Introduction
Two of the greatest blessings a congregation can have are
unity and peace among its members. Unity and peace are like very precious, but
delicate flowers that need great care and hard work. God gives unity and peace
to the congregation, and requires them to maintain that unity and peace. Listen
to the Apostle Paul urging the churches at Ephesus,
Philippi, and Rome
to continue working on their unity and peace.
‘I, therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you
were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing
with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, ?one faith, ?one baptism; one God and Father of
all, who is above all, and ?through all, and in ?you all.' Ephesians 4:1-6
I implore Euodia and I
implore Syntyche to be of the same mind
in the Lord. ?And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who laboured with
me in the gospel, with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose
names are in the Book of Life'. Philippians 4:2-3
‘Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any
comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the
same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or
conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only
for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.' Philippians 2:1-4
‘Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify
another. ?Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food.' Romans 14:19-20
In these passages of Scripture we find three goals which
each one of us should to make our own.
1. Strive to promote unity and peace in every situation.
-
We
are a congregation comprising of people of all ages from different races,
backgrounds, cultures and personalities. God has given us each other to be
brothers and sisters in Christ. Unity must mean that we have a conscious sense
of belonging to one another, loving each other, sharing the same purposes and
goals, and are of one mind concerning the glory and enjoyment of God. The bond
that unites us in Christ, by the Spirit, through the word ought to compel us to
love each other as much as Christ loves us. Christ our Lord and King would have
us love each other so much that we would be prepared to die for one another.
Would you be prepared to die for me? Would I be prepared to die for you? If you
and I submit to Christ Jesus then the answer must be, ‘yes.' This high demand ought to make it very clear that true
Christian unity isn't shallow, nor is it superficial. Our concept of unity and
peace must originate in the Scriptures and not from a comparison with the world
as the age we live in is extremely shallow and superficial.
-
How
can we promote the peace and unity of this congregation? Each one of us needs
to ask; ‘What can I do to promote the
peace and unity of this congregation?' What I can do and what the Lord
expects of me is to have the right attitude towards others. You and I need to
examine ourselves and determine whether or not our attitude conforms to the
standard set by Christ in the Bible? Putting yourself under the spotlight of
the Word can be very painful as the light will reveal all the flaws and
imperfections. One of the most common remarks on my School report card was, ‘There is a room for improvement.' I have no doubt that, that comment was true,
valid and very applicable, but I was very comfortable with living with room for improvement. I was comfortable as my marks
were never the worst and I never came last in the class. Those who did worse
than me made me feel very good about myself. I calculated my achievement by
their failures and always felt satisfied. The attitude I adopted at school can
be found in the church among Christians. Delinquents make backsliders feel and
look good. As long as there are members who are worse that me in doing their
duties, responsibilities and obligations I feel comfortable with my life in the
church. The church can not criticise me if there is someone worse than me. It
is so easy to make what others are doing the standard you measure yourself by,
rather than use the Scriptures as the standard.
-
Listen
to the categorical statement Paul makes in Philippians 2: 3 ‘in lowliness of mind let each esteem others
better than himself.' Listen to William
Hendriksen's comments on this verse, ‘It is the happy condition which arises when in a church each member
counts the other to be better than himself. Thus the members, filled with
tender affection, will be outdoing one another in showing honour (Rom. 12:10).
But is not this rule impracticable? How can a man who knows that he is
industrious regard the rather lazy fellow-member as being better than himself?
The answer will probably be somewhat along this line: a.
The rule does not mean that one must consider every fellow-member to be in
every respect wiser, abler, and nobler than he is himself. b. As a general principle the rule certainly
should control our lives, for while to a certain extent (never completely,
see Psalm 139:23, 24; Jer. 17:9) a Christian is able to scrutinize his
own motives (I Cor. 11:28, 31), and knows that they are not always
good or unmixed, which knowledge leads him at times to utter the prayer, "O
Lord, forgive my good deeds!" he has no right to regard as evil the motives
of his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Unless a consistently wicked pattern
is clearly evident in the life of one who has with his mouth confessed the
Lord, that individual's outwardly good deeds must be ascribed to good
and never to evil motives. On this basis it clearly follows that a truly
humble child of God, who has learned to know himself sufficiently
so that at times he utters the cry of the publican (Luke 18:13), or of Paul
(Rom. 7:24), will regard others to be indeed better than
himself. And not only better but in certain respects abler, for the Lord has distributed his
gifts (I Cor. 12). There is generally something, of value to the kingdom, which
the brother or sister can do better than you or I.'
