A Role In One Another's Lives

Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians by identifying himself, and Sosthenes. He identifies himself as an apostle, a messenger, of Jesus Christ.

He brought the gospel to them. He was commissioned, and entrusted, by Jesus, not only to bring the message, and begin the church, but also to define the limits of life in the church, because they were given to him by Jesus.

We are all to bring the gospel. We are all to be involved in planting, and establishing, churches. But we are not all given authority to define what life in the church should be like. (Now, I do not mean whether or not we should sing 3 or 4 hymns. Or how long the message should be.) Rather Jesus defines the church as a community. And he defines how his body should live as individuals, and as a community. And he has given messengers, and the scripture, to communicate those definitions. Current day leaders are to take those definitions, clarify them, and help apply them.

Paul, also, mentions Sosthenes. He does not say who Sosthenes is, because everyone in Corinth should know him, as one of their local leaders.

If you have read 1st Corinthians, you realize that the church has gotten pretty messed up. This letter is Paul trying to get the church back on the right track. So, it seems like Sosthenes, seeing things go from bad to worse, tracks Paul down, and informs him about what is going on. So, Paul mentions Sosthenes to let the church know that he is not inventing all of the stuff he is about to say. He has an eye witness, who he trusts, and who they all know.

The Bible encourages all the followers of Jesus to give one another positive instruction, and encouragement, in living with God, one another, and those outside of God's family. But it can also include reproof, rebuke, and correction. As we see in this letter.

There are many places in Scripture, where wisdom is praised. And part of wisdom is in receiving correction. But there is also wisdom in giving correction.

One part of giving correction wisely is being sure of the facts. That is why Sosthenes is important. He is a witness to the problems of the Corinthian church. He is a trustworthy witness. And someone who is trusted by the Corinthians.

Another part of wise correction is a focus on the positive. The first thing Paul does in this letter is to praise the church for the good in them.

If all we recognize is bad in someone, and hammer away at that, do we communicate any message of hope, and worth, in that person.

The purpose of correction is to communicate wrong areas of thinking, speaking, and acting. But it should also communicate how to do those areas rightly, and why. And it should communicate motivation to change.

None of us are perfect. So, we all need correction. If all we hear about is how wrong we are, we will have no motivation to pursue what is right. Communicating worth, value, and where we excel can have as much effect in enabling us to move in a right direction, as pointing out our wrong direction. It gives hope, and encouragement.

The gospel reminds us, we are all condemned sinners. But the gospel also reminds us that we are loved, and redeemed. It is the second part that moves us to repentance, and pursuit of a new life, a new way of living.

Ambassadors and Priests

Peter writes to the churches that they are a royal priesthood. Paul uses another metaphor. He says those who follow Jesus are his ambassadors.

The point in both places is that the people of God are intermediaries, representing God to people, and people to God. This means that all of God's people are pastors. All of God's people are evangelists. All of God's people are church planters. And all of God's people are missionaries.

We might not all function in the way most christians understand those terms today. Many think that only leaders, and the more spiritual, should practice these things. But God has commanded all of us to practice these areas. A large part of the role of leaders in God's family is to equip, train, and enable all of God's family to grow, and complete, those functions.

For example, all of God's family should be involved in producing, and facilitating the growth, of disciples. This includes instruction, encouragement, equipping, as well as reproof, and rebuke. All of God's family may not be involved in a formal, or structured, way. But our hearts should be filled with God's word, and love for one another, that we should be open, and alert, to give what we have to stir up, to encourage, to ground, and to promote growth in one another.

And we should be similarly involved in the other areas too. We need to learn to recognize opportunities for the gospel. We need to learn how to transition from one conversation into another that brings the gospel into focus.

The gospel moves into new areas by connecting to people, creating disciples, and planting churches. We generally refer to planting churches in new areas that involve crossing boundaries of language, culture, and ethnicity, as missions. And indeed, there are different issues to be faced, and so new skills to develop. Still the command is given to all of God's family to be concerned, and involved, in both of these areas. Again, a particular individual may not be on a church plant team, or move into another culture. But the hearts of all the family of God need to be given, and invested, in these areas, as much as those who are involved in person.

