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Jan 20, 2013

Personal Holiness: A Community Project (Part 9)

Passage: 1 Peter 2:9-12

Preacher: Tim Badal

Series:Strangers in a Strange Land

Summary:

Peter plays out three points right before us: the Position God Places Us In — Who we are as a people; the Passions Peter Pleads Us to Resist — What we are supposed to do as a people; and the Plan God Provides for Us to be Victorious — How we are to accomplish victory in this project He’s given us.

Detail:

Please take God’s Word in your hands and turn to 1 Peter 2.  Since last fall, we have been focusing our time and attention on 1 Peter, a five-chapter letter that was written by the Apostle Peter, one of the followers of Jesus Christ.  He writes it to a group of people who are scattered abroad in a province of Asia Minor.  In fact, it’s many different provinces of what is now modern-day Turkey.  These are exiles and strangers.  These are people living in a strange land.  They have moved away from their homeland and are now in a place where they find themselves in some ways isolated and alone. 

Peter writes to them, telling them they’re not alone—and yet in this world they would suffer and there would be strife amongst them.  But in this letter he tells them over and over again, you can have hope.  It’s a living hope that is founded on the Person and work of Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone.  Peter is articulating to us that this hope is the only antidote we have.  You see, the world thinks that it’s got some hope—but it doesn’t.  It has things that may appeal to us for a season but it’s Jesus and Jesus alone in this world gone wild that promises to bring us victory and abundant life in Him.  Yet, as we look at our text, we’ve been seeing that as hopeful Christians, we don’t live this hopeful life in isolation.  While we may come to Christ singularly—meaning we all came to Christ on our own—the Christian walk and life is not to be done separate from other believers.  We’re to do it corporately.  This truth is seen in our previous text when we saw that God was building, not a person, but a house filled with living stones and that you and I are a part of that building project. 

As a way of introduction, I want to highlight a quote from the great theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from the early 1900s.  He says this about the corporate Christian walk and how important it is that we find ourselves in community.  The whole thesis of his book called Life Together is the following.  He says, “The Christian could not reach his full potential without the deep and loving relationships of others.” 

What that means is you and I will never get to where Christ wants us to be in isolation from one another.  We need one another to be the best Christians we can be.  That’s why it’s so important—and that’s why you hear from this pulpit so many times—the importance of being a part of this local entity called Village Bible Church.  Now Bonhoeffer says, “When that happens, the people of God come together to share their lives openly and freely.”  Is that true for you this morning?  Are you open?  Are you free with your life to share it with others?  Are you accepting each other with an unconditional, positive regard?  “There’s a sort of social-spiritual chemistry,” he says, “that emerges.  And those who come together experience a delightful cohesion and a sense of belonging.”

Let me stop there.  What Bonhoeffer is saying is that when you truly do that, you are going to feel like you’re a part of something.  You’re going to feel like you belong here in this place.  He goes on and he says, “The church is a place where everyone is related in a family relationship.” 

Let me stop again.  Village Bible Church desires to be a family.  Not a business organization, not a team of people with a common purpose, but a family.  Bonhoeffer goes on to describe this family where,

“One man is another man’s brother; and one woman is another woman’s sister.  We are here to endure one another’s burdens and help direct others to a more holy life.  This enduring is so pervasive that when a person strays from the truth and pursues sin, it’s not the individual’s problem but it is also the problem of the entire group and their responsibility to get him back on the right track again, no matter the cost.”

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer sums up the goal of Village Bible Church: to be a body of believers, a family who have been woven together for one specific purpose.  The Apostle Paul says, so that Village Bible Church “may present everyone complete and mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).  So whatever your thoughts are on why you come here, if it is not what I’m about to say then it’s lacking or it’s faulty in a certain way.  You see, the job of the church is to engage in the spiritual growth of each other. 

