Okay, I want to talk to you this morning about battling independence and contrarianism.
Okay, battling independence and contrarianism.
First little caveat here, please don't listen to this and think of the person that you think
of when you think of independence and contrarianism.
Think of yourself, okay?
There's a tendency in all of us to try to find independence or to be a contrarian.
Again, sometimes just for contrarian's sake, but sometimes for other reasons.
And it's not going to help us if we're thinking about other people.
We need to ask ourselves, is this about me?
Where do I need to grow in this?
And with that too, I will say, being a new church plant and being the first church plant
of the church that sent us, it's fairly typical that the people who would gravitate towards
a church plant, especially the first ones when you've never seen a church plant before,
would be the ones who would maybe have a tendency to be a little bit more independent, a little
bit more contrarian.
And I think that was the case with this group of people.
There's a good side of that, right?
Because it's the kind of pioneering kind of people that would say yes.
And then there's a bad side of that that keeps us knitted together in a way that is fruitful
for the kingdom.
Okay?
And so I think this is an important thing for us to talk about and to realize that if
there is independence in us and there is this kind of contrarianism in us, that it's
not helpful.
It's not helpful in any sense of church, but especially on the front end of a church plant,
the first year of a church plant, God really wants us to be united.
And we're going to see that here in a second as we look at different scriptures about this.
So I'm going to read through a bunch of these scriptures.
I'll comment on a few, but I really, in many ways, just want you to let the word of God
sink into your heart and hear kind of this theme throughout scripture on unity and agreement
and having one mind, having the same mind.
And let that just sink into our hearts and just ask the question, hey, am I helping with
this?
You know, when we do premarital counseling with couples and sometimes marriage counseling,
one of the topics we'll talk about is oneness.
And we'll often ask the question, does this particular thing promote our oneness or detract
from our oneness?
And it's actually a good thing to actually ask in the context of church as well, because
God wants us to be one.
God wants us to have one mind, to be like-minded.
And there are things that we can do or say that promote oneness.
And there are things that we can do or say that detract from our oneness.
And so I'm going to look at some scriptures here.
I'm going to start in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10.
And Paul makes an appeal here.
He says,
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and
that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same
judgment.
Okay.
I think it's important to realize that if we don't have agreement and we're not united
in the same mind and the same judgment, what ends up happening is there are divisions among
us.
And a lot of times independence and contrarianism is really a root for division.
And so Paul's given this appeal.
Now he's given this appeal because number one, he knows that this was happening there, but
he also knows that this is human nature as well.
Okay.
And so he's appealing.
And sometimes we have to make this appeal.
And I'm making this appeal this morning, that we are conscious of this, that we think of
this, that we all agree that there be no divisions among you, that we be united in the same mind
in the same judgment.
Philippians chapter one, verse 27 says something similar.
It says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
So whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm
in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
And again, this is why it's so important because when we are standing firm in one spirit and we
have one mind, it causes us to strive side by side for the sake of the gospel, for the
faith of the gospel.
And really what ends up happening is if we don't have that, it hinders our gospel witness.
It hinders gospel advance because we end up being focused on the wrong things.
Philippians chapter two, one to four says, if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort
from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy
by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
So he's saying, you know, if there's any kind of encouragement, if there's anything good
in Christ, complete this by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord
and of one mind.
Now listen, that doesn't happen naturally.
That takes work.
Like you're not going to, you're not going to get there by hoping or just thinking that's
just going to happen by natural church osmosis, so to speak.
It takes effort.
Okay.
We have to have intentionality to be of the same mind, have the same love, be in full accord
and one mind.
Now I don't know about you, but when I hear that, I think, wow, that's a pretty strong
language in agreement.
I mean, same mind, one mind, same love, full accord.
You know what I think of that thing?
I think it's not even possible.
Which brings us to another point.
We need the spirit of God to do that.
We can't be dependent on our own rationale and our own efforts alone.
We must depend on the Holy Spirit to make us one.
To pray what Jesus prayed.
That we would be one just as him and the Father are one.
That we would have the intentionality, not just in our own hearts and minds, but intentionality
to say, God, we need your spirit to make us one.
We need your spirit to help us to have one mind.
Because that's impossible apart from him.
There's no way.
But if we are all centered on the right things, if we're all focused on Christ, and we are
living by the spirit, we'll have this one mind.
We'll have the fellowship of the spirit.
Philippians chapter 2, again in Philippians, 19 to 20 in the CSB says,
Now I hope that the Lord Jesus sent Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged
by news about you.
For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests.
That same kind of concept, like-mindedness.
1 Peter 3, verse 8 says,
All of you have unity of mind.
2 Corinthians 13, 11,
Brothers, agree with one another.
Romans 12, 16,
Live in harmony with one another.
The good thing about this verse is it takes away that kind of concept that creeps in that
says the only way to have unity is with uniformity.
Well, there's no such thing as a harmony that has uniformity, that it's not a harmony anymore.
And it's just everybody singing the same.
The beauty of a harmony is the fact that different people are singing in different ways,
and it sounds good together.
There's unity, but it's without uniformity.
And we can have unity without uniformity.
