Living in Peace With Each Other

Unleashing peace is the name of our four-week series on experiencing biblical shalom in our lives. See the word shalom with me out loud? Shalom. That is the Hebrew word for peace in the Bible, and it means harmony and balance and tranquility and a sense that all is right with the world because God is in charge. And we've been talking about that the first week we talked about finding the peace of God knowing that we're saved, that God sees us as righteous in his sight because of what Jesus did for us, and then the peace with God experiencing that daily, experiencing mental health and spiritual health and all the things that contributed to that and how that's a biblical concept.

And then today we're going to be talking about peace with others because that's very very very challenging. But first I want to invite you to grab your message notes if you're here in person. You can also download them at tlc.org/notes. My name is René, one of the pastors here, and how many of you are super glad that right now you are living in Hawaii? Doesn't it feel like that? The tropical humidity somebody told me had a lot of coffee between services. Man, this is like Texas. I said no, it's like Hawaii. And they said, oh that makes it much much better. So this is Hawaii everybody. Everybody say aloha. Aloha. Awesome. That's very cool.

Well let's talk about living in peace with each other. Shohans, how many of you have learned that it's not always easy to live in peace with each other, right? How many of you have learned that we are all different, even all Christians who love Jesus are different from one another? Can I see Shohans? We're different politically. We have different skin colors. We have all kinds of differences. And in fact, here in this room right now, we actually, because I know some of you personally, we actually represent differences on some major points of disagreement in our culture right now between Christians, the kinds of tensions and divisions and disagreements that we tend to read about these days. But they're all represented in this room.

And in fact, what I'm going to do just to demonstrate that, a little bit different, I'm going to ask for a show of hands. I'm going to actually name some of these things. Are you ready for this? Here's one of the biggest controversies we have in this room right now. Dog people and cat people. How many dog people? Can I see Shohans? Dog people. How many cat people? Okay. The cat people all slept in. In this room right now, we've got Niner fans and Raider fans. How many Niner fans? Yeah. And you're in church and not watching the game. That's awesome. That's why God created TiVo. How many Raider fans do we have here? The misled misguided. No.

All right. So we had dog people, cat people, Niner fans, Raider fans. How many dogs in Niner gear, cats in Raider gear? How many like the dog? How many like the cat? We've got forest people and beach people here in Santa Cruz County, right? How many of you prefer to go for a hike in the forest? Can I see that show of hands? A lot of forest people at this service. How many of you love the beach? You are a beach person. Yeah. The beach people are louder. The forest people are more calm. Okay. Another major division in this county. We got Mary Ann's ice cream fans. We got Penny ice cream fans. How many Mary Ann's ice cream fans do we have here? How many Penny ice cream fans do we have here? How many of you will eagerly take both on the same day?

I mean, those were all funny, but let me get into the major division that we're all aware of here. We've got Mark Spurlock people and Paul Spurlock people. How many Mark? You know, what's funny is we are all different, but the sad thing is Christians divide over issues not much more serious than that. Don't raise your hands, but I've noticed whether the issue is left or right, Democrat or Republican, face mask or unmasked, rail or trail, private school or public school. These days it seems everything becomes a polarizing argument that even divides Christians. Now I'll show a hands. Who is tired of that? Anybody tired of that? Because I am. And it turns out that a lot of people are.

Brand new survey, Politics in Religion just completed. They discovered that people from across the political spectrum, and that's important, agree that division right now in our culture right now, division is one of, if not the number one issue facing America. Personally, I agree with that. In fact, nearly half of the respondents expect civil war in the next 10 years. Division is tearing our nation apart, churches apart, families. I mean, I can tell you how many times I've had people tell me, I can't even go to Thanksgiving or Christmas with my family anymore because we always end up arguing over politics or COVID-19 policy or vaccines or something else. And more than any other issue, this just is burdening me right now so much as a pastor.

