be very quick to discern it when we see it again. This whole series, we want you to have your eyes wide open. And if something is a trap or an attack, we want you to be like, wait a minute, Pastor Michael talked about that. He opened up the word, and I think this might be a trap. I kind of want to have eyes wide open, but number two, that we might protect the church from our future selves in our worst moments.
[00:05:53] I want to say something that might help you understand the point of this message.
[00:05:57] It is about you, it's about me, it's about the person sitting next to you. It's about our staff, it's about our pastors, it's about our elders. If village church is your home, we kind of have to step back and realize, like the Bible, almost every book in the New Testament addresses this issue, because the problem isn't out there. The problem actually is potentially in each one of our hearts. So do you remember Satan's first trick?
[00:06:28] He divides the angels.
[00:06:31] He builds a wedge between them and God. He creates teams, and he made everybody choose a side. And choosing the wrong side had devastating consequences. A third of the angels fell, and then he moved to Adam and Eve, and he built a wedge between Eve and God and Eve and Adam. He created multiple teams, and then he put Eve to decision. Why? Luke 1115 to 17. I will put this on the screen. Jesus gives us a wonderful insight into Satan's military strategy to destroy the church.
[00:07:10] Jesus is responding to a bunch of jews who, this is really funny to me. They're angry that Jesus is casting out demons. I don't know, but if your family or friend, like, had a demon and somebody cast it out, wouldn't you be like, thank you for casting out the demon out of my friend? Oh, no, not them. They're upset. Why is he casting out demons? So verse 15 says he casts out demons by Bielsabal. This is another basically word for Satan, the prince of demons. While others. This is important to test him. Kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. Listen to Jesus's response, verse 17. But he, Jesus, knowing their thoughts said to them? Every kingdom divided against itself is. What are those words? Laid waste. And a divided household falls. Division leaves a nation, a city, a kingdom, friends, family, local church vulnerable to attack. And story after story after story, churches are laid waste and they are fallen. And so Jesus prays for unity. John 17. This is so important. I'm going to highlight this for you. Jesus actually doesn't just pray for his disciples, he prays for each one of us. Here it says this. I don't ask for these only those are the disciples sitting with him, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. By the way, that's every one of us here who believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Here is his prayer for us.
[00:08:42] Verse 21, that they may all be. What's the word? One. Verse 22, that they may be one even as we are one. And who's the we? It's the Father, the son, and the spirit. The trinity is perfectly, wonderfully united, never divided, that they may become not just one. I love this perfectly one.
[00:09:08] And why is this unity so important?
[00:09:11] So that the world may know that you sent me. So as we talk about division, one of the most susceptible traps that almost every church in America at one time or another is going to have to deal with and so many fall to. Jesus has something better for us, and it is oneness. It is unity. Now let's talk about what division is not. Division is not a disagreement. Amenville church friends and family bicker and they argue and they work through it. Sometimes we even part ways. And that is okay if you have a family. Do you guys bicker? Raise your hand.
[00:09:53] Okay. Are you divided? No. It's called life. It's called sinners living in a common environment. We disagree. Disagreements are not division. Number two, division is not having a different opinion, especially on secondary issues like pews or chairs or how's the world going to end? Or what this vague passage of scripture means or does not mean. Let me just give you some freedom. Are friends allowed to have different opinions and to disagree? Everybody, the answer is yes. In fact, personally, I really like having friends with different ideas and different views. They're fun. Right? Now, some of you, you guys are like, I hate debating. And some of you are like, I love debating, right? And everyone's a little bit different, but we can have different opinions.
[00:10:43] Division is not number three, disliking someone. Okay, so I'm a little strange. I like most people. I have a pretty low standard for the people I like and dislike.
[00:10:59] I think weird people are wonderful. My kids and I, we have this conversation, and sometimes we're like, oh, that person's weird. I'm like, guys, weird is wonderful. Sometimes the weirdest people make the greatest friends, right? And my wife, always, when she met me, she's like, you have weird friends. I'm like, I think they're. Yeah, I know, but they're so fun, and you never know what's going to happen.
[00:11:18] I don't like everybody.
[00:11:20] I have a pretty low emotional tolerance for people with agendas. People who can't say they're sorry or admit they're wrong drives me nuts. I find myself, like, I don't like you.