I'm not in any way advocating, nor do I believe as the scriptures advocating that we all have to
be the same, and we have to have all the same ideas, but we can take those ideas,
work them together, live in agreement, and have one mind, and work in harmony with one another.
And we have to ask ourselves sometimes,
Does this belief, does what I'm about to say,
does what I'm about to challenge,
does what I'm about to introduce into the conversation,
is this harmony or is this out of tune?
Right?
Is this going to flow together well?
Is this going to keep us all singing the same thing in the same direction,
and it's going to be pleasant and give grace to the hearers?
Or is this going to sound bad?
Is this going to not be harmonious?
Is it going to, you know, sometimes if you have a group of people trying to sing in harmony,
and then one person gets to their part, and they're just way off,
you can stop the whole song sometimes.
And everyone's kind of like, oh, okay, I don't know where to go from there.
And that can happen in church sometimes.
We can be buzzing along, just doing our thing.
There's harmony, there's cohesion,
and then all of a sudden someone throws something out there,
and you're just like, whoa.
And the song stops.
And we stop moving forward.
So we've got to ask ourselves,
Am I living in harmony with one another?
It doesn't mean you have to be exactly the same.
Well, I thought you said we have to be one mind.
Yes.
You have to take all these scriptures together and interpret them.
You can't just take one alone, take them together.
There has to be a way to be of one mind,
while there's still certain differences where they harmonize together.
Okay?
And that's what we have to ask ourselves.
Is this harmonious?
Is this belief?
Is this way of doing things?
Is this what I'm about to say?
Romans 14.19 says,
Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
It's so easy to be so,
and especially knowing how you're gifted.
Sometimes it can be so easy to just be so kind of myopic
and tunnel vision on what is true or what is right,
and we can miss what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Now, I'm not saying you compromise what is true or what is right,
but sometimes we can do that at the expense of people.
We can do that at the expense of thinking of the harmony,
of only thinking of ourselves and not thinking of how we function together.
And he says,
Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
And so we have to ask the question,
Is this going to bring peace among us?
Is this going to be a mutual upbuilding?
Sometimes it might only build us up.
It might only be interesting to us.
It might only be good for us or maybe even one other person.
Maybe if I say this in front of a large group of people,
maybe this won't be upbuilding.
Maybe this won't be helpful.
We got to ask those questions sometimes,
and we have to pursue that.
It has to be pursued.
It's really a mentality,
kind of a focus of how we even do church together.
Ephesians chapter 4, 1 to 6 says,
I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord,
urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness,
with patience,
bearing with one another in love.
Verse 3,
Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit.
Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God, the Father of all,
who is over all and through all,
and in all.
There's a lot of ones in there.
I think he's trying to make a point.
He's trying to make a point of how we should be one.
We should be eager
to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
Let me ask you the question.
When it comes to the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace,
what is your disposition?
What is your attitude when it comes to that?
Are you eager?
Is it an afterthought or a forethought?
Is it an intention or is it off the radar?
Are you eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace?
We need to be eager.
It needs to be something that we are looking forward to,
that we are pressing into.
Not an afterthought.
Not something we don't think about very often.
It needs to be something that we're eager for.
One of the reasons we need to be eager for it
is because the devil wants to disunify us.
And the devil is into aborting things.
He loves to abort things before they can get traction and really get started.
He loves to do this with churches.
He loves to do this with babies.
He loves to do this with all kinds of things.
We're not unaware of his schemes.
And so we need to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
Knowing that the devil does not want this church to even get off the ground.
We're not even a year into it.
Of course the devil would love to abort it before we could even get there.
So you have to be aware of that.
We have to be aware of the devil's schemes and not say,
Oh, it's no big deal.
I'd have to think about it.
No, you do have to think about it.
You do have to be eager.
You do have to think about what we say, how we do things,
who the audience is.
We have to be considering those things.
Very important.
So those are, I mean, just a kind of a cluster of verses.
Talking about agreement, oneness of mind, eagerness in this area, pursuing it.
There's quite a bit of things there that is definitely a theme in the Scriptures that we are to pursue.
And I just, before I get into some roots of what can cause this,
I just want you to ask the question again,
What is your disposition towards this?
How eager or uneager are you at this?
Have you been burned in the past by things that have caused you to just say,
Well, it's not the big deal.
I'm just kind of looking after myself because when I tried to do this in the past,
I got burned or it went really horribly.
And listen, that's true.
Many of us have experienced that where it's gone really poorly.
When we actually tried to aim for these noble things that the Scriptures say.
And the worst thing that could happen when we would get so burnt out on that,
that we would stop being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
We have to.
We must.
And it's a worthy cause.
And I think it's just important for us to say that out loud.
This is a worthy cause.
And not think, Well, I'm tired.
I'm burnt out.
I tried that.
It didn't work.
I tried that.
And I was a part of a church split.
I tried that.
And I got really hurt.
Yes.
I know how you feel.
That's happened.
But to be eager in this thing.
To say, Yes, those things have happened.
But as far as this church,
we are going to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
We're going to be eager in this.
Amen?
Okay.
I want to look at kind of 10 different roots, I think, of independence and contrarianism.
Okay?
10 possible roots of what can kind of cause these things to crop up.