And here's the question a lot of us are asking, how do I live at peace with others in a world designed for division? And make no mistake, the world right now is truly designed for division. How? Well, technologically, your news, tweets, posts, likes are tracked so that every single day you see more of the same. The kinds of things that made you laugh the day before, the kinds of things that made you mad before, the kinds of things that you liked the day before, the opinions you heard the day before, the spectrum of perspectives that you see gets narrower and narrower and narrower because they want you to like and tweet and forward and view more and more things. And that's the kind of stuff you like.

And so what happens unintentionally or intentionally is you develop less empathy for people unlike you, because you're hearing fewer viewpoints from people unlike you, unless those viewpoints are being caricatured by people who are just like you. And in addition to all of this, there are trolls and provocateurs and political operatives who are trying to divide us for various reasons. And all of this division is now a serious mental health issue. The University of Nebraska did a study. Politics is making us sick. Talking about mental illness, 40% of Americans quote, consistently identify politics as a significant source of stress in their lives. Now, that probably doesn't surprise you, but here's the really interesting thing to me because you got a minority of people that are actually into politics, right? They follow it like they follow sports.

But watch this. The author of the study concluded, even those who aren't intensely interested in politics are still affected by the, and I love this description, the ambient climate of hatred, chaos, and dysfunction. And again, they're not just, this is not a left or right issue. This is many of the extremes on both sides, creating this climate. And most people in America by far, from whatever points of the political spectrum they're at, no matter what issue it is, they don't like it. But we all fear it now. And it's making us sad and depressed and anxious. It's affecting our mental health.

Well, guess what? This ambient climate of hatred, chaos, and dysfunction, that is not new. That's like a human thing that happens. It was happening 2000 years ago when the New Testament of the Bible was written. And this actually is the reason that the apostle Paul, one of the writers in the New Testament, wrote the part of the Bible that we're looking at today. It's the book of Romans in the New Testament. I want to look specifically at chapter 14 today. I'm going to be looking at the first 10 verses, verse by verse, and then some other verses thrown in there too. This is a Bible chapter we all need to read over and over again. Like I feel like every week for the next year, because it has five keys to living in peace with one another.

But, you know, before we get into this, let me just say this. Do you actually believe it's possible to live in peace with one another across all kinds of divides? How many of you actually believe it's possible to live in peace with one another? Can I see a show of hands? Do you believe it's possible? Because if you don't believe it's possible, you may as well just not listen to this sermon. You know, it's the 21st anniversary of 9/11. To me, that showed that it's possible. Because do you remember what it felt like after just the shock of the first few hours subsided? I was reading somebody writing about this yesterday who said in the immediate aftermath, what did we see? Amazing solidarity that came from mutual support and shared love. Shared love for each other, shared love for our country. No one thought about politics. It was all about solidarity, meeting immediate needs, being brothers and sisters.

Do you remember that feeling? It is possible when we focus on something that unifies us, not on what divides us. And that is what this next chapter of the Bible is all about. Check this out. And I want to invite you to open up your heart and not just go, yeah, those people causing division, they need to learn these things. Now, these are skills that we all need to learn. As I got to tell you, as the next presidential election approaches, it's only going to get harder. It's going to get way more intense. People have a vested interest in dividing you into their camps and getting your money and votes and views and likes. And algorithms are getting better and better and better. Technology is aiding the dividers, not the unifiers.

And so you and I are going to have to learn these skills for conversation over dinner tables, for conversation between neighbors, for conversation between people in our small groups. But it takes an effort and the Holy Spirit's power to learn these things. So open your heart and let's apply these things, all of us. Me included. Number one, focus on primary issues, not secondary issues. Focus on primary issues, not secondary issues. Watch this. Romans 14, starting in verse one. Excuse me. Paul says, in fact, let's read this out loud together, all right? Here we go. Accept the one, let me hear you, whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters. The most important word in this whole chapter is the first word, accept. Say that out loud with me. Accept.

Now, we're supposed to accept each other no matter what. Does acceptance necessarily mean approval? No, of course not. That being said, I don't want to blunt the force of what Paul is saying in this chapter because it's like he could have written this in an op-ed newspaper column today. You'll see what I mean as we go through this. He says, accept the one whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters. One thing that means is there are disputable matters. Not everything bears equal weight. There's something more important than other things, even in the Bible. And also, he's not talking about sin here. He's talking about opinions but strongly held opinions like this.