We don’t determine the health of Village Bible Church by its number or its budget.  We don’t determine the health and vitality of Village Bible Church through its known quality of services and ministries to a world around us.  We know the health and vitality of Village Bible Church as we see the lives of holiness through the ministry that is done in this place.  We as individuals—you as a person—will determine the health and vitality of this body because we can only be as strong corporately as we are individually.

So it is here in our text that Peter is going to remind us that we’re part of a building project.  And he’s going to remind us that what this building project is all about in the church is to produce holiness in each other’s lives.  So what I want to do before we read the text is help you understand where I’m going.  I want to look at our text under this heading: “Personal Holiness (your holiness, my holiness): A Community Project.”  It’s about us.  So my holiness is about you and your holiness is about me.  We need each other to be able to be holy as God has called us to be holy. 

So let’s look at 1 Peter 2:9-12.  This is what the Word of the Lord says to His church today:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.  12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

It is very rare that I would ever say this because it’s never happened, but I want to make this clear to you so you listen.  I didn’t sleep last night.  I rolled around in my bed for a little bit, got up and prayed; then tried to go back to bed and I couldn’t do it because I want you to hear what I have to say.  If you hear any message I’ve ever preached, this is the message I want you to hear.  That should strike some attention in your heart.  Let’s hear what God has to say.  

Go with me in prayer.

Father God, You have pricked my heart this morning in a way that this young pastor has never felt before.  Lord, that means You’re up to something so I pray that You would speak through me.  I pray that You would enlighten my heart to what You’ve shared with me through Your Word and that You would arrest the heart of Your listeners.  God, You are concerned for Your church.  You’re concerned for us.  Lord, we’re not playing games.  Oh, how I recognize that this week, that You are serious about our holiness and that You have put us into a family of other believers so we can help one another to produce this holiness that is found in You.  Lord, grab our hearts and attention; let us be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry as Your Word begins to wrestle with our hearts.  May Your Word be the one that is found victorious so we may be transformed.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen.

As we examine this heading of our personal holiness being a community project, I want to look under three headings.  Within our text, Peter is going to play out three points right before us:

  • The Position God Places Us In — Who we are as a people.
  • The Passions Peter Pleads Us to Resist — What we are supposed to do as a people.
  • The Plan God Provides for Us to be Victorious — How we are to accomplish victory in this project He’s given us.

The Position God Places Us In

Our text reminds us of something very important for us to always remember:  “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God’s] own possession” (2:9).  Let’s stop there for a moment.  We need to see in verse nine that right away Peter is showing us what he’s saying is in direct contrast to what he’s articulated up to this point. 

Go back to verse seven where we see that “the honor is for you who believe.”  But for those who do not believe—the ones the builders have rejected—Christ has become the Cornerstone.  To those who find Jesus a stumbling stone or a rock of offense, Peter says “they stumble because they disobey the Word as they were destined to do” (2:8).

So here’s the contrast.  The contrast is between those who disobey God’s Word and those who obey God’s Word; those who will be honored at Christ’s coming and those who will be dishonored; those who will not be put to shame and those who will be put to shame.  The contrast begins to unravel around one word—the word “alienation.”  We see here the people of the world stumble over the truth of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord of the universe.  As they stumble over that, the result is alienation.  They are alienated from God.  They have a broken relationship with God.  In fact James tells us the world is an enemy of God (James 4:4).  So there’s brokenness; there’s this inability to have fellowship with God.

Then Peter uses the word “but” in verse nine.  He says, “But there’s a difference.  There’s a contrast between you and the world.  You are not alienated from God.”  When we trusted Christ as our Savior, we were made friends of God; we were brought into the family of God.  We are no longer alienated from God but are part of His Kingdom.  We are now called to a life of ministry in Him.  But here’s the problem:  While we are going on a totally different trajectory than the world, while they’re alienated from God, we now have relationship and fellowship with God.  The problem is that in the life of the Christian there still is alienation.

