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Opening prayer.....
Some of you have heard this lesson recently (in the last few months) on already and this lesson is specifically for you…you should have already begun to put these principles in action.
Have you ever seen that group of people you’d like to be a part of?
Have you ever seen that group of people you’d rather AVOID?
Have you ever been made to feel weird or odd because you were or weren’t part of a group?
I was a weird dude when I was in High School…there were some groups or cliques that I definitely was NOT part of but I seemed to be part of many different groups! I was not a band dude but I sang in our senior choir, I was active in AFJROTC and became the Asst. Squadron Commander, I played football all through HS and was on Varsity in my freshman year, I was in French Club and Computer Club, I attended youth group every week and church every Sunday..I was part of nearly every group there was to be part of!
There was an interesting rivalry at our school that, now that I think about it was kinda stupid…we had Choices (the Catholic Youth Group) and Messengers (the Protestant Youth Group)…we were not open rivals but we’d have that unspoken rivalry that stemmed from the age-old Catholics vs. Protestants....there were some kids who were “crossover kids” who’d attend both groups because they were either Catholic kids interested in the reformed church or they had friends who were in the other group and everyone just wanted to hang out together. No matter what though, we all just wanted to hang out with the other kids who were like us. We more or less tolerate those we don’t agree with or those we have put under a certain labels.
I can say that
Before I move on I want to take a second to define two words: tolerant or tolerate and acceptance or accept. These two words, in today’s society, are tossed around and commonly confused and in order to understand what the Apostle Paul is telling us in (which we’ll read in a few minutes) we must understand these to words as concepts.
Tolerate: this essentially means “to put up with” … you tolerate your brother’s and sisters…you tolerate those mean teachers you really don’t like…
Accept: this essentially means to recognize something as valid or correct. More or less to believe what someone else believes
So…on to the scriptures…let’s read ....
BEFORE that I want to give you a little backstory on what has happened in the chapter right before … in chapter 14 Paul is talking about not judging each other because of small differences. There are valid reasons to disagree on things within the church and there are major theological interpretations that can and should be debated. BUT, there are many other issues that we hold strongly to that just aren’t that big of a deal.
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Romans 15:1-
Let’s break these scriptures down…
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother...
Paul is specifically speaking about and to Christians…if we are believers we shouldn’t judge
We’re called to follow Jesus’ example here…it’s amazing how judgmental //MAY NEED TO DEFINE THIS// Christians can be, not only to people outside the church but WITHIN the church…we can be very harsh on each other. No matter what church you attend or what denomination (Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) you accept we will encounter people who aren’t at the same place we are in our faith. There will always be the strong in the faith and the weak in the faith…we are all one body though and if you sprain your left ankle you may need to use crutches and your arms will have to carry some of the burden. Does this mean the ankle isn’t part of the body?!? No!
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
In , Jesus gives up his status to become a servant for man…he tells us to do NOTHING for selfish ambition and that we should always consider other people to be more important than ourselves.
Sometimes, if we’re in the company of other believers (or non-believers) we may have to change our behavior to not make them stumble.
For example, if
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
Romans 15:4-
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
As the first part of closes out, Paul gives us directions on what to do next.....When talking about what was written in the former days he’s referring to the Old Testament…Jewish Law.
HOW DO WE INTERACT WITH THOSE PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF OUR GROUPS? Now, Paul is specifically talking here about Christians dealing with each other BUT, if he’s telling us all this information about how to deal with each other, can this be good guidance on how we should treat friends outside the church? YOU BET!
If you have a Christian brother or sister who doesn’t think eating meat is a good thing because Daniel was better off not eating meat or because the law in the OT says we shouldn’t …thats ok! We cannot get wrapped up in petty differences with each other inside the church!
Jesus tells us to love each other, bear up the weak, and accept each other. I want to caution, this does not mean we change our beliefs to make people feel better about Jesus and our church but it does mean we need to be more tolerant of people who believe differently than we do.
For example, many of you might have Mormon or LDS friends or Catholic friends. Our church has different beliefs than these churches do…when it comes to the Mormon or LDS church we have very different beliefs (they’re not Christians). If you know the differences and you can speak to them, then go ahead. HOWEVER, approach them FIRST with love…always be welcoming. We need to tolerate people with other beliefs or no beliefs....they need to know they’re accepted and welcomed at our church!
SO what’s the point here? How do you take this moving forward and what do you do with it now!??!?!
In the Christmas Season your friends are more likely to go to church…their parents are more willing to go to church as well! This is the perfect time to get out of our groups and build friendships with new people!
INSIDE CHURCH: we can begin new friendships by learning how each other came to know Jesus…we can share stories about our families and how long they’ve gone to church…have you ever attended other churches…these are questions we can ask and get out to meet new people!
OUTSIDE CHURCH: without being judgmental…without giving up what we believe we can and should get out of our Christian circles to make new friends. If most of your friends are outside the faith, invite them to church! Invite them here to REV on REV night or any other week! Inviting someone to the church can be an invitation to freedom and a relationship like no other! Meet new people and get to know THEIR story before trying to share yours…understand them before trying to share Jesus with them…we can and should be bold but we should also do as Paul says:
Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the GLORY OF GOD!!
Let’s pray