Now, aw we are not all going to be experts in these areas, but we should be growing in these areas, we need the experts to promote growth in these areas for all of us. And there should be those, in our churches, who can be resources to promote growth, and equip, in these areas. As well as ones who help promote other avenues of involvement. Like prayer, and support. Both of these are vital to promote the gospel -- locally, and around the world. And both are needed as much as person to person connection with people.

Jesus' Prayer

John records a prayer of Jesus's during the Last Supper. Jesus realizes his death, his resurrection, and his return to the Father are all near, and that the work of his Kingdom will fall to his disciples. So, he prays concerning the future of his followers.

He is thankful for those, who received him, and who will have a relationship with them -- Father and Son -- forever.

He prays for their continuing faithfulness. Not only are they entrusted with his Word, but they are now part of his family. So, they represent him in the world; and as a result, the world hates them, and is against them. So, he prays for protection. Especially that they maintain the truth.

And he asks for continued love, and unity. Not only among those who followed him directly, but also among those who follow Jesus through his disciples' testimony. Which means you, and me. He prays their unity would be like the unity of the Father and the Son. He prays that the unity of the family of God would be like the unity of God and himself. It is impossible to be more united than that.

Jesus says there are two important results of this kind of unity. This type of unity demonstrates that God sent Jesus. It also demonstrates that God loves those who follow Jesus with the same love as he loves Jesus.

Unity is a testimony of the truth of the gospel. In a world, where there are a million different types of Christians (twenty types of Baptist alone), I am not sure what this will look like. I am sure that many of the differences emphasized by these different groups are important aspects of God's truth. But I am also sure that Jesus' message about unity in his family, unity among those who give him their allegiance, is equally important. It is something which needs to be obeyed with as much intensity, and fervor, as any other teaching of Christ.

Jesus commands us to love one another to show we are his disciples. Jesus commands us to be united to show Jesus was really sent into the world by the Father. And it is the lack of these things, not manifested by the people of God, that most other people point to, as the reason why they are not followers of Jesus.

I do not think l love, and unity, necessarily mean we need to become one organization. But we do need to remember that all who give their allegiance to Jesus are one family. And we need to act like a family.

Grow in Love

There is a passage in one of Paul's letters, where he states: "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment." (ESV) At first, it looked like Paul was praying for growth in love, knowledge, and discernment. But, with a little more consideration, it looks more like Paul is praying for an increase in love, characterized by greater knowledge, and greater discernment.

Why would you need knowledge, and discernment, to love someone?

Well, first, do you know what love is? Nowadays, it seems like most people define love as complete acceptance. But I think the4 Bible defines loves as wanting, promoting, and working for the best for someone.

To love like Jesus, we do need to accept people. We can list of bunch of people, Jesus accepted:

• The women at the well.
• The women caught in adultery.
• Zaccheus.
• The rich, young ruler.

Jesus accepted them. But, because he loved them, he did not want them to stay where they were. It would be better if they moved on, gave allegiance to the Father, and live in a relationship with him.

So, we need to learn what love is. We need to know how to express it. And we need to discern what to express. Sometimes the best way to express love is with a hug. And sometimes the best way to express love is to tell someone they are messing up, what they need to do to clean up, and how to move forward.

We need knowledge, and discernment, to express love. And if we grow in knowledge, and discernment, we can express love more, and better.

New Command

During the Last Supper, Jesus gave a new command. To love as he loved.

Now, to love is not a new command. "Love your neighbor as yourself" was given back in Leviticus. This is a new command, because we are to love one another, like Jesus loved us.

How did Jesus love? He washed feet. He healed. He fed. He died on a cross to erase the punishment for sin, and give people a chance for a new relationship with the Father.

We might have a little trouble with following his example completely. We can't die for people's sin. We can't feed a bunch of people with a couple of English Muffins. But we can keep our eyes open. We can be alert for needs. And we can sacrifice our time, our energy, and our physical possessions to help, benefit, serve, and provide for others. Jesus says that this type of other focused, self denying, work was a demonstration of how we belong to him. It shows that we are followers of him.

One of the Roman Caesars noted how those rotten Christians not only fed their poor -- ie. needy Christians -- but also our poor -- meaning normal idolatrous Roman citizens. 

In the Middle Ages, Christians were seen caring for victims of the bubonic plague. And, eventually, catching the deadly disease themselves.

There are numerous examples of Christians building schools, and hospitals. There are examples of job creation. Like teaching a group of women a skill, so that can begin a business.