All right?
So let's start with the first one.
First one.
Unbelief.
Okay?
Genesis 3.
1.
Classic tactic of the enemy right from the beginning.
The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman.
And this is...
Just know this is a constant tactic of the enemy.
Did God really say,
You must not eat from any tree in the garden?
And this is what often I think ends up happening when it comes to unity,
when it comes to being of one mind.
Is...
Did God really say that?
I mean...
Do we really need to be of one mind?
Do we really need to be in full accord?
Do we...
I mean...
Did God really say that?
And my answer to you is,
Yes, He did.
We just read it.
Said it a few times.
Said it many times.
And it's easy to say,
Well, but we're so different.
And there's so much...
There's such an eclectic nature of people in general,
much less the church.
Surely God didn't really mean that.
Surely God didn't really say that.
But oh yes, He did.
He did.
And so it's good to just...
I think that's one that really goes under the radar.
We kind of read these verses and think,
Well, that's not...
Surely it can't mean that because that would be impossible.
So it must not mean that.
When in actuality it does mean that,
and we're just in unbelief.
We're reading through the scriptures
with human eyes and lenses and past experiences
and saying,
Surely God couldn't really mean that.
Surely God didn't really say that
because it's not possible.
And so we read these verses
and we kind of just go to the next verse.
You know?
It happens.
I know it happens.
We have to be watch out for that.
Do you have faith that it's possible to be of one mind?
Do you have faith that it's possible to be in full accord?
One accord.
Do you have faith in that?
And if you don't, we need to repent.
We need to believe and trust God.
Okay?
You wanted to do a church plant and not have faith?
You're out of your mind.
There's no way.
We need faith.
And one of the things we have to believe
is that God can build his church,
that God can keep us together,
that God can unify an eclectic group of people,
a motley crew from all different walks of life
and different church backgrounds
and different ages.
You know you hear these voices sometimes.
I don't fit in.
I don't have a place.
I'm too old.
I'm too young.
I'm not like them.
I don't fit in with that person.
I'm not close to that person.
They're close.
I'm not.
They do these things.
I don't do those things.
It's all these voices.
You're going to listen to them?
You're going to listen to the voice of God.
You'll listen to the word of God and say,
no, this is possible.
And yes, although in some areas it looks like
the cards are stacked against us,
God is for us.
What cards really can be stacked against us?
Right?
God is for us.
Who can be against us?
I'm not going to have more faith
in the devil's ability to screw things up
than God's ability to keep things together.
Really at its core,
unbelief is not a lack of faith.
It's just faith in the wrong direction.
It's faith in the wrong things.
It's actually believing that the devil
has more power to disrupt
than God has power to unify.
And that's just unacceptable
for anyone who believes that Jesus is
who he says he is.
Okay?
Number two,
ignorance I think is a root.
I think sometimes we don't realize.
I think sometimes we just kind of pan it off
and say, you know,
yeah, I have some different views on things
or I have some different thoughts
or I like to challenge things
or I like to discuss things
and talk about things.
But again, I'm not saying those things are bad.
We'll get into more of this more.
But we're not conscious of the fact
that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
And we don't think about the fact
that this can be very disruptive.
Independence and contrarianism
are divisive by nature.
Okay?
They divide us.
And we have to be careful
while we let these things suddenly come in
and just think,
oh, it's not a big deal.
I really actually do think
it does become a big deal.
And I don't think,
I really believe this is something
we need to hear as a church
is that we need to be careful of these things.
And again, don't think of the person
who's not,
someone sitting next to you in the room.
Think of yourself.
Okay?
Independence and contrarianism are divisive.
Mark 3.25.
If a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
Period.
Number three, root.
This is a big one.
It's very easy and often happens
that we can find our identity
in being different.
Okay?
And so,
but the problem is
if your identity is in being different,
then you're not free to be the same.
Essentially,
you're not free to be one.
If your identity is in being different,
you're actually subconsciously hindering unity
because your identity cannot handle
being the same
or to be one.
You always have to identify yourself as different.
You almost,
there's like this,
an identity in being different
causes a need for contrarianism
because otherwise I lose my identity.
If you agree with me,
if we're one,
I'm no longer secure
because I feel like I'm just lost in the crowd.
Whereas me being different,
being a contrarian,
can end up making me feel
a sense of worth.
So it's finding your identity
in something other than the person
and the work of Jesus.
And what ends up happening
is that you actually create
this unintentional,
maybe subconscious friction
with each other
to have to be our own dog,
to have to be different,
to have to have different ideas,
to have to always be the one
who pushes against
or always be the one
who has these ideas of things.
I think this is,
we as a church identify
as a charismatic church.
We believe in the power
and the work
and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But one of the extreme bad
sections of the charismatic world
can be that
when the gospel isn't centered
in a charismatic belief system,
we have to come up
with new revelation
in order to find identity.
And so I always have to be hearing
some new thing from God.
I always have to have
this new revelation
in a scripture
that nobody else has ever had
for all of time and space.
And yet I do.
And that makes me somewhat special
when really there's nothing
more special,
nothing more unique,
nothing more grounding
and identifying
than the person
and the work of Jesus.