You see, we got our God issue taken care of; we’re no longer alienated from Him.  But now we’re alienated from the world.  When we choose Christ and make Him our centerpiece, the world says, “Well, now wait a minute.  You’ve gone out of bounds.  You’re not doing what we’re doing.  You’re not talking the way we talk.  You’re not living the way we call you to live.  You’re different.  Now you’re strangers.  We don’t know who you are.  Now we’re not sure we can trust you.” 

This is what Peter is saying: “Your suffering, struggles and issues are coming as a result of the world looking at you and saying, ‘You’re alienated from us.  You are aliens to what we do; to what we are all about.’”  Peter wants to remind us that we have a relationship with God.  Peter wants to remind us that we are beloved by God because in this world, we’re not going to feel very loved.  In this world, we’re going to feel like nobody cares; like nobody thinks the way we do or pursues the things we do.  In many ways that’s true but Peter wants to remind us that we’re not individually brought into this alienation.  It’s all of us together.

See, one of the reasons why we gather together as a people on Sunday mornings is to praise the God from Whom we are no longer alienated.  We can corporately pray to Him and rejoice in our salvation.  The other thing that we do is recognize that at some point we have to leave this place and go into that world.  It’s a scary world out there when we’re the only person in our workplace who believes in Christ; when we’re the only kid in our school who knows Christ personally.  It can get scary out there.

So what Peter is saying is, “You’re not alone.  Although you feel alienated and isolated, you’re not alone.”  Although the readers of this book were scattered all over Asia Minor, Peter is saying, “You’re not alone.  You have a family.”  Notice he starts to describe this family.  He uses a couple different words that I think are of great importance for us to see.

First, we are a special people.  Now Peter is going to tell us—this special group of people—that God is entrusting something to us.  Peter is going to articulate to us the reason why we’re being entrusted with this is that God loves us; that He has put His love upon us. 

Seventeen years ago my Dad came to my room and said, “I believe I’m being called to ministry.”  I responded, “I know, Dad.  I’ve seen you minister and I’ve seen the good work you’re doing.  I’m going to believe this is a good thing.”  He said, “But there’s a catch.  I need someone to take over the business.”  That was real hard for me at nineteen years of age because I’d never been real successful at anything.  He said, “I want to give it to you but there’s one condition.  I need you to run this business but as I would run it—with the same character and integrity that I have.  When they see you serving them, I want people to see me.”  I’ll never forget that!  You see, I was going to take over all my dad’s accounts.  They didn’t know Tim but they knew my Dad.  My job was to reflect who my Dad was to them. 

Just like the catering business in my own life, God has entrusted us as a people with the family business.  And this family business is to live out lives of holiness.  Why do we need to live these lives of holiness?  For one reason: so when others see us, they see our Father in heaven.  When they see us talking, they hear Jesus.  When they see us acting, they hear Jesus.  When they see us living and working in this world, they see Jesus.  So what God is sharing through Peter is that we’re a special people because we’ve been given a special task. 

Now notice this word “special.”  He says, “You’re a chosen race.”  This word means the reason we’re in this position is God’s grace.  God has chosen us for this task; to be this people.  Just as He chose Israel, He chooses us today.  Not because of our greatness or because of any other human element or effort.  We are chosen—uniquely and individually chosen by God—not because of our resumes but because of God’s good pleasure; because of His almighty and powerful grace and mercy.

So that means as a race, we are a people who are chosen by God.  We’ve been put together by God.  We’ve been put together into this race with a similar lineage.  We come from God.  We’ve been born again through the work of the Spirit and though we come from all different places of the world—with all different colors and all different accents—we are one people.  No matter how different on the outside we are, all of us are the same because we’re born in Christ.  We’re a chosen race.

Notice we’re also a spiritual people.  We’re “a royal priesthood.”  Peter says we are royalty.  That should excite your heart because the word “royal” means you are fit for a king.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have been approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15).  God has stamped His approval on you because of the work of Christ in your life and said, “You are fit for My use.  I see good use from you in the life to come.”  This also means we have great power and authority.  We are royalty.  What a word of encouragement for these scattered exiles in 1 Peter, many of whom felt hopeless in their circumstance.  But it wasn’t just for them. 