[00:11:30] Everybody has those moments. I'm talking, like, perpetually, like.
[00:11:33] And I think it's okay if there are people that I'm like, just not a fan. Right? I don't want to hang out. Do you have those people? Does it mean you hate them? No. Is it permission to treat them like dirt? No, that's not the point. It is okay to dislike some people.
[00:11:50] What is division? Actually, it's the separating of christians relationally, and I need you to see this next phrase so that they cannot coexist.
[00:12:01] Most commonly, scripture teaches through false doctrine, inflated opinions, hurt feelings, or just flat out bad ideas.
[00:12:12] Okay? All division is not created equaled. Think about division like a snowball. It starts small, and then it gets bigger. There are different levels to division. So here's kind of level one. This is the smallest level, and this is friendship. Division, it's the smallest form. It's the one that we are going to face, all of us, at one time or another or multiple times in our life. It's the most common. Typically, it's the result of ongoing relational conflict and a hard heart somewhere.
[00:12:41] Symptoms include deep hurt, side choosing, gossip, isolation, inevitably loss of relationship.
[00:12:51] As the snowball grows, we get to kind of like a level two, and this is what we would actually call church division. Typically the result of strong opinions on non gospel issues or demands.
[00:13:05] Symptoms often include team building, deeply emotional conflict, gossip, slander, and then the leaders get involved. When the leaders get involved, this thing is probably escalated. Now, it doesn't mean that we are at the biggest level yet, because if you're going to build a snowman, you need to keep rolling the snowball to a certain size. And level three, I pray, is something that none of you ever have to experience. Some of you have, and you know the excruciating nature of this. Number three is church split, typically the result of immaturity. There's usually a faction of people that are immature. Demonic attack and or unrepentance symptoms often include demands, teams covering up sin or false doctrine. All right, I've prepped you. I've primed you. Now open up your bibles to the book of one Corinthians, chapter eleven. We're going to start in verse 17. There are so many texts on division. I found this one to be one of the most intriguing and helpful for self evaluation.
[00:14:09] To get the most out of this passage, or really any passage in the book of first corinthians, I need you to understand a couple of things. This is a very, very immature church, and I would dare to say no verse. Maybe there's a few exceptions, but almost no verses in the book of one corinthians. That is not a rebuke.
[00:14:33] Even the verses that you might hear, you're used to them, kind of. You're hearing them a little bit out of context. Like, remember first corinthians, love. First Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind. That is a rebuke. When we read about communion, the Lord Jesus on the night was betrayed, took bread. That is a rebuke. This church is an absolute mess. And so Paul is parachuting into this church that has every issue you can imagine. They are divided. They are susceptible to demonic attack. They are susceptible to false teachers, literally. The corinthian church is like this trap series. If I was their pastor, I would just take this series and I would go preach it in their church, and I would have a little bit different attitude. It wouldn't be like, here's a warning. It would be like, here's your current reality.
[00:15:17] And so whatever part of the book you're reading, it's a rebuke. It's a rebuke to the people. It's also rebuked to the pastors. Verse 17.
[00:15:25] But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Gosh, I would never want the apostle Paul to walk in here and say, I don't commend you. Because when you come together, it's not for the better, but for the worse for in the first place. Meaning there's multiple things he's going to complain about. But here's one. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. Divisions is the greek word schismata, where we get our word schisms, or it means relational breaks. People are unable to coexist together in a way that is healthy and God honoring. In verse 18, he says this, and I believe it in part, like, I know you guys, like every time I come visit you, this is not okay. This community is inherently broken and immature, and you need constant rebukes. You are open and vulnerable to demonic things and to spiritual attacks. Stop it. But verse 19.
[00:16:26] He says, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. I need you to see this in verse 19. Division results in two kinds of teams in a church. Team number one, the apostle Paul calls the faction team.
[00:16:51] Faction is the greek word heresys. Where we get our word heresy from a faction is the wrong team. Does anybody want to be on a faction? Everybody? The answer is no, not at all. And factions in churches can happen for so many reasons, big and small. Here's some big reasons factions happen. Fights over primary gospel doctrines fights over really important secondary doctrines. Leaders, personalities, this kind of stuff. Staff hiring, staff replacements. There are all of these big things, but there are a billion small things that factions can grow around. Here's a few pews versus chairs, style of music, what people wear. What kind of toilet paper is better stewardship, the color of carpeting. Whether or not it's biblical to use crayon grape juice because it tastes better, or whether or not you should use actual juice because it's pure. Right? Like churches fight over the most ridiculous things.