And if you do not
found yourself
on the gospel of Jesus,
and I'm not talking about
whether you're a Christian or not,
I'm talking about
believing the gospel
in all areas of our life.
Okay?
Because I'm speaking to Christians,
but we have pockets of unbelief
in the gospel
where we subtly are
pulled into finding our identity
and being something
other than in Christ.
So we say,
I have to be different
because that's what makes me feel valid.
It makes me feel like
I bring value
instead of just finding our value
in the person and work of Jesus.
Okay?
And so,
watch out for that.
Watch out for that.
If you start to feel uncomfortable
even sometimes,
sometimes you can almost sense it
that someone comes into a conversation
and they're coming in
thinking I'm for sure
going to be contrarian in this
and they find out,
oh,
we actually agree on this
and then almost like
causes them to feel
a little unsettled.
Like,
oh,
in that case,
well,
what about this?
You know,
it's like,
wait a second,
like we agree on this.
This is good,
isn't it?
But no,
you just literally
just stole the person's identity.
You just pulled it out
right from underneath them
and now they're freaking out.
Okay?
That's why we must have
our identity rooted
in the gospel.
Okay?
1 Corinthians 11,
there's two schools
of thought on this verse,
whether Paul was being sarcastic
or facetious about this.
I tend to think he was
because of the context,
but you can pick for yourself,
but I think it's a good example of this.
1 Corinthians 11,
17 and 19,
he says,
in the following instructions,
I do not commend you
because when you come together,
it is not for the better,
but for the worse.
For in the first place,
when you come together as a church,
I hear that there are divisions among you
and I believe it in part,
for there must be factions among you
in order that those
who are genuine among you
may be recognized.
Some say,
well,
he's saying yes,
that as actually,
he's not being facetious,
that these distinctions
and factions need to be there
for it to be recognized
who's right,
but I think there's a good chance
he could be being facetious here
and saying,
this is actually what the problem
I have with you guys.
You guys have divisions
and it's almost like
you must have them
in order to prove
that you are approved by God.
You must have them to say that,
hey,
I'm legit here
and I have to distinguish myself
because I'm not finding my identity
in the person and work of Jesus.
Beware of that.
Number four,
I think a root of independence
and contrarianism
is a loose tongue.
A loose tongue.
Now,
I mean this in a very specific way.
Okay?
Let me look at some of the verses.
Proverbs 15,
2 says,
The tongue of the wise
commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools
pour out folly.
Proverbs 12,
18 says,
There is one whose rash words
are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise
brings healing.
And then Ephesians 4,
29 says,
Let no corrupting talk
come out of your mouths,
but only such as is good
for building up
as fits the occasion
that it may give grace
to those who hear.
Sometimes,
you might have thoughts
about something.
You're wondering about something.
Maybe,
you're finding your beliefs
challenged by something
and you want a sounding board
on that.
And,
especially when we feel comfortable
with a group of people,
it's easy to just think
it doesn't matter
who that sounding board is.
I'm saying that it does matter.
Sometimes,
being a sounding board
to the wrong people
doesn't benefit
or give grace
to those who hear.
It's not,
it's not,
it's like,
hey,
that's a perfectly
fine conversation.
Like,
we can wonder
and doubt things
and have questions
about things.
We have to have the freedom
to be able to do that.
But we have to think
that sometimes
having that conversation
with the wrong person
can really wig them out
and not help,
and that really
does not be helping them.
Okay?
And so,
we have to make sure
that before we,
you know,
vent about something
or throw out this new thought
we're having about something
or disagree about something
or think,
you know,
hey,
I think we're going
the wrong direction
and give our opinion
on something.
We have to think,
is this going to build up
the church?
Is this putting us
in the right direction?
Is this good for building up?
And is it as fits the occasion?
Or is this the wrong place
in time for this?
Is it giving grace
to those who hear?
This might not be helpful.
Okay?
That's a really important
question to ask.
And I think
sometimes when you're
tending towards
an individualistic independence
or you tend to have
more of a contrarian mindset,
you could just say things,
again,
especially if it's found
in your identity,
you just say things
or give opinions
and you're not thinking
of who it's affecting.
There might be someone
who's weak in faith
that you're putting doubts
in their mind
that they really don't need it
and are not going
to be helpful to.
You might be saying things
that you say it
to the right person,
you can go back
and forth on it,
you have a good conversation
and there's mutual upbuilding
and this is a good conversation.
Whereas others,
it's just like,
oh my gosh,
that really scared me.
Like,
what if that is true?
What if that's right?
Whereas two other people
could have that conversation
and they come out of it
and it's like,
oh,
there's good clarity
and there's good,
there's no fear.
Someone else gets
really anxious about it.
Someone else starts
believing things
because they're not
as grounded in the scriptures
or they're not as grounded
in their faith.
Starts believing things
they shouldn't believe.
We have to be careful
of what we say
and who we say it to.
Especially when it comes
to opinions.
Everybody's got opinions.
All right?
I have strong opinions.
So who,
I'd be a fool,
especially because
you guys know me,
if I'd say,
hey,
no more strong opinions.
Not to mention,
that'd be lame.
No one wants to be
a brown people
who don't have strong opinions.