It’s for us today.  We are children of the King.  We are people who have great power, not because of who we are.  We have great power because of Who we know—the Lord Jesus Christ.  Before you think your job is to exert this new-found power and authority in any way you want, Peter says your royalty is focused in on one task: to be a priest.  No longer would the priesthood be consigned to one group of men as priests in the nation of Israel (1 Chronicles 23-27:6).  Now every believer—slave and free, Jew and Greek, men and women (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)—all of us together under the banner of Jesus Christ would become priests.  We would be God’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).  We would be God’s bridge-builders.  Where was that to be seen?  In the lives of one another.  We serve God as we serve one another.  And we serve one another because we serve God.  So he says, “You’re a royal priesthood.”

Notice Peter says we’re a specific people.  He says, “You’re a holy nation.”  God is speaking about a certain group of people.  We aren’t a mob or some unnamed or faceless crowd of people.  He says, “You’re a nation.”  This word in the Greek—ethnos—speaks of a people from a certain place or common community who bear a similar nationality.  As a result of that, we as the people of God—just as a people group would be in a certain area in the world—would have the same accent.  We would feast on the same food.  We would speak the same language.  We would live according to certain customs and traditions of our people just as is seen in the life of a common people group or country.

It’s the same with the church.  We have an ethos—a set of ideals, purposes and guidelines regarding how we live.  There’s a culture to the people of God.  But notice this culture—this ethos—isn’t that we’re a people of supremacy or greatness.  Notice what Peter hits on here.  He says the reason why we’re different—the reason why we’re a distinct people group—is holiness.  We are “a holy nation.”  

What separates us from all other people in the world?  It’s not our looks.  It’s not our intellect.  It is that we are holy.  We are set apart from evil.  We are called to live upright and righteous lives.  It’s because of this that the world says, “We don’t want nothin’ to do with you.”  We’re a holy nation.

Notice all these things lead us to be a speaking people.  Why are we different?  Because God has made us different.  What are we supposed to do now?  He says in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are “to proclaim the excellencies (or praises) of Him Who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”  You see, there’s a tendency in our world today for everybody to preach everything.  Everybody gets out and parades for their favorite cause.  We see it on TV through advertisements. everybody’s selling something.  It’s amazing that we, the people of God, are the silent ones.  We’ve got the words that bring eternal life.  We’ve got the words that can change our world.  But we are silent while the entire world parades around in their sin.

Yet Peter is saying that the people of God cannot sit by idly and watch the world go by.  We cannot just stay silent.  We are to be a people who are proclaiming something.  We’re not to be proclaiming who we are or what we’re all about.  We are to be proclaiming Who God is and that we have been changed; that we have gone from death to life, from darkness into light.  All this has been accomplished through “the excellencies of him who called you...”  The things that make Him praiseworthy are the things that need to be on our tongue.  We need to get out of our homes and begin to unleash the power of God into this world by being proclaimers of the truth!

But notice in each of these things, Peter doesn’t speak to the individual person; he speaks to us as “people.”  It isn’t, “Tim, you’re this.  Tim, you’re that.”  No it’s, “Village Bible Church, you are this.  You are a royal priesthood, Village Bible Church.  You’re a holy nation.  You’re going to be different than the Sugar Grove and Fox Valley regions around you.  You’re a people who have a task and your job collectively is to proclaim the goodness of our God in Heaven.”  We’re to be speaking this.

Listen to the words of Charles Spurgeon who said, “What wonderful terms of honor are heaped upon the people of God.  Oh, the dignity and praise He has given on sinners made saints.  What a high office and a solemn responsibility that is ours.  May we have the grace to receive them and use them in all aspects of our lives.”

So what are we to do?  Peter has told us who we are—we are a people of God.  And once we know who we are, then we’ve got a job to do. 