Next verse. One person's faith, it's coming from a place of faith, allows them to eat anything. But another whose faith is weak eats only vegetables. What is this all about? "Vegans are evil." No, that's not what it means. Just kidding. Here's the background to this just so you can kind of understand this. In the early days of Christianity 2,000 years ago, most Christians were Jewish. Did you know that? It was a Jewish movement. And then suddenly, Gentiles, non-Jewish people, Greeks, Romans, Africans, Syrians, Indians, East Indians, very early on, like in the first century, started streaming into the Christian faith because it was so attractive.

You can imagine there's a major cultural conflict between these totally different groups. And here was the main conflict between them all. The two issues that the Jewish religious law, like these were the original Christians, had the most commands about, and it's not even close, were Sabbath and kosher. Sabbath and kosher. What is Sabbath? Well, Sabbath means no work on Saturday, only worship. That is in the Bible, like many, many, many times. But then the non-Jewish people entered the Christian movement and they said, "But every day is the same to us, and on the Sabbath I can work if I want to, because Jesus set us free from the law." That is also in the Bible.

And this sounded like absolute total heresy and like on a level with idolatry to the early Jewish Christians, who also had dietary kosher laws. For example, shrimp? No. Pork? No. Cheeseburgers? No. Because it mixes meat and dairy. In fact, any meat had to be butchered in humane, kosher ways. Consequently, many Jews living in places like Rome never ate any meat because the butchers definitely were not kosher there. Right? But the non-Jewish Christians said, "But we like all that stuff, so we're eating all that stuff." All those different kinds of meat, they're all good to us. There were not two issues that caused more tension in the early church than these two issues. Name any political or religious division now. These were far worse, far more divisive, because literally they both had the Bible on their side. Right?

And the Jewish people would say, "But in God's word, God actually judges the people of Israel for not keeping Sabbath and not keeping kosher, so we got to do those things." And the Christians would say, "Yeah, but Jesus and the Apostle Paul say that we're set free from the law, so we don't have to do those things." And so these churches were in danger of horrible division over these things. And Paul addresses that. What's interesting to me is that Paul actually doesn't — he could have resolved this issue by taking a stand on one or the other, but he doesn't do it. He addresses both groups. He calls them the weak and the strong. The weak were the religiously strict, but actually doctrinally wrong. They kept kosher, but they didn't understand the gospel. The strong were theologically correct, but relationally wrong.

And guess which group he focuses on correcting? This group. He's like, "Yeah, your doctrine's right, but you are a bunch of cocky, judgy jerks." So now that you know the background of this intense conflict that's happening in these churches, look at where Paul goes with this. He says, "The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not." Contempt. I'm seeing a lot of contempt in the atmosphere these days, right? Like, "Anybody one inch to the left of me is a Marxist. Anybody one inch to the right of me is a fascist." I've just got it all figured out right now. You treat everybody else with contempt. Paul says, "You cannot treat other people with contempt. You got to be more gracious than that. And the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does. Why not? For God has accepted them." Is that a mic drop argument or what? It's like, "God's accepted them." Are you, like, more strict than God? Do you have higher standards than God?

Now, again, acceptance doesn't necessarily mean approval. This does not mean everything they do and believe is necessarily approved by God anymore. That means everything you do or believe is approved by God. What this means is they're saved by grace, so you treat them with grace. Now, you can imagine the people first receiving this are going, "Yeah, but what if I think their secondary issue is actually a primary issue?" Which, of course, was exactly the case with the original audience of this. Paul says, "Well, here's another tip for you. Realize God is their boss, not me. God is their boss, not you." I love verse 4 of Romans 14. I have had to quote this to myself so many times over the years, especially one line in this next verse. "Who are you to judge someone else's servant to their own master they stand or fall?" Could you just say that sentence with me out loud? "To their own master they stand or fall." Say it again. "To their own master they stand or fall." You're not their master.