I actually enjoy
strong opinions
most of the time.
Okay?
But,
I have to,
I know this about myself
and you need to know
this about yourself
that just because
you have a strong opinion
doesn't mean everybody
needs to hear it.
Sometimes it's not beneficial.
We should be sometimes
thinking,
is this going to be helpful?
Is this going to be helpful?
1 Corinthians 6.12
in the CSB says,
everything is permissible
for me,
but not everything
is beneficial.
Okay?
Sometimes it's not beneficial.
And Proverbs 21.23
says,
whoever keeps his mouth
and his tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
And so sometimes
we vent out loud,
we give opinions out loud,
we say things
that we haven't even
really figured out
ourselves yet.
And sometimes that's okay
because you need the help
of someone else
to figure it out.
But sometimes
if you haven't figured out
yourself,
it's not helpful
to bring it up
to other people.
and sometimes
we have to think too,
you know,
whether it's a church,
sometimes it's your job,
sometimes it's in your marriage,
it can be in multiple
different things.
Sometimes you have opinion
about things going
in a different direction
and it's not the direction
that whoever's leading
is taking the people.
Okay?
Whether it's your family
with your parents
in a marriage
with your husband
in a church
with the elders
and leaders of the church,
sometimes it's like,
well, you have an opinion,
but what they're doing
isn't wrong,
so maybe that opinion
isn't helpful.
And I've been in churches
where that's been the case
where I'm just thinking,
you know what,
this isn't the way
I would do it.
But if I bring this up,
it could cause
unnecessarily,
they've made a decision,
I don't want to have
unnecessary division here.
Now, if they're inviting it
or they're asking for it
or it's in the right,
again, it's using discernment
to say,
when do I say these things?
Sometimes by saying
those things,
it's like,
this is actually going to
shake things up
in a way that shouldn't.
Sometimes we need to
shake things up
in the way that they should,
but there's a time
and a place for that
and we need to be
thinking about that,
right?
That's why James 1.19,
he says,
you know,
let every person
be slow to speak.
It's just thinking
about what we say.
I got to say
that this group of people
has a lot of strong opinions
and has a lot to say
about a lot of things.
Sometimes I'm surprised
that I didn't think
that things could be said
about that said thing
and then there's a lot of things.
And again,
part of me loves that,
but part of that
is not helpful.
It's not helpful.
And I hope you understand
where I'm coming from that.
And I think
trying to lead
in a fatherly way
or just say,
let's just be a little
slower to speak sometimes
and think about that
a little bit more
and think,
I want to,
for the mutual
up in this church
and think,
yes,
I have an opinion
about everything
or you have an opinion
about everything,
but is it always beneficial
to say it
or is it always best
to do it in this context
or this people?
We got to ask the question.
Number five,
a root of independence
or contrarianism
is thinking of yourself
more highly than you ought.
Okay,
Romans 12, 3 says,
for by the grace given to me,
I say to everyone among you
not to think
of himself
more highly
than you ought to think,
but to think
with sober judgment,
each according
to the measure of faith
that God has assigned.
Okay,
we got to watch out
for pride
and we got to
have self-awareness
to know like,
hey,
am I thinking of myself
more highly than I ought?
Am I thinking of my opinion
more highly than I ought?
Am I thinking about even
who I am
and what I know
and how I know it?
Am I thinking of it
with sober judgment?
Or am I just thinking
I know better?
Am I just exalting my gifting
above other people's gifting?
Am I thinking because
am I thinking
because I'm a teacher,
I see things clearer?
Am I thinking
because I'm more prophetic,
I clearly see things
better than other people?
Am I thinking because
I'm pastoral
that I understand people
better than other people?
Now,
that's part of the nature
of those gifts, right?
Like,
you do understand
certain things better.
That's why,
that's what having the gift is.
But sometimes
we can exalt things
over other people.
We can not look at ourselves
with sober judgment.
We cannot respect
people who have been
in the arena,
so to speak,
as Roosevelt said,
you know,
not with those cold
and timid souls
that have never known
victory or defeat,
not armchair theologians
and armchair critics
who are constantly
giving opinions
about everything
but have never actually
been in the arena
and done said thing
or have done
very little of it.
It's like the,
the amount of like
parenting influencers
online now
who are so authoritative
with what they have
and yet they're,
they're talking about parenting
and they have one child
and their oldest is three
and they're the expert
on parenting.
You just got to think,
you know,
I just don't know
if you're really
looking at yourself
with sober judgment.
You may have a little more
to learn about parenting
because your oldest is three
and you have one child
and, you know,
you read some posts
on Instagram.
I like,
that's just not enough for me.
I think maybe
a little more experience,
maybe a little more
child rearing
before you start saying
you're the expert
on parenting
and you throw out
all the things
that have been taught
in the scriptures
or the ways things
have been done
and you say,
well, that's all bad.
You know,
and so we have to look
at ourselves
with sober judgment
and just say,
okay,
am I thinking of myself
more highly than I ought?
Am I thinking that
what I think
in my opinion
is so important
that I'm willing
to sacrifice
the greater unity
when it's not appropriate?
And there is a place
where it's appropriate
to share those things
and there is things
that God gives us
and ways that God gives us
that is helpful.