The Passions Peter Pleads Us To Resist

Notice that the job involves getting rid of the passions Peter pleads us to resist.  What he’s going to say is, “All right.  I’ve got your attention now.  You’re a collective group of people.  Now here’s your number one goal.  Here is your number one task.” 

As a church, we begin to think our number one goal is to organize relief efforts when disaster strikes, or to fill a stadium with people and have evangelistic crusades.  As important as each of those things are, Peter says, “You, the people of God—you, Village Bible Church—are called to serve one another.”

Notice what he says in verse 11:  “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”  The number one job we have before we go out into the world—the number one job we have before we do anything else—is to help one another resist the passions that are at war within us.

“How are we to do that, Peter?”  You see, we’ll never be able to go into the community until we’ve dealt with these issues.  Quite frankly, the church is not the church today for one simple reason: We act like we’re holy out in the world when we need to be, but sadly we’re not doing the work on the inside that needs to be done.  We’re not addressing one another’s issues and sins.  We’re not correcting one another and admonishing one another.  We’re not exhorting one another to upright living and holiness.  So when it’s time to go out there, we haven’t been changed.  We haven’t been brought out of darkness into His wonderful light.  So what message do we have to give?

So instead we share things:  canned food or clothing.  We share little spiritual anecdotes that make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But that’s not what Christ did in our lives.  He took us from sin and made us saints.  He took us from darkness and brought us into His marvelous light.  We need to remind ourselves of that; we need to live in tune with that so we can in turn and share the goodness of God with the world around us.

So here Peter says, “Beloved” or literally the ones I love.  Do you hear the heart-felt community in those words?  The heart-felt community that’s being established?  “I love you and because I love you, I care.  Because I love you, I get involved.  Because I love you, I exhort you.  Because I love you, I strongly advise you.” 

That word “urge” is the Greek word parakaleo.  It literally means to go alongside another to bring aid, support and encouragement in a time of struggle. 

Your number one goal on Sunday morning is to praise the name of Jesus.  And once you get into the process of doing that, your number two goal is to think, “Who can I bring alongside with me to worship and praise His name?  Oh, he’s hurting.  He needs help so I’m going to come alongside that person.  I’m going to encourage him and strengthen him in the Lord so we can worship God together.”  This word parakaleo is in the present tense which means the people of God—the spiritual people of God—should be doing this on a continual basis. 

But why should we need to do this?  Why do we need to come to one another’s aid?  The answer is so we can “abstain from the passions of the flesh.”  Notice the text.  He says, “All of this is going to happen, beloved, because you are sojourners in exile.  You’re going to need to abstain from things.  There are going to be pursuits and desires in this foreign world that are tempting.” 

When we go out into this world as Christians—as God’s chosen people—there are going to be a lot of temptations.  In and of ourselves we will fail.  So Peter is telling us as a collective body, “Band together.  Come together so that you might not fall to sin.”

Notice what he says about these passions.  They are things with which we all struggle.   Oh, the devil has you falling for his lies because you think, “I don’t struggle with these things.  These are things teenagers struggle with.  These are the things men struggle with.  These are things casual Christians struggle with.  I’m mature in the faith.”  But notice he doesn’t create any kind of sub-category.  He will elsewhere in his letter but he doesn’t do it here.  He says, “I want all the people who are scattered in Asia Minor—followers of Jesus Christ—to hear this.  You’ve got passions that you’ve got to abstain from.”

Each one of us has temptations.  I’ve said this many times before in my own life.  I don’t struggle with certain sins—I struggle with all of them.  Given enough time, given enough coddling, given enough attention, I could struggle with all of them.  I don’t care how gross the temptation or sin is, I can fall to it.  If you don’t believe that in your heart and mind, then you’re already on your way to failure.  When you look at other people and think, “How can they do that?  How can they possibly do such a thing?  I would never do that!”  The Bible says, “Pride comes before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Some of us are sitting here today thinking, “Well, I don’t do that kind of stuff.  I would never do that kind of stuff.”  Peter says these passions are within us.  Now notice they’re all things we struggle with, but notice also that these things are not to be messed with because they are strong. 