And then Paul says, "Oh, and they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand." Because some of the people reading this originally in his original argument are going, "Yeah, to their own master they stand or fall, and they're gonna fall. God's gonna judge them." Paul says, "Well, they're gonna stand actually because the Lord's gonna make them stand." What he's saying is you have to trust the Holy Spirit to do the Holy Spirit's job in their lives, right? You don't have to play Holy Spirit. You're not their master. Do you believe in the power of the Holy Spirit? Then he's gonna develop Christlike character in them.

You know, I've literally heard pastors preach. They'll get into the pulpit, take a partisan stand about politics or about COVID-19 response or something over the last two years. And they have said this quote. I've heard at least three pastors say, "If any pastors out there disagree with me on this point, they are out of the will of God." And Paul says, "You know, you have your own church that's your responsibility. You know, your opinions are your responsibility. Other pastors are not your business. You mind your own business. To their own master they stand or fall." And Paul keeps making this point in this chapter again and again, like verse 10. "You then, why do you judge your brother or sister?" And by the way, just to clarify, we are not to judge. We are not to view with contempt. This does not mean we are not to be discerning. You're supposed to be discerning about people's doctrine, about people's behavior and so on. Be discerning and wise. But that's not the same as judging, putting yourself above them, treating them with contempt.

Why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before what? God's judgment seat. It says the same thing a couple of verses later in verse 12. "Each of us will give an account of who? Ourselves. To who? To God. Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on who? On one another." See, guess what happens when you're busy passing judgment on one another is you forget to allow God to judge yourself. And that is where judgment should begin. Well, Paul's saying is this, "You better spend your time hearing from God instead of playing God." You know, in recovery they talk about doing a fearless moral inventory, and that's so important to judge yourself, right? I got to judge myself for, as they say in recovery, my own character defects. Because I have them, so do you.

But if I'm doing a, you know, fearless moral inventory about everybody else and labeling their character defects, I have a lot less time for asking the Holy Spirit to tell me what my character defects are. Now, you can imagine the original audience saying, "Yeah, but, but, but they're so wrong on this issue. This is such an important issue. They make me so mad." All those, those non-coacher keeping, non-sap of the preserving, or those kosher keeping legalists. Paul's saying, "You know what, number three, here's a tip. Assume the best motives, not the worst." Assume the best motives and not the worst. Look at what Paul says. This is radical. Look at what he says in verse five. "One person considers one day more sacred than another. Another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind." This is really important because personal convictions, strong personal convictions, are not wrong.

As a pastor, I hope you have convictions. I mean, our culture is trying to lead us astray in so many ways. I hope you have strong convictions. I hope you are politically engaged. I hope you vote. I hope you find certain causes that you support strongly. I mean, I certainly don't hope you're apathetic, right? What's the alternative to being engaged, being apathetic? The world does not need more people who are apathetic, but you cross the line when you say, "Okay, I came to my convictions. Now everybody else should have the same convictions too." Here's why that's wrong. Because you came to your convictions, I would hope, through prayer, through Bible study, through wrestling with the Lord. And it was the process that was important to you, right? In that process, God was teaching you to be discerning. Why would you want to short circuit that process for everybody else?

You know, I'm fully convinced in my own mind about all kinds of stuff, politics, theology, social issues, who should be starting a quarterback for the Niners, but don't make your personal convictions normal for everybody else. You arrived at your convictions out of love for God and His Word. You're doing your best. Please assume everybody else did the same. This is where Paul goes in the next verse, verse six. "Whoever regards one day as special, they're doing it for the Lord." Don't call them a legalist. They're doing it because they believe this is the best way to honor for the Lord. "Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord." They believe they're exercising freedom in Christ out of a sincere heart. "For they give thanks to God, and whoever abstains from meat, they do so to the Lord too." He's saying, you got to assume that they're doing whatever they do because they sincerely believe this is biblical and the best way to honor God.