And there are, unfortunately, negative examples. In one city, after another hurricane, the city asked a large church if they could house some families, whose homes were destroyed in their building. And because the church was more concerned about possible damage to their property, rather than the lives of people, they said no.

No one is perfect. Especially not Christians. We need to learn to do as Jesus did. And we need to learn to see, think, and feel as Jesus did.

I have started to think of love as: wanting, and acting, to bring about the best for people. This includes physical needs. It also includes heart needs. (Spiritual, emotional, and psychological needs.) So, part of love is wanting, and working, for people to come into relationship with Jesus. Sharing the gospel, because one wants people to know Jesus, is an act of love. To pray for God's Spirit to move, and convince people's hearts about Jesus, is an act of love. To rejoice because someone moves away from something wrong, even if it is not a complete move, is a response of love. They are getting close to the best, closer to the truth.

Love is service, providing, and acting to promote the good of people. But it is also an attitude, and a perspective about people, and their direction in life. One that wants what is best. And understands what that best is.

Testimonies

 I have heard people say that Christianity cannot be proven scientifically. Therefore, it cannot be true.

Science proves its assertions using the scientific method. The scientific method involves several steps.

• Observing something.
• Creating an explanation, or theory.
• Devising a test, or experiment, determine if the theory is correct.
• Completing the test, and evaluating whether it proves, or disproves, the theory.
• And making sure the test works the same all the time.

This is a valuable method for exploring many things. But there are number of things it does not work for. Try developing an experiment to determine if George Washington was the first president of the United States. Or if Abe Lincoln was president. Or Julius Caesar ruled the Roman Empire. Or there was an attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II.

For historic truths, the scientific method does not work. We need to evaluate historic truths based on testimony. Like a court of law. There is no experiment to prove if someone committed a crime. But if 20 people saw someone commit a crime, and they agree on when, how, and what, we can be pretty sure it is true. But if someone says the criminal was 6 feet tall, and wore a red shirt, and someone else says the criminal was 3 feet tall, and wore a green shirt, then maybe there is a problem.

The Bible has, at least, twelve people agreeing that Jesus performed miracles, died on the cross, and rose from the dead three days later. And then hung around for another 40 days. Not only were they in agreement, but they had to endure some pretty drastic circumstances, because of their testimony. And they refused to change, in spite of these circumstances.

The Value of People

A little while ago, I had one of those days. I had some things to accomplish, and although I tried, none of them got done. More over, a few other things happened, and, for a while, all I saw was black. The voice inside my head was making sure I knew how unimportant I was, and how little worth, and value, I had. I was pretty bummed to say the least.

The  only thing right I did was to bring my perception of myself to my Father. And I got two messages in response. The first was a picture of a cross. The second was a Bible passage: Romans 8:31-39.

In the Romans passage, Paul asserts that God is for us. Then, he asks four questions.

1. If God chose to send Jesus to the Cross, is there any good thing he won't provide for us. The question is rhetorical. He has already given us the best, and most important. Everything else we need is a no brainer.

2. Is there anyone, who can accuse us of wrong doing? From one perspective, the world accuses us. We accuse ourselves. From another perspective, God justifies us. Yes, we have failed. Yes, we have done wrong. But God has acted. He has wiped the slate clean. We can give our allegiance to him, and start over. And over. And over.

3. Is there anyone who can condemn us? Paul reminds us that Jesus died. Moreover, Jesus rose. Moreover, Jesus is now with the Father interceding for us. If someone points out how terrible we are, how we only deserve punishment and death, Jesus leans over to the Father: "I died for that person. I paid that person's punishment in full. There is no grounds for condemnation anymore. He\she is a child of the King."

4. Is there anything that can separate us from his love? Is there anything that can force, or persuade, him not to love us? Is there anything in life that says, "God does not love you anymore"? Paul included a couple of lists of things that might make someone think: "This thing that happened must mean that God does not love me anymore." But God has already given up the most important, most precious, thing he had -- his Son, Jesus -- to safeguard us. Surrendering Jesus to the Cross demonstrates God's love, and complete commitment to achieve the best for mankind. He invites everyone to be part of his immediate family. He proclaims the worth, and value, of everyone by this amazing sacrifice.

So, whenever you have a bummer of a day, remind yourself of these things. They show how important you really are.