This word “passions” comes from the Greek word epithumia.  It speaks of impulses and desires that are literally—in my translation—on steroids.  These aren’t small things.  Now you say, “Tim, I’m a Christian and I’ve got the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.  My life has been changed.  Haven’t you just said I’m a ‘special people’?  I’m a ‘spiritual people’?  Why would I struggle with these things, Tim?”

As Keith prayed, our brother Michael is in the hospital right now with a new heart.  His old heart is gone so his big concern has been taken care of.  But here’s his current problem—I’m no doctor but I know this to be true:  Right now in the hospital, Michael finds himself in a state called immuno-compromised which means he is susceptible to all kinds of issues.  Even the smallest of colds or infections could wreak havoc in his life.

So it is with Christianity in regards to our involvement in this world.  God has changed our hearts.  He’s done a heart transplant and has taken care of our major issue with sin.  But in this world we find ourselves in a spiritually immunocompromised place.  Any little thing—any little temptation—could kill us.  So we need to recognize these temptations are strong and are not to be messed with.  We need to be serious about sin and realize that sin can take our lives. 

Some of you are playing around with sin today and as a result it is sabotaging your Christian walk.  Some of you aren’t even close to the Christian that God has called you to be—not because you’re not smart enough, not because you’re not spiritual enough. 

In my own life, I’ve come to learn that when I am least spiritual and least powerful, it’s not that something’s happened to my brain or something’s happened to my heart.  It is that I’ve allowed one of the world’s infections to have a place in my life.  It is because my attention starts focusing on the things of the world instead of the things of Christ.  It is because I put my hope and trust in the things on earth instead of the things that are in Heaven.  It is when I pursue everything else in this world instead of seeking first God and His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). 

The Greek word there for “abstain” (apechomai) is a powerful word.  It was used by ship captains to cry out, “Hey, look out for rocks!” or “Look out for obstructions that will come.”  We don’t want to shipwreck our faith.  Remember those two young men sitting on the top level of the ship in the movie Titanic?  What is their job?  To abstain from icebergs!  Stay away from those.  They were to call down to the captain, “Hey, you’ve got an obstruction coming your way.  If you don’t turn and distance yourself from it, we’ll sink!”

Peter is telling us today that our job as a spiritual people is to be helping one another.  “Hey Tim, sin is coming to your right; move to the left!”  Or “Hey, Tim, look out!  I see and I hear what you’re saying, and it’s problematic.  God’s Word says you shouldn’t talk that way.  Distance yourself from it.”  You see, we need one another to abstain from the powerful desires in our hearts because if we don’t have others we’ll be sailing blind in this world.  That is the only way you and I will become holy in Christ. 

Some of you are sailing blind with regards to sin.  You’re going full steam ahead with no regard for what’s around you.  The Bible tells us in the book of Proverbs, “Before you know it you’ll be in the clutches of sin and it will take your life” (Proverbs 1:19).  So be warned.  Be warned that you can’t do this on your own; you need others around you to help you and guide you to the truth.

The Plan God Provides for Us to be Victorious

Now how do we do this?  How do we live out this personal holiness as a community project?  We live out the plan God has provided for us to be victorious.  Remember the words of Christ?  He said He’s going to build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:19).  Jesus is telling us we can be victorious over the gates of hell!

But how are we to do that?  He gives us His Spirit and He builds through His Spirit the people of God so we can help one another.  Do you see what this does?  I want this to be abundantly clear here.  To be the people of God, we’ve got to be together.  You can’t just make Sunday morning the only time you experience community.  Me talking to you and you listening is not community.  Community is when we interact—when we live out the “one another commands” —in each other’s lives.  We need to do that together. 

So what does this victorious plan involve?

1.  Commitment to God’s Word.  We come together as a people of God who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).  We live life together in light of God’s Word (Psalm 119:105).  This is our foundation.  We’re not together because we root for the same teams.  We’re not together because we have the same political party as our mantle.  We’re not the same because we go to the same workplace.  We are a people founded on a commitment to God’s Word.  This is it.  This is our truth.  We need to stay committed to it each and every day.