But if we're not thinking
of ourselves,
if we're thinking of ourselves
more highly than we ought,
we start to become independent,
start to think,
well, I don't need other people.
I'm the end all, be all.
I'm the guru.
I'm the one who gets this.
They don't get this.
We become independent
and sometimes we can
almost be combative,
combative,
is that how you say it?
And contrarian with people
because it's like,
I know better.
And we need sometimes
a good dose of humility
to realize we don't
always know better.
Number six,
important one,
an incorrect view
of authority.
Okay?
So the question is,
what is authority for?
Two great verses on this
in 2 Corinthians.
Chapter 10, verse 8,
even if I boast
a little too much
of our authority,
Paul and the apostles
speaking here,
which the Lord gave
for building you up
and not for destroying you,
I will not be ashamed.
Then it says
in chapter 13, verse 10,
for this reason
I write these things
while I'm away from you,
that when I come
I may not have to be severe
in my use of the authority
that the Lord has given me
for building up
and not for tearing down.
Authority is for building up.
Authority is for protection.
Authority is for thinking
of the best
and the well-being
of the person
who are under your care.
All right?
Now, because
we have had so much
bad authority,
we tend to throw out authority
or think it's not
for building up.
And because we have a...
Honestly,
Gina and I were talking
about this this morning.
Can you imagine
how much health
would be brought
to the church
if everybody
who went to a church
where the pastor
or pastors
was not qualified
according to the biblical
qualifications of an elder?
I mean,
it's really simple,
straightforward.
There's nothing complicated here.
Imagine if all the people
who are part of churches
with unqualified elders
just left those churches.
Think of how that
would change the church.
It would drastically
change the health
of the church
because these people
get a voice
because people go
to their churches
and then they have
these warped views
of authority
and they say,
well, no,
that's not what authority
is for.
Really, it's just because
you're at a church
that clearly didn't meet
the qualifications
of an elder
and everybody
kept going there
and everybody
kept talking about it
as if this is okay
or it's not okay
but we're working with it.
It's just like, no.
If this church
or any church
has elders,
leaders,
apostles
who are not qualified
according to the very specific,
very simple qualifications
of an elder,
leave.
Leave quickly
and go find a church
that has them.
Like that's,
it doesn't make any sense
where we have these issues
with authority
because the people
just weren't clearly qualified.
Why do we even give them a voice?
Why do we even try
to do church that way?
It was never meant
to be done that way.
So we have this incorrect
view of authority
and so we end up
being independent
because we end up thinking,
I'm on my own.
I can't trust any authority.
Right?
This happens
in multiple levels.
All right?
The proliferation
of divorce
or maybe even
if you've lost parents
and you grew up
with bad parents
or only one parent,
divorced parents,
you end up thinking
subconsciously,
I'm on my own.
I can't trust authority.
Authority's not for me.
Authority doesn't build me up.
Authority doesn't protect me.
I have to be my own dog.
I have to be independent.
I have by nature
need to be a contrarian
because no one's looking
after me
but myself.
And it shapes
our way of thinking
of authority.
Okay?
You see this even,
but really a parent
is supposed to build up
their kids
and protect their kids
and take the weight
of decision making
and a lot of things
off their kids
and give them the freedom
to be kids
and to do their job.
Parent does their job.
Kid does their job.
Same thing in a marriage.
You oftentimes
have wives
who are strung out
and anxious
about things
that they're not even,
they don't need to decide
because they have
a godly husband.
They should just be trusting
that, hey,
that doesn't mean
they can't give input.
That doesn't mean
they don't have conversations.
I'm talking about
being quiet
and barefoot
in the kitchen.
I'm talking about
where,
why are you stressing
about something
when you have
good godly authority
in your life?
You have good godly authority
in your life.
Let that authority
be there to build you up.
Let that authority
be there to free you
to be a wife
and to be a woman
and to be feminine
and to do what you're
best at doing.
In the same way
with shepherd
shepherd
and sheep
in a church.
Listen,
if you have elders,
apostles,
elders,
and they are above
reproach,
they meet the
qualification of an elder
in the same way,
there should be a level
of freedom
to just say,
I don't have to be
independent
and making sure
I'm doing the job
of an elder
for the elder.
I don't need to be
those things
because that's the benefit
of being under good authority
as they are there
to build me up.
They are there
to protect me.
And then people
always just end up saying,
well,
yeah,
but if I don't do that,
they're going to go back.
And that's the same thing
a spouse will say.
If I don't do that,
then my husband
will go bad.
If I don't do that,
you know,
this family's,
all these things,
we end up thinking that.
But who,
the Bible doesn't say that.
Where's the trust?
Where's the fact
that God has set up authority?
That these are God's
delegated authorities
and is it not
just a lack of trust in Him?
Then I get it.
You've had bad experiences.
But let's ask the question.
Did not those bad experiences
come because
that authority
wasn't qualified?
That it wandered away
from God's ways
and God's set
statutes that He had?
We have to ask ourselves,
is that eroded our trust
in good godly authority?
And if someone's above reproach
and they meet qualifications,
there should be
a level of,
oh,
I can trust.