[00:17:55] I don't want to be that church. I don't want to be in a church like that. But I'm telling you, you go all around this country and you go back in time. Churches have found ways to fight over the dumbest things, and factions create over. Honestly, some of the weirdest, unimportant things. Sometimes there can be a division in the church and both sides are a faction. And in that case, that is a devastating result.
[00:18:18] Team number two, Paul calls the genuine team. This is the greek word dokamas, which really just means tested and approved. This is the right team, guys. This is the team you want to be on. Now here's the deal. The genuine team, it's never perfect because there are sinners on that team. But this team should be marked by two things, humility and godliness.
[00:18:47] Humility and godliness.
[00:18:50] Now here's a helpful, maybe retranslation of verses 18 and 19.
[00:18:56] I hear that there are relational schisms among you, for there must be false teams among you in order that those who are on the right team among you might be recognized. Let me say bluntly what he is saying here.
[00:19:14] God actually allows divisions in churches to happen.
[00:19:20] So that the teams might develop genuine teams, false teams, the color of carpeting, the style of music. I'm going to be honest, guys, it's just not worth being on a faction.
[00:19:37] And for many of us, there might be a moment in the future, or you might be reflecting a moment in your years of being in church, where all of a sudden you realize, oh, no, I think I'm on the faction team. And here's the great news. If you ever find yourself on the faction team, you can just take off the jersey, throw it in the trash and change teams. It's that easy. You can do that. And what you're going to find is that the genuine team should be marked by humility and godliness. When you look at verse 19, again, there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. Factions and divisions, they are both a curse and a blessing for spiritual leaders. Here's the curse. They are an open door for demonic influence. And the result of it is incredible. Church hurt and pain, which is one of the worst kinds of hurts that people can experience.
[00:20:38] They're also a blessing, because if you're in the church or you're a spiritual leader of a church, it actually allows you to see the true spiritual state of your local church, and it shows you and the leaders. Where are the cracks in our armor?
[00:20:56] Where are the places where we need to train and go deeper into God's word? Where are the places of immaturity in our body?
[00:21:05] Look at this again. There must be factions among you. Let me pull out. God allows divisions within a church to expose it, to prune it, and to protect it.
[00:21:22] So, thankfully, 99% of all the divisions that you're going to be involved with are going to be small and they're going to be manageable. And I want to encourage you, don't freak out. If there is a division or a team building in your small group, your friend group, your ministry, or even your church leadership, don't freak out.
[00:21:47] There must be factions among you. And so when they happen, we go prepared for this. Already knew this was coming. 99% of them are going to be small and manageable. So what we do is we watch, we listen, we discern, we look for humility and godliness.
[00:22:09] And when maybe we're seeing the beginnings of a faction, if we're able, we intervene and we help and we fight and bring about unity and peace. But I want to come back to this. Don't be surprised.
[00:22:24] There must be factions among you a year from now, ten years from now, 100 years from now, every church, all over the world, all over America, all throughout history, there must be, so that we can grow, be pruned and protected. Let's dig deeper into factions. There are two primary kinds of factions.
[00:22:48] Number one is we call the relationship faction. And you'll know this because this is when people choose relationships over reality. And this is hard because we love our relationships. We love our people.
[00:23:03] But the relationship faction, you might hear a phrase. If you hear this phrase coming out of your mouth, there is a strong possibility that you might unknowingly or knowingly be in a relationship. Action. Here's how it goes.
[00:23:17] My blank would never lie to me. Let's fill in the Blank. My pastor would never lie to me. My friend would never lie to me. My mentor would never lie to me. My family member would never lie to me.
[00:23:40] When it comes to matters of division, here's what wisdom teaches us to do. It teaches us to test perspectives and to choose reality. I want to say amen, but everybody might not be ready to say amen there, right?
[00:23:55] Wisdom teaches us to test perspectives and to choose reality. Proverbs 1817 says it this way. The one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. There are two kinds of factions. Number one, relationship factions. And number two is preference factions. This is when people choose personal preference over biblical principles. Most church splits in conservative churches are not over false doctrine or heresy. They are over personal preferences.