2.  Accountability to God and each other.  As we build the case of our lives on the Scriptures, we are reminded of the truth that we are to be accountable to God (Romans 14:12).  So if He’s going to hold us accountable, I’d better do all I can to get my life in order so that when I see Him face to face I will not be put to shame (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).  So if I’ve got to have my life in order with Him, then I’d better look for some help from some other people. 

One thing I’ve come to know is I can only see part of Tim.  I can’t see behind me.  I can strain a little bit and see the back of my shoulder but I can’t see all of Tim.  So what do I need?  I need brothers and sisters who are walking around me and saying, “Hey Tim, you’ve got something on your back there.”  This happens all the time with Amanda when I shave my head.  I can only see part of my head so I have to say, “Amanda, I need you to do a head-check.”  She looks me over I don’t look foolish having a patch of hair somewhere on my head. 

We need Christians who do spirit-checks in our lives.  “Hey, you’ve got a problem here.  You’ve got a problem there.”  Let’s deal with it according to God's Word.

3.  Relationships that show brotherly love.  How does all this happen?  It involves relationships that show brotherly love.  We commit to God’s Word and to each other.  Why?  Because we love God and because we’re called to love each other deeply (John 15:12-17).  It’s an ever-growing love that spurs us on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).  When was the last time you spurred someone on to something recorded in this Word?  Where you gave someone a word of blessing in their life?  Where you challenged someone in their faith? 

You think you’re not living in sin?  If you haven’t been challenged in your life as a follower of Jesus Christ regarding sin, then something’s wrong.  Let me tell you what I know.  I know you’re sinful because I know I’m sinful.  I know what this wicked heart can hide when it wants to.  So we’ve got to be in relationship with one another, caring for one another.  We need a solidarity that’s been brought together through the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ so we can love Christ as we love one another.

But what happens when someone within the community is caught in sin?  What happens when one willfully and continually steers his or her life toward physical and spiritual shipwreck?  What happens when one within the community no longer desires to heed the Word of truth and the biblical counsel of others?  What are we as a community of faith to do?

4.  Extending that love through community correction.  Notice these four points make up an acronym of C.A.R.E. 

All of this involves care and we extend this love through community correction.  We need to be a people who are serious about sin.  Why?  Not because we want to be some legal-eagle police involved in each other’s lives.  If that’s your idea of what accountability is, then go back to God’s Word because that’s foreign from the Scriptures. 

What we are to do is live lives that extend love to one another and say, “I want to be able to present you to Christ, blameless and holy (Colossians 1:22).  I want that in your life so I’m going to help you with that.  With love I’m going to hold you accountable.”  And you likewise are going to say, “I also want you to do that in my life.”  So we get involved in one another’s lives and sometimes that’s difficult and sometimes that’s hard.  But we’re to extend love.

Let me share a Scripture with you regarding this truth.  Matthew 18 gives us a framework as to how to deal with our brothers and sisters when they fall into sin.  It’s not their problem alone.  Scripture tells us we are to help one another before there’s spiritual shipwreck.

Matthew 18:15-20 tells us what to do when someone starts to sin against us and our God: 

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.  If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.  And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector [one who is on the outside].  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth [he says to the church] shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

“Where two or three are gathered…” Sometimes we get into a small group at our house and we count one-two-three, “All right, Jesus is with us.”  That’s not what the text is talking about.  It is talking about when we make personal holiness a community project, God says He uniquely inhabits His people so that we might be part of the on-going community correction of others.  Jesus says, “I am with you—My people—when you love one another to the point of correction.” 

The people of God are compelled and commanded by the truths of Scripture to exhort, correct and even discipline wayward believers.  Not because we are a bunch of legalistic, pious policemen, but because this discipline is done with love—love for the one who wanders and love for the God whom we serve.

All Scriptures quoted directly from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.