To esteem others better than yourself means you never, never impute evil or uncharitable motives to
anything good they do. Be much quicker to praise rather than criticise your
brothers and sisters in the Lord. This would apply to those you think are worse
than you are in doing what the Lord requires.
-
Paul
in Philippians
2:3-4 tells us how to promote peace and maintain the unity in the
congregation: ‘Let nothing be done
through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than himself. ?Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for
the interests of ??others.' There
are three matters that test whether or not we have the right attitude towards
our brothers and sisters who are very precious to the Lord.
-
Are you continually
working at putting selfishness to
death? Paul says, ‘Do nothing out of
selfish ambition.' If you are promoting yourself, you cannot promote peace and unity in the congregation. If I am always concerned about me, I can never be preserving peace. The
Greek word used here was applied to politicians who sought to promote their own
interests and advance their status. Our Premier gives us a good idea of the
meaning of the word when he confesses that he is unashamedly a media-tart. Was this what Euodia and Syntyche were doing in the congregation in Philippi.
Were Euodia and Syntyche promoting themselves, their cause and dividing the
congregation? Paul's message to them is, ‘Examine
yourselves to determine whether or not selfish motives are playing a part in
the dispute you have with one another.' In the world selfishness and
self-centredness are the most natural and normal focus. People in the world are
obsessed with self; all that matters is personal happiness. All actions and
motives begin and end with what ‘is in it
for me/?' Those who belong to Christ are filled with the Spirit and strive
to ‘do nothing out of selfish ambition.' Put selfishness to death.
We need to remind ourselves frequently that Jesus is number one, all other believers are number two's and you are the only number three.
- Are
you continually dealing with sinful conceit? Conceit and selfishness are very similar - selfishness focuses on personal goals
while conceit focuses on self-importance. You know you have a
serious dose of conceitedness when
you develop the sense of being
indispensable. When you feel that
no body in the congregation can do things as well or as efficiently as you do.
When you feel sorry for the church because it desperately needs what you bring
to it and it would not survive if it was not for you. Self-importance is sinful as it places the emphasis on what you can
do and not on God who enables you to do all that you do. What skill, talent,
gift or ability do you have that did not come from God?
-
Are you obsessed with your
own interests? Paul says, ‘Let each of you look out not only for his
own interests, but also for the interests of ??others.' As Matthew Henry says, ‘We must love our neighbour as ourselves,
and make his case our own.' Most
women are better than men at ‘not only
looking out for their own interests, but also for the interests of ??others.' Men can learn much from
women in this regard. Women who pay keen attention to the interest of others
need to be mindful of the fact that they will be severely tempted to gossip. If
your interest in others is for the purpose of gossip recognize that you are
sinning. Gossip is an enemy of Christian love. If I thought for a moment that
another persons interest in me was for gossip purposes I would be tight lipped
and actually avoid talking to a gossip. Our interest in each other must be
driven and motivated by the love of Christ that abides in us. About four years
ago a young couple attended a few worship services with a view to joining us.
In conversation with them they gave their primary reason for leaving the church
they previously attended as: ‘The church
failed to meet our needs.' My response to this was, ‘I am sorry to hear that your needs were not met, but were you actively
involved in meeting the needs of the other members in that congregation?'
They did not answer my question or visit the congregation again. To promote
peace and unity in the congregation find time to invest in others and help
them. Being part of a congregation is not about what is in it for me, but how can I show love for others? It is sinful to always be preoccupied with your own
personal interests. Pursuing your own interests is not sinful, but can become
sinful if that is all you do. If you are so busy looking after your own
interests that you do not have time to help others you have not dealt with the
issues of selfishness and conceit God's way. If we deal with the sins of
selfishness and conceit God's way, we will give ourselves to helping one
another. We all have very busy lives; finding time to do all that we would like
to do and need to do is very difficult. To promote the unity and peace of the
congregation we must find time to help each other.
2.