Should happen in the church,
should happen in marriage,
should happen with our parents.
We should be able to
say that God has put authority
in the earth to build up.
Do you believe that?
Do you believe that God
has given you authority?
Or do you believe that God,
or you believe that authority
is something that should always,
you should always be skeptical of?
That authority
is something not to be trusted?
That authority
is inherently evil?
These are the kind of things
that sink in.
And it's the total opposite
of what God always wanted.
And it erodes trust
with each other.
It causes division.
Whereas really,
authority is given
to cause us to be unified
and of one mind.
Authority is given us
to help us be in agreement
in one spirit,
to build us up together.
Good authority
will hear things from people
and make good godly decisions
and lead in a godly,
humble way.
But sometimes we channel
that into things
and we don't let authority
actually fight for us.
We think,
I have to fight for myself.
And then good authority
is aborted.
The benefit of good authority
is good authority
should be fighting for you.
Fighting for your best,
fighting for unity,
fighting for us
to go in the same direction.
And when everybody thinks
I cannot trust authority,
I have to be my own authority
and I have to be skeptical
of authority at every place,
otherwise it's going to go bad,
it causes division.
It's an unhealthy independence
and contrarianism.
Number seven,
a root can be ignoring fruit
and spiritual gifts.
Hebrews 13, 7 says,
remember your leaders,
those who spoke to you
the word of God,
consider the outcome
of their way of life
and imitate their faith.
Okay?
Matthew 11, 19 in the NIV says,
wisdom is proved right
by her deeds.
All right?
And so,
ask the question.
It goes back to what I was saying
about the Instagram
parenting influencer.
All right?
What have they done?
What is their track record?
You know?
Have they,
how have they led in the past?
What is the fruit
of their leadership?
What is the fruit
of their parenting?
What is the fruit
of their family life?
What is the fruit
of their discipleship?
What is the fruit
of their decision making?
What is the fruit
of their church life?
What is the fruit?
And ask that question.
Then we need to look
at ourselves and say,
what's the fruit of my life?
Do I have fruit
in the area that I'm saying?
I mean,
when I was a young man
in my 20s,
early married,
just starting to have kids,
I had a whole lot
of thoughts on parenting.
I had a lot of them.
And I thought that I was right.
But you know what?
I would have been a fool
to be talking a lot
about them.
I had two kids
and they were like
one in a few months.
But I made a commitment.
I'm going to give this
a good 20 years
and then I'm going
to be vocal about it.
Should there be fruit?
And if there's not,
well then I should
probably shut up
because I need to defer
to someone who knows
what they're doing.
But if these things
are true
and they were proved true
over 20, 30 years,
well,
that gives me
a lot more authority
to say them.
Now,
certain things have authority
to say them
just because they're true.
That doesn't mean
that you can't
confront someone's parenting
because you don't have kids
or because your kids
are young.
But again,
when it comes to
all kinds of things,
you just got to ask yourself,
is this the best time
to speak up?
Do I have authority
in this area?
Do I have clout?
Have I built trust?
Is there fruit in my life?
Wisdom is proved true
by your actions.
If you're saying
something that's wise
but there's no action
behind it,
there's no fruit,
I haven't seen in your life.
The opposite is true as well.
If you see fruit,
if you see the outcome
of a leader's life,
if you see what's there,
you should give clout to that.
You know,
if you have a faithful leader
who's been a leader
for 30, 40, 50, 60 years
and it's like
there's a lot of fruit
behind them,
you should say,
you know what?
I'm going to listen to them
when they talk about leadership.
I'm going to listen to this person
because of how they've done family
or how they do work
or business
or whatever it may be.
But I think a lot of times
we ignore fruit
or we ignore spiritual gifts.
And we just think
only what I have is important.
1 Corinthians 12, 21 says
that I cannot say to the hand,
I don't need you.
And the head cannot say to the feet,
I don't need you.
Because you are the body of Christ
and each one of them
a part of it.
Okay?
Each part is necessary.
I can't say,
well, you know what?
My gifting,
I see things more clearly
but I don't really need you.
We have to recognize.
If you recognize someone
as a teacher,
you say,
what is a teacher for?
If you recognize someone
gifted prophetically,
you say,
what is a prophet for?
If you recognize someone
is gifted apostolic,
you say,
what is an apostolic gifting for?
If you recognize someone
as a gift of administration,
you say,
what is that gift for?
And then receive the benefit of it.
When you say,
only what I think,
my independent,
I have marked a corner of this,
when actuality,
nobody does,
we need those other gifts.
What does that other gift
that I don't have
have to say about
how we do life together
as a church
that I need?
I've said before,
I was talking one time
to an evangelist,
very gifted evangelist,
and I was talking about,
he was talking about evangelism,
I was really appreciating it
because I don't think
that's like a strong gift of mine.
And I was talking to him
more about how the church
thinks bigger picture,
more church planting
and apostolic thinking.
And I got done saying
what I was saying
and he says to me,
that's a load of crap.
And I was like,
wow,
well,
tell me how you really feel.
Like,
you can't,
you can't just say
that that's a load of crap.
Like,
you need me
and I need you.
You need me
and I need you.
We're part of the body.
