PRESERVING FELLOWSHIP

 

Preachers can seemingly always find something to argue about. The reality is that some hills are to die on. The fundamentals of the faith cannot be compromised, whatever the cost. 

There are other matters perhaps not as vital as those, but still of great significance. These are what make me to be a Baptist. Brothers of other denominations may see those matters differently. If they hold to the fundamentals, then I can have fellowship with them at some level, but I also dare not bend in my convictions just to get along. 

Yet, there are issues on the periphery that I can hold to of which those in the church I serve or the pastors I know may disagree. These must not become divisive. Preserving the fellowship is also something worth fighting for!  This is what Paul tells us in Romans 14. 

Here, he references those who were disputing over sacred days and special diets. They were making mountains out of molehills. It is not that those matters might not have significance in our personal walk with the Lord, but we need not impose them on others—especially at the cost of dispute and division. 

Early in my Christian walk and ministry, I was very legalistic. I was immature, and “weak in the faith,” as Paul put it in Rom. 14:1.  After attending a Bible College, I felt that I knew everything and was right about all things, willing to argue about anything. 

As I have gotten older, I have come to understand that there are hills to die on, but I want to reject the temptation to make mountains out of molehills. But, I must also remember that what I consider an insignificant matter I can step over, may be something that is large enough for another man’s personal convictions that it would cause him to stumble.  As we age, like fruit, we tend to mellow and get sweeter—but, remember that the next stage is rotten!

“Let each be fully convinced in his own mind,” (Rom. 14:5b). The fundamental principle is this: do all to the glory of God and for the good of others.  

“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” (Rom. 14:7-10)

I want to neither be a liberal nor a legalist.  Jesus had conflict with both, represented by the Sadducees and Pharisees. I need not compromise conviction out of a concern for compassion. We can speak the truth in love. We dare not sacrifice one for the sake of the other.

“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another,” (Rom. 14:19).  It might be a good thing before we attend a pastors’ gathering to read Romans 14 to prepare our hearts, and then to read it following the meeting to evaluate how we did.

There is a real enemy out there. Satan is bent on destroying the church. If he can turn us into a circular firing squad, he has accomplished his intent. There will be increasingly hot fire incoming from the hostile culture about us. We will need one another to “have our back.”  There is a quote attributed to Ben Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence that applies, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” 

MAXIMUM MINISTRY

“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”  (John 17:18)

Christ’s prayer recorded in John 17 was for all His people (v.20).  His commission is for every disciple of all the ages.  Yet, I think as there was a direct application to those eleven disciples (plus one counterfeit), there is a practical dimension for God’s preacher today.  Imagine, man of God—the Lord of glory standing with eyes upraised to heaven, mere hours from the agony of the cross and He prays for you!

His heart was to glorify the Father and fulfill His mission.  “I have glorified You on the earth.  I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”  (John 17:4)  Can we think of a greater goal—that in all our life and work we aim at the glory of God and faithfully finishing our assignment?

Eternal life can only be found in the Son of God (v.3).  Those the Father gives the Son in His sovereign grace will come to Him (v.2), but manifesting that salvation to sinners in view of their becoming saints is our duty (v.6).  Of the many good things I might do in ministry, I must not forget the worth of a soul.  Heaven is real and hell is also—and the proclamation of the life-changing Gospel is imperative and urgent.

God has entrusted us with the sacred message.  “ ‎For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.”  (v.8)  This is the treasure of truth contained in clay pots, and meant to be preserved in its purity—undiluted truth—and proclaimed in its power—unleashed truth.

Not all will be happy to hear the truth (v.14).  They will loathe the mirror of God’s Word in the manner in which the evil queen in the Snow White fairy tale hated to hear what the mirror on the wall honestly spoke.  There is a sanctifying power in the Word (v.17), and many would rather roll in the mud like an old hog—comfortable according to their nature.  To those who respond, however, the truth is transformative (v.19-20).  Should persecution arise, Christ will preserve us until our task is done (v.11-12), for we belong to Him and are loved by Him as the Father loves the Son (v.23-26).  When our mission is accomplished we are summoned to dwell in the eternal glory, face to face with Christ!

While the world hates us and the message is polarizing, let us seek to foster love and preserve unity among the people of God.  It was the earnest petition of Jesus and merits our deliberate effort (v.21-23).  A pugnacious preacher in spirit, always splitting theological hairs, and looking for a reason to cause strife is guilty of a severe sin.  To attack the Bride of Christ is an assault on Christ Himself who is one with her.  When the world sees our schisms, and hears venom more than grace from the pulpit, no wonder they scoff at our sermons!  There may come a time when truth, even spoken in love, angers church members who reject it—and reject us—let us love nonetheless.  If we part company may there be no bitterness on our part, only grief as a spurned lover.  This is maximum ministry—the mandate given by our Master, and His prayer for His men.