[00:24:37] Most church splits, if you really dig into them, and I've seen a lot of them, they are not about sin. They are about preference.
[00:24:47] You know, those church splits, they're honestly just. I'm going to say it very bluntly. They are so dumb. Like, when you're in it, probably you feel like this is the most important thing. When you pull back, it's like, oh, my gosh. Music styles. We broke an entire church up for musical styles. Bible version preferences. Carpet color preferences. Preaching style preferences. Church size preferences.
[00:25:09] I'll be honest, I think probably one of the most vulnerable moments for a village church is going to be in the next three years when we have to seriously consider expanding our parking, our foyer and our sanctuary. And let me tell you, the preference factions, if they're here, they're going to come out, right? And can you, as a church leader, listen to everyone all the time and give everybody everything they want and make everybody happy? The answer is, oh, if we could, that would be such a dream. I would love that so much. Right. Preference factions. Like, we don't even know that we're capable of it until something that we love and hold dear is sort of messed with. So let me share a sentiment that when you find yourself saying something like this, it might be an indicator that you're becoming susceptible to the preference faction.
[00:25:56] This blank is not the way we've done it in the past.
[00:26:01] This ministry, this goal, this vision, this strategy, this change.
[00:26:13] Preference factions almost always look to preserving something tangible that reminds them of a brighter, better time in the past.
[00:26:23] And I cannot tell you how many people miss what God is doing right in front of their face because they want to relive what God was doing ten or 40 or 70 years ago.
[00:26:35] Preference factions are typically rooted in nostalgia and memories, which are great, by the way, but they can. A good thing can become a bad thing when it becomes a controlling thing.
[00:26:49] And so we look to the past and we love the past and we remember the past, but we also say, God, what are you doing now? And I want to be a part of that. So most divisions, they're going to be relationship or preference, and here's what's going to happen.
[00:27:04] They're going to typically almost always happen publicly in a room. You'll be able to actually watch this. Now here's the deal. I want to say this again. If you go to a congressional meeting and there's a disagreement and there's even emotions, is that division?
[00:27:21] No. If I go into your home and you're fighting with your kid, are you divided and unable to relationally coexist and now there's a huge demonic issue in your home? No, that is called life.
[00:27:33] And so what we do is we actually have a pretty gracious spirit. And sometimes somebody goes to a congregational meeting and they didn't eat and they should have eaten, right? And they're hangry, and then later they're like, I'm so sorry, but this kind of stuff happens.
[00:27:49] But when you start to watch a lack of godliness and a lack of humility persistently, we're all have permission to be ungodly and prideful at times. This is going to be everyone at one time or another, right? And then we talk about it and we go, that probably wasn't the best. This is part of being in a Church. Family is learning how to make mistakes, disagree, have emotions, even sometimes maybe some of you might raise your voice and you go, why did I do that? But here's the question. Do we have extreme ownership? Are we humble? Do we apologize? Do we pursue unity? All right, verse 20. The apostle Paul is going to apply this in a way that is, I just think so. Incredibly helpful.
[00:28:32] He says in verse 20, when you come together for weekly worship, it is not the Lord's supper you eat. And they're probably like, wait a minute. What do you mean we're eating the Lord's supper? We have bread and we have wine. And he says in verse 21, for in eating. Okay, so there's the bread and the wine. Each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry and another gets drunk. What?
[00:28:55] Okay, there's a context here. And in their church, they had what's called a love feast. This is how the early church would do it, or an agape feast. And they had a lot of food. It's actually pretty sweet. They ate meals at church, big ones. And so here's what you need to know about food.
[00:29:14] Food amplifies the true state of a relationship if you're in conflict, was that meal fun? That meal was awkward. And if you're at peace, the meal will be a delight. Meals are a magnifying glass, amplifying the real, true condition of a relationship. And this corinthian church, it is broken, it is divided, it is unaccountable. And communion. Right. It's very different than the way you do it. This meal that they're having together is magnifying the relationship divisions. Verse 22. It's just great response.