That's intense for him to say that, right? With the division I just described. Can you just assume the best motives? You know, it's interesting. I am on the mailing list for two different Christian political groups, and they're not only Christian, they're actually both evangelical Christian groups. So, like they're completely aligned doctrinally, and yet they are totally different leaning politically. One leans right, one leans left. And they both arrive at their convictions out of love for God. They both quote Scripture all through their emails every week. How could that possibly be? Well, here's how. There are principles in the Bible that all Christians who believe the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant word agree on. And I would put myself in that camp.

And those clear principles have a direct, straight line bearing on problems in society. But there is a dotted line, not a straight line to policies and politics, practical solutions to those problems. For example, a biblical, I mean, you could apply this to like every social issue, for example, but let me just give you one kind of hot button topic right now. A biblical principle is equality, right? Verses like, do not show favoritism to anybody in the book of James. Or verses like, there is no Jew or Greek male or female slave or free civilized or barbarian in the book of Galatians. Or verses like, I saw the throne of heaven and there were people from every tribe and nation and tongue praising God together. So obviously, you know, no racism allowed in Scripture. And so there is a direct line from that principle of equality to the problem of racism and inequity in our society and every society.

The Bible speaks to that issue directly, but it's a dotted line to policies and politics aimed at solving that problem. And while we can be absolutely sure about these two things, because the Bible's word is inerrant, that is a principle in God's word. And, you know, if any Christian is reading the Bible and doesn't see the principle of equality in the Bible, then I don't know. They're not reading the Scripture that I'm reading. But that ties in directly to this. This is clear. We can be sure about this. But on this, we have to hold those solutions lightly. This third is not infallible because at the very least, would you agree with this? There are always unintended consequences to even well-intended policies. Always unintended consequences to well-intended policies.

And so, for example, on that issue of racism and equality, I can imagine conversations like this. Hey, I'm going to go to the march downtown. Are you going to come with me? No. Why not? Aren't you a Christian? Don't you believe in this Christian principle? We've got to make our voices heard. Well, yes, I do care very, very much. But the answer, from my perspective, is clearly business ownership by minorities. And so what I'm doing is I'm contributing to a scholarship fund for minority students to the business school at Biola University. Because I think, man, once we get more minority-zoning businesses, then they're going to get in the mix. They're going to get power. That's what's going to solve these problems. So you go ahead and march, make you feel good about yourself. I'm putting my money where my mouth is. And now here come the labels. What? Well, you're just an unfeeling capitalist. Well, you're just a feel-good liberal. And now you have division.

Why? Because they can't see that while they agree on principle and problem, they're genuinely sincerely coming to different policy solutions about those problems. As Paul would say, they're doing it for the Lord, but they disagree on this third step. Paul is saying you have to assume good intentions in the person who disagrees with you. And how do you do that? Well, you set your sights on higher things than what divides you, as we saw our nation do on 9/11. Paul says, "For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone." If we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

In other words, our culture tells us you and your opinions are the most important thing in the world. And the Bible says, "No, they're not. You are actually here to live for the Lord, to serve God." And this means your theological identity in Christ should always take priority over your political identity or any other identity. Paul says, "For this very reason," watch how high he lifts his sights, "Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living and the weak and the strong and the left and the right and everybody else." He's saying, "Listen, you got to raise your sights. Don't look down on one another. Look up to Jesus." And by the way, this is not a middle ground between left and right. This is not like the moderate way, the milk toast way. This is a new way, a radical way, a third way, the Jesus way, because that means we are focused on someone bigger, someone greater, someone more glorious, someone who unites us and keeps us growing together into Christ-likeness.

Don't look down on one another. Look up to Jesus. In fact, you can't look down on one another when you look up to Jesus. So set your sights higher than what divides us. Can I hear an amen from the church? Kind of a principle that's shot all through this whole passage is this. Learn the difference between primary and secondary doctrine. I'll tell you a story. Years ago, I was facing a group here at Twin Lakes Church way back when I first came on that wanted me to draft an official church statement about some issue. I don't even remember what it was, but it was some cultural hot button issue of the time. Like, "You got to draft a statement and put it on our statement of faith and make all new members sign this." So I asked Pastor Kraft for advice. Pastor Roy Kraft, who was pastor here for half a century before I arrived, long before God gave me my glorious gray hair.