Strive to be involved in mutual edification.
- Paul in Romans
14:19-20 says, ‘Therefore let us
pursue the things which make
for peace and the things by which one may edify another. ?Do not destroy the work
of God for the sake of food.' Geoff
Thomas is correct when he says; The peace of
a congregation has to be an edified peace, an educated peace, a discerning
peace, a growing peace, a maturing peace. There is peace in a graveyard, in a
refrigerator and in a chapel at midnight. We don't want that; this peace comes
from a united people who are mutually being discipled together.' We are
disciples of Jesus and we are learning from him everyday. Our concept of
teaching involves a teacher communicating a body of knowledge to students. As
disciples of Jesus we strive to absorb his teachings and also to become like him in every way. We learn Jesus' teaching
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we become like him. Christians should
be marked by their insatiable desire to learn more about their Lord. Is
learning more about our Lord a priority in your life? Do you find the time and
make the effort to learn from your brothers and sisters in Christ what they
know about the God of all grace and comfort?
- Notice Paul
calls on us to pursue the things by which one
may edify another. The Greek word translated here as pursue could be used to describe the painstaking search for a
dangerous fugitive. We must actively, deliberately, purposely and constructively
seek things that may edify others. You need to see mutual edification as part
of your Christian duty and responsibility towards your brothers and sisters in
Christ. Not to see this as a vital aspect of your Christian life means you have
glossed over every reference in the New Testament that uses the phrase one-another. Concerning the one another
aspect of the Christian life the Holy Spirit has caused the following to be
written in Scripture: "be devoted
to one another," "honour one another," "love one another," "accept one
another," "instruct one another," "greet one another," "serve one another,"
"bear with one another," "be kind and compassionate to one another," "admonish
one another," "encourage one another and build each other up," "spur one another
on," "live in harmony with one another," "greet one another with a kiss of
love." If we are failing to do these things the unity and the peace of the
congregation is seriously weakened as we are not being obedient to the Word.
- We all need
mutual edification. It is as Geoff Thomas says, ‘The most brilliantly gifted church members
cannot dismiss the weakest church members with, "I have no need of you" (I
Corinthians 12:21). God has locked us into a body, in living contact with
the Head, sustained by its one blood stream. Preachers in particular need the
countless little services which every Christian has to offer. We need the
encouragement, the rebuke, the company, and the down-to-earth word that
demolishes humbug and pretentiousness. To pretend to self-sufficiency,
emotionally and otherwise, is to risk warping our own personalities and ending
up in foul spiritual deformity. Make every effort to do what leads to mutual
edification, in other words as you give to others you are edified in the
giving, and they are edified in the receiving.' We need to be very honest
and even brutal with ourselves on this matter and confess that we have no excuse for disobeying God on this
matter. Whatever excuse you have, no matter how valid it seems it is
totally destroyed by the truth of Philippians 4:13 which says ‘I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.' You have no excuse for not ‘pursuing things by which one may edify
another.'
3. Strive not to damage the
work God is doing.
To those
Roman believers who have caused a division in the church about what could and
could not be eaten Paul says, ‘Do not
destroy the work of God for the sake of food.' God was at work in the
church at Rome,
transforming the lives saved sinners and filling them with assurance and grace.
Through the church God was calling sinners chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world to repent and believe in the Saviour. Would we dare
interrupt this work by grieving and quenching the work of the Holy Spirit?
Would we dare interfere with this work by provoking our heavenly Father to
discipline us? Would we dare impede this work by causing sorrow in Jesus heart
by giving our time, energy, effort and zeal to matters that are of little
consequence? Geoff Thomas paraphrases Paul's rebuke to the Church at Rome as follows: Why should the work of God be brought to a
halt by endless discussions about peripheral matters like diet and days? Will
you destroy the work of God in the most important city of the whole world, Rome, for food? Make
every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.' We need to
promote the peace and the unity of the congregation by focusing on things that
edify and not things that are of little consequence.
Conclusion
We ought to
give God praise and thanks for the peace and unity we as a congregation enjoy.
We all need to strive to promote unity and peace in every situation, strive to be
involved in mutual edification and strive not to damage the work God is doing. May our Lord be gracious
and grant us the wisdom and conviction to be obedience to his word.