[00:29:49] What? I love that. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? So for Paul, what is the church of God in this context? It's not the building. It's the people, the ones who are being despised, who have nothing. In verse 22, he says, what shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I'm not going to commend you in this. And so here's what would happen. They'd be in church. They'd be having a big meal, and then it might be a pastor or an elder or the husband who owned the house where the church was worshipping. They would get up, and they would take this moment in the meal and the Sunday gathering, if you would, and they would just kind of take a moment to pause, and they would go back and they would take bread and they would take wine, and then they would say, we're going to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. It was a gospel proclamation moment. And so even though they may not or they may share the gospel, everybody at this little house church might have been saved. So they didn't maybe need to invite people to come to Christ, but what they're doing when they're partaking of these elements is they are proclaiming nonverbally the gospel that Jesus died for. All of us, all of us are equal sinners. This is why nobody gets a bigger portion of communion or a smaller portion of communion. You better drink a cup of juice or wine because you're a wicked sinner and you need more of the blood of Christ to cover you. No, we're all equal before the cross. The body of Jesus was killed for all of us equally. The blood was shed for all of us equally. We are all equal before the cross. And so communion and this meal was this time where we would say, listen, I don't care how rich you are, how poor you are. I don't care what your preferences are. I don't care what age you are, what generation you come from, what nationality you are, if you're a man or you're a woman, I don't care. Before Christ, we are all equal. We are one. We are all together sinners.
[00:31:35] And that's the context where Paul quotes what we say to you every week. I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread. It's funny. This is a rebuke.
[00:31:47] And when he'd given thanks, he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Now listen to verse 26.
[00:32:05] As often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. You are proclaiming the gospel when you partake of this.
[00:32:16] Verse 27. The review continues. Whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
[00:32:29] We have this whole context, and let me now tell you what this means. The unworthy manner is that of somebody who creates division or factions in the church. They are guilty of doing this.
[00:32:41] They are proclaiming a gospel of reconciliation and unity while rejecting the very same gospel through choosing division and broken relationships. In other words, you're a hypocrite. And he's like, listen, you all are creating factions within your church, and then you come and you proclaim through communion the gospel of unity. Meanwhile, you tell people you don't get to eat until we're done. We're going to take communion first. And if there's leftovers, you can have some. Because we look down on you and despise you because you're not like us.
[00:33:18] And so this obviously does not make the apostle Paul happy, nor God. Verse 28, he says, let a person examine himself then, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. What are they examining for most immediately? Here's the immediate context. Am I being partial?
[00:33:38] Am I creating division?
[00:33:41] And am I on a faction team?
[00:33:44] And you examine yourself because I'm about to partake a gospel, a communion that proclaims gospel of unity and reconciliation.
[00:33:53] So I don't want to consume communion preaching one thing and then go literally live the opposite. Now, let's be clear.
[00:34:02] Some people have this idea when they take communion that, oh, I wasn't a good boy this week, right? Wasn't a good girl. I can't partake of communion. Communion is not for good people. Communion is for forgiven people.
[00:34:14] And the reason we kind of take a moment of silence is so that if there is a divisive spirit in us, a factious spirit, an unreconciled spirit, in that moment, we can make a resolution. God, when I leave this place, I'm going to go do the right thing. I'm going to go take a next step that brings you glory. Because I don't want to just partake and proclaim the gospel of peace. I want to, as far as it depends on me to be at peace with all people.
[00:34:38] Verse 30.
[00:34:40] That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. This apparently really upset God.
[00:34:46] But if we judged ourselves truly, we wouldn't be judged. But when we're judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home. So that when you come together, it will not be for judgment. All right, I have a couple, so what's.
[00:35:07] You and I are the most vulnerable to growing division when we are hurt.
[00:35:15] Two very important realities about church. Hurt and division. Number one, you and I will never be more susceptible to leading a faction than when we are hurt. Because unresolved hurt turns to anger. Now, be angry. Sometimes it's good to be angry and do not sin.
[00:35:35] Unresolved anger turns into bitterness. Hebrews twelve five says that bitterness unchecked defiles those who are in our orbit. Hurt unchecked becomes anger. Unchecked becomes bitterness unchecked. Defiles people around us.
[00:35:56] But second, you and I are far more susceptible to joining a faction if we have unresolved church hurt.
[00:36:04] I want to be super clear with you guys. If you're going to live in any local church family, you're going to be hurt.