And so I called him up and I'll never forget this phone call. It was so wise. He said, "René, let me tell you a story." He said, "At Twin Lakes in the 1950s, there was a strong movement that wanted me to put into the church statement of faith that we were pre-Trib and pre-millennial. And if you don't know pre-Trib, pre-Mael, that refers to when Jesus will return. And when people ask me, by the way, on this, I always say, "Well, I'm on the welcoming committee, not the planning committee." So, you know, I don't know. But the pastor Kraft said this, he was so wise. He said, "René, I have an opinion about that. I actually am." He said, "Pre-Trib, pre-Mael, and I believe my opinion is grounded in God's word, but I might be wrong."

And he said, "Even if I'm right, I know this. People who disagree with me will be with me in heaven. It is absolutely not a primary doctrine, and only primary doctrines belong in official church statements of faith. You go back and you tell those people no." And I did. That was wise. And that's what Paul's saying in this passage. Focus on the primary doctrines. Now that begs the question, what are the primary doctrines? Paul never gives us, Paul never gives us, the Bible never gives us a list. Here's the 15. But we have examples, like elsewhere Paul says things like, "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who's over all, in all, and living through all." In other words, it's about the big picture things, not about the time-related, cultural-related controversies.

You know, he didn't say, "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one correct attitude toward COVID-19 restrictions." Elsewhere he says, "For what I received, I passed on to you as a first importance." Okay, what is first importance? Well, that Christ died for our sins. Wow. According to the Scriptures. That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day. Now, of course, these aren't the only primary doctrines, but these are what primary doctrines are like. It's big picture stuff, Christian foundations. And that's why we say here we have unity on the essentials, but diversity on the non-essentials. So important.

You know, so many people these days on the left and right are treating everything as if it was essential and primary. And if you disagree, as I said, even on the slightest point, then you're out. But you know, there's a word for churches where everyone thinks the same and worships the same and votes the same and holds the same opinions. Cult. The Apostle Paul is saying, "Don't be a cult. Learn to disagree agreeably." And we're going to have a big chance to do this as our small groups start in a couple of weeks. Totally stoked about that, but guess what? To enjoy it, we are going to have to learn to put political differences aside and love the beautiful diversity of the body of Christ. You got to love people more than politics. And that's actually number four. See people not issues.

Because if I see the world in terms of issues, then I'm going to want to win. But if I see it in terms of people that I'm going to want to love, Paul says, "Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister." These are brothers and sisters, not opponents. Go to verse 15. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you're no longer acting in love. Do not, by your eating, destroy someone for whom Christ died. You know, I'm hearing more and more from young Christians leaving churches because they tell me every single week their pastor gets political in some partisan way. And this is what Paul is talking about.

Why would those pastors choose to destroy someone's faith for whom Christ died because of some secondary opinion? I mean, are you free to eat meat and worship on Monday and be political and use social media and say even crude things in defense of your position? Of course, totally. You have legal rights. You're not going to go to hell if you do those things. But if Paul was writing today, I think he'd say, "Do not, by your social media posts, destroy someone for whom Christ died." Again, this does not mean don't be political. I hope you are political. It means bringing people into a relationship with Jesus is your priority. So probably the people who were reading this were wondering this question, and you might be too, "How do I know when I'm crossing the line?"

Well, when I'm more eager to correct wrong people than to help hurting people, when I think more about how those people tick me off than about how they're loved by God, Paul reminds us, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking or whatever your passionate issue is, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." Let me ask you, do people now think of these three things when they think of Christians usually? So righteousness in the book of Romans, that doesn't mean self-righteousness. It means the grateful assurance that God sees me as righteous, holy, pure, not because of anything I did, but because of what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross. My sins, past, present, and future are forgiven. I'm going to be in heaven with Jesus forever by His grace. And so I live in this calm, relaxed assurance. I don't have to prove anything to anybody because I know God loves me.

