Last week we looked at the Worship of
God as the stone thrown at the enemy. I truly believe that when God’s people
are in worship nothing can stand against that weapon, and it is as if a nuclear
bomb has gone off. So what would be left to wage war with? When referring to
nuclear war, Albert Einstein said, “I don’t know how the World War 3 will be
fought, but I know World War 4 will be fought with stick and stones.” If we, as
a church, could so engage in the worship of God with each other in unity, then
we will have defeated the enemy. This week will look at the need for survival
training as we study Fellowship.
And let us consider
one another in order to stir up love and good works, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the
manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more
as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
Do you remember the children’s nursery
rhyme played by holding your hands clasped together? “Here’s the church, here’s
the steeple, open the door and there’s all the people.” Do you remember being
amazed by the people which were really just your own fingers? Did you notice
they were all different looking than when they were on the outside of the
church? I do. I remember thinking that my fingers looked so different all
bunched up like that. I wasn’t sure if they looked better or worse, just
different. In a way that’s what being in the church does to a lot of people, it
makes them look different. Fellowship is the most difficult form of warfare to
wage, because it’s usually hand to hand combat, up close and personal; and it
means seeing the face of the enemy…in the mirror.
I want to encourage you, gentle
reader, to hold on tight, this week is going to be a bumpy ride. We’re dealing
with a subject that is going to be both convicting and offensive to most of us,
fellowship. It would seem that it would be a wonderful subject to talk about
filled with church potlucks and choir practices, but in reality the issue with
fellowship is all the fellows in the ship. In dealing with human beings I’ve
found that people have a lot of problems, mainly they stink. They literally
stink. If you put a lot of people together, working hard, the smell that
permeates from them can become terribly offensive. That’s why I avoid gyms all
together. I’m being a little tongue in
cheek here, a little, but also being very honest. The problem with the church
today is that it’s full of sinners, a lot of sinners, very bad, ugly, defeated,
sinners. So go ahead and open the doors. There are all the people, and you’re
one of them, and so am I. We look different in the seats on Sunday than we do on
the outside. But the enemy is not what’s making us appear different on the
outside; it’s what’s making us different on the inside.
We’ve all been there with our accusing
Eliab attitude. You know that sister that you’ve been told is gossiping about
you? You know her? Or that woman that said that mean thing about your friend?
What about that guy in the parking lot on your way into service that made that
comment you didn’t care for while he thought it was funny? Stink, stink, stink!
You were in great mood until you got to church, but now you feel the pressure
of those hateful eyes boring into the back of your head. Whatever message the
pastor gave has escaped you, but why should you listen to him anyway? He’s
probably the biggest sinner of us all! Everybody knows his testimony. Stink!
Stink! All of us have Eliab saying to the David inside of ourselves, “Why did you come down here? And with whom
have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the
insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”(1
Sam.17:28) We forget who we are, and what we are there to do. We didn’t
come to watch, we came to wage!
Yes, it’s true, if
you put your faith in man, man will let you down every time. All those fellows
in the ship with you, well, they think you stink too. We all do. Go ahead and
take a whiff of your own arm pit. It isn’t pleasant. And if it is then it’s
because you’re not pulling your weight in this boat with the rest of us. This
isn’t a pleasure cruise. We’re sinking here and we need help keeping this
vessel afloat! We are sinners, all of us. We need to stop fighting each other
and turn our attention on the real enemy of the church.
For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12
No human being is your enemy, either in the
church or outside of the church. Those in the church are your brothers, and
like any family you might have disagreements with them. Like any family there
are ways of fixing things because ultimately love wins out. We need to see that
sister that gossips as maybe someone you wouldn’t want to confide in, or listen
to, but pray for, and maybe even confront in a loving way. The guy that thought
he was funny might just be socially awkward; maybe he just needs more practice
being around people, so maybe you should
take him to lunch and tell him when something isn’t funny, but in a kind way.
As for the pastor, well, maybe he’s human after all. I’m not saying there isn’t
times when you don’t have to part company with a brother or sister, but don’t
leave angry. Leave the relationship in good standing so that when you run into
each other you can greet each other warmly and in the love of the Lord. If you
can’t do that then stay in communication until you can, if possible. (See Matt. 18:15-20)
If someone is outside
the church you should view them as a potential brother, as someone you should
be sharing the message of the gospel with. The message of the gospel wasn’t one
of hate, but one of love and sacrifice. Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of
God is at hand.” His was a message of
salvation from sin, not condemnation to hell. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t
tell people that they’re in sin, that would be foolish, because honestly they
usually already know that, and if we don’t they could end up in hell. We don’t
stop the message at the repent part, but finish up with the Kingdom of God
part, or it’s not the good news. It’s
just news. So like any news it’s “okay, got it, thanks for letting me know” for
a lot of people. It’s like telling them the economy is crashing. It doesn’t
matter to them unless their heavily invested or until they see it actually take
effect in their lives, which could be a very long time if ever, and by then it
could be too late for them to do anything about it. That would be tragic.
Back to the boat
analogy for a moment…if you’re not gifted in the field of evangelizing the
lost, that’s okay. But please, don’t go swinging the oars around willy-nilly in
the name of political causes, hobbies, or some other temporal agenda item you
have on your mind. This vessel that we’re all in, it has a mission here; it’s a
rescue vessel. We’re here to pull survivors out of the shark infested waters,
so please, don’t go bonking them on the head before we can get to them, and
please don’t knock anyone out of the boat either. We need all hands on deck! We’re
all here to do a job, to row, to bail, to pull the people in, maybe to patch
them up once they’re in, or just keep the rest of us going with by being the
coxswain and yelling out orders so we keep going. We’re going to sink unless we
can all get our focus on our Captain and do as He commands!
“Let brotherly love
continue.” Hebrews 13:1
Next week we’ll look
at Service, taking this message even one step further as we have to step out of
the boat and put our faith in action. Until then consider this: We all have the
capacity to do good, but more often than not we do it out of selfishness, not
godliness. Also people confuse the capacity to do good with having the ability
to BE good. It’s NOT the same thing. Let me hear your comments on that.
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