[00:36:12] If you're going to be in a family in your home, has your husband, wife, mom, dad, brothers, sisters ever hurt you guys? What is it? Yes. The nature of family is that when you live in this kind of proximity, relationships can be challenging. Hurt is inevitable. This is real. The only way to avoid it is to live on the periphery and not to get to know anybody very much at all. And to make sure that you're not vulnerable. Nor do you listen to anybody, nor do you serve with anybody. Because I'll tell you, if you want to be frustrated at times, then serve with people. That'll do it.
[00:36:45] But church hurt when we don't deal with it, leaves us susceptible to factions.
[00:36:53] I don't want to lead one, I don't want to be susceptible to one. But the primary way most people find themselves there is unresolved hurt amongst each other. So, number two, once you sense division, get godly advice and apply it.
[00:37:11] I don't mean this to be offensive to anybody. I just mean it to be offensive to everybody. So here I'll say it.
[00:37:17] The vast majority of people have poor conflict management instincts. You might have good conflict management skills, but when we're in it, our instincts are often pretty bad because most of our instincts are either about blowing something up or keeping the peace.
[00:37:36] I don't want to do either of those. I want to make peace. I want to be a peacemaker.
[00:37:43] And so we go get godly advice. And here's the hardest part about godly advice. It's really hard to apply, especially when it's in our relationships.
[00:37:53] But the nature of division, it's progressive, it grows, it doesn't shrink. It's like cancer. When we find it, we don't go not going to look at it. We go to the doctor and we deal with it decisively. Because if you don't deal with cancer unchecked, it kills you. And so we treat division in a church. We treat this like cancer. We say it's a big deal, it's manageable, we can do this. We have great doctors. We have the best physician in the entire world. His name's Jesus Christ. He's given us the Holy Spirit. We have his word. Like, we have all the tools to deal with this biblically in a way that brings God glory. But once we kind of sense it, we realize that my instincts are broken. So I need advice. And when you get advice from godly people, often that advice, it's going to be really hard, because if it's good advice, it's not going to be about blowing it up. It's not going to be about being passive. It's going to be about going to the core of the issue and being a peacemaker. And that is hard to do. I want to close with this last, so what?
[00:38:55] Be united to God through faith in Jesus.
[00:39:00] Let's just kind of pull back the gospel. What Jesus came to do was to resolve the greatest, largest broken relationship. And that is not just between God and humanity, but between God and each one of us individually.
[00:39:16] And so there is a very real division that Satan has allowed to create between you and God.
[00:39:24] And like any fight, oftentimes there's one person who's like, I'm not going to come to you. I'm not going to come to you. And so God came to us first and extended his hand and said, you and I want full reconciliation. You have to own your part and say you're sorry. And by the way, I've already paid the price for all of your sins, if you want that applied to your account. You have harmed me, you have sinned. I am ready to pay it all now.
[00:39:50] And what I love about this is that forgiveness is not through being a really, really good person. It is for those who come to God and say, I am sorry. I believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I believe in what you did for me on the cross. Will you save me? Will you forgive me? And God's answer to anybody who asks for forgiveness is always 100% yes. And so if you have never come to him and said, I'm sorry, he is literally with hand extended, waiting for you two to be reconciled, to be united, to be unified again, so that you can coexist, not just temporarily, but eternally. If you've never made that decision, I just want to challenge you and encourage you, make that decision today. It will be the greatest decision you ever make. And you, 10 billion years from now, will look back and say, that moment, that was the moment that changed everything and you will never, ever regret it. Amen. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we love you and we are so thankful for Christ. We are so thankful for the gospel. We are also thankful for the blood of Christ, because we are all capable of great sin. We want to rise above that. We want to stay connected to you. We want to stay united to you so that we might have your life, your thoughts. We want to be godly and humble. But we also know that we don't know future us. Future us. We haven't met them yet. And so, God, between this moment and the day we die, we want to be people who are peacemakers.
[00:41:14] And, Lord, if there's anybody here who is not first and foremost at peace with you, would you show them the beauty of Jesus? Would you give them eyes to see, ears to hear, heart to believe that they might know that there is not just a God, but the one true God who loves them with arm extended, offering them peace? Thank you for that. And, God, may we, till the day we die, be peacemakers and bring you as much glory as possible. And thank you that in the body of Christ, we are all equal before you. Lord, may we live that may we learn to live that. May we repent when we fall short. And, Lord, we just love you. We thank you for this and so much more. And we thank you. And we pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