In the book of Romans, that's what righteousness means. Peace, tranquility, shalom, joy. And joy comes from knowing God's got this man. Eventually, even though there's bad things in life, He's going to turn everything into good. So do people when they look at Christians think, "You know those people are the most self-assured and calm and humble and peaceful and joyful people I know, and there's something supernatural about it, comes from the Holy Spirit." Or do they see the opposite? Do they see self-righteousness and, you know, twitchiness and anger? It's easy to slip into the opposite of these, isn't it? It's easy to think the kingdom of God is a matter of eating and drinking or whatever it is that is your thing. And that's why Paul says, number five, you gotta be intentional about this. Be radically positive and not divisive.

Like in a radical, intentional way. Verse 19, "Let us therefore make every effort, not just some effort," like this is top priority to do what leads to what? Peace and mutual edification. Now again, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. This does not mean ignore issues. What this means is there is a right time and a right place and a right spirit to discuss issues, right? I mean, that's just like marriage 101, right? Just because you're talking does not mean you're actually communicating. This is about, just make sure your communication's actually effective. It's actually going to move the needle for the person you're in a conversation with, and how do you make sure that happens? Well, if it's mutual and if it's edifying.

For example, in a marriage, you'll say, "On a nice date where you've relaxed and enjoyed each other's company, hey, let's use our imaginations. What can we do to improve our relationship?" It's about us, so it's mutual, and it's about improvement, so it's edification. Not, "Here's what you need to do to change the thing that is driving me crazy about you." That's not mutual, and it's not edifying. What Paul's saying is choose relationship building over argument winning. Now, again, this is not indifference to what's wrong. This is not like, "Whatever, they're wrong. They're screwing up their life, but I'm, you know, I'm not going to judge." No, this means let's grow together.

I thought this video that Paul Spurlock sent me was a beautiful parable. This turtle in the pond, have you see this? This turtle's in trouble. He's flipped over. He could drown if he's not set right, but watch what the other turtles do. They come together to flip him back over. Do turtles now know more about unity than human beings do? Apparently so. You know, they didn't stay on the side of that little pond and go, "I told him not to do the backstroke. Told him, "Yeah, I heard you tell him." No, they see a brother or sister, you know, a turtle in trouble, and together they said him right. We need to do the same thing, but instead of condemnation edification, dialogue. Shouting at each other is not dialogue.

Here's a countercultural idea. Not everything you are thinking every minute has to be said or posted at full volume. Here's the hardest verse in this whole passage to apply, verse 22. "So whatever you believe about these things, keep it between yourself and God." He's not saying never talk about anything. In fact, you should have friends who you've asked to speak into your life and friends who've asked you to speak into their lives. That's just iron sharpens iron that is not judging. He's just saying choose discretion over division. And if you have any doubt about whether it should be said in this time and place and spirit, then keep it between yourself and God.

Now, I want to show a recap slide in case you missed any of these points, but listen, it's always easy to look at these five points and see how the other guys are getting this all wrong. And so as we close, I want you to ask God, ask the Holy Spirit to show you, "Who am I judging? Who do I view with contempt? Is there a person in your life or a group of people or a political party or a certain brand of activism or something that you tend to judge?" I'm not talking disagree with, I'm saying judge, view with contempt. Ask God to show you this because what is at stake is nothing less than our Christian witness. Jesus prayed, "May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me." Wow.

"And that you love them as much as you love me." And so here's what I want us to do. I want us to close the service with a sign of unity. We're going to sing all our voices together as one. So stand up with me if you can. And here's what's going to happen in the next five minutes or so. As we wrap up, we are going to hear the voices of conservative and progressive, black and brown and white, Spanish speakers, English speakers, homeschoolers, public schoolers, private schoolers, vegetarians and vegans and meat eaters and omnivores, cat lovers and dog lovers, Mark Spurlock fans and Paul Spurlock fans. But we're all unified not because we agree on everything, but because we all love Jesus so much, because he first loved us.

And we're all saying together, "God, just you judge us. We're tired of judging each other. You judge me and you show me how you want me to grow and you want me to change." And as we all have that attitude together, there's going to be a lot less judging of others and a lot more unity in Christ. Let's lift our voices together.