You can't just say
because you're an evangelist
and you're so hell-bent
and winning souls,
praise God you are,
that the church now
isn't important,
how it's shaped
isn't important.
What are we going to do
with all those souls
that get saved?
My gifting
serves your gifting.
Your gifting
serves my gifting.
We need each other.
Stop thinking so highly
of yourself
and ignoring the fact
that I have one gifting,
you have another
and they're both necessary.
Very important.
Number eight.
Got three more here.
Number eight,
overreacting.
Overreaction can cause
a root of independence
or contrarianism.
Okay,
what do I mean by this?
Well,
you,
maybe your own parenting,
like I was saying,
sometimes you were
not parented well.
They were distant from you,
they weren't there for you
and so,
I'm on my own,
I gotta do things.
Maybe even like a belief,
you know,
one thing that I think
has more impact
on some people
than they realize
is in the 70s,
there was a movement
called the shepherding movement
and in the shepherding movement,
people took way too much authority.
They abused authority
in the sense
that they were telling people
to do a whole lot of things
the Bible doesn't tell
that authority
is supposed to be
telling people to do.
Well,
there was a correction of that.
But what ended up happening
is there was a huge backlash
to that
where people just threw out
authority altogether.
Some of those people
were your parents.
Okay?
Some of those people
maybe were yourself.
And you grew up thinking,
oh,
because this was abuse so bad,
we have to go way
the opposite way.
And then you maybe
even grew up in a home
where there was authority
and leadership
and church organization
was always met
with skepticism.
Special revelation
was exalted
to an unhealthy place.
And what ends up happening
is you start to view things
through your lack.
Well,
okay,
I wasn't parented well,
taught well,
discipled well,
I wasn't led well.
And so,
this is what we all need
when it's really
you're majorly
just reacting
to what you didn't get.
Instead of looking
at what the church is
presently that you're in
and saying,
what do we need?
Am I responding to Jesus
and the church that I'm in
or am I reacting
to my upbringing
and what I didn't have
and responding
in too far the other way?
Happens all the time.
Got to ask ourselves
that question.
Number nine,
a sense of super spirituality
can cause independence
and contrarianism.
1 Corinthians 1, 10 through 13
hits this great.
He says,
I appeal to you,
brothers and sisters,
in the name of our Lord Jesus,
Christ,
that all of you agree
with one another
in what you say
and that there be no divisions
among you,
but that you be perfectly
united in mind and thought.
He said,
my brothers and sisters,
some from Chloe's household
who inform me
there are quarrels among you.
What I mean is this.
One of you says,
I follow Paul.
Another,
I follow Apollos.
Another,
I follow Cephas.
Still another,
much more spiritual,
I follow Christ.
Christ.
And then he says,
is Christ divided?
Is Christ divided?
And we can almost become like,
yeah,
you know,
I don't follow Calvin.
I don't follow this group
or movement.
I don't follow,
whatever.
Pick your thing.
I follow Christ.
Well,
aren't you spiritual?
Aren't you?
And what we can end up doing
is separating from the body of Christ
and exalting ourselves
over the other people
because he says,
is Christ divided?
Is Christ divided
so that you're the special people
and then all these other people
are not?
And we can end up having
a super spiritual alley
where it just says,
you know,
I don't prescribe
to that line of thinking.
I just follow Christ.
Oh,
really?
Oh,
really?
Good for you.
I'm sure you have no defilement
of all,
of any purpose
or disunifying factor in there.
We've got to just ask ourselves,
come on,
let's be real.
We don't want to be
super spiritual weirdos,
okay?
We have to realize
we need each other
and that,
yes,
we all follow Christ.
You don't have the market
cornered on Christ
and if you really believe
those other people
are Christ followers as well,
don't act like you're following Christ
in a way that other people don't
because it causes division.
It causes us not to be close
to one another,
to be one mind.
And lastly,
number 10,
drawing people to yourself.
Okay,
this is for sure
a disunifying way
of being independent
and contrary to one another.
Acts 20,
29 to 30,
Paul expresses this
in his last address
to the Ephesian elders.
He says,
I know that after I leave,
savage wolves
will come in among you
and will not spare the flock.
Even from your own number,
men will arise
and distort the truth
in order to draw away disciples
after them.
And I say this
as someone who's planting this church,
who will be one
who will plant other churches.
My role here won't be
as prominent as it is now
down the road.
I will have less of a role
at some point in time.
I hope I always have some role.
Again,
not by any show of force,
but because of relationship,
mutual respect,
and trust.
But someday,
I won't have the same
influence that I have.
I won't have the same authority
in this group of people
that maybe I did
at one point in time
because there will be
elders risen up here
and this church will
grow and mature on its own.
But one thing
I get concerned about
is that if we don't build
a foundation of unity
and oneness in this church,
that after I do leave
in a sense,
that if there's people
who have in them
a tendency to draw people
to themselves,
it will disrupt things
in an unhealthy manner.
If there's people
who say,
well,
yeah,
I know we do things
this way
and I know
Josh has led this way
apostolically
in this way,
but you know,
I really think
that's a bunch of
crap as that one guy said
and I'm just waiting
for him to kind of
not be around as much
and I'm going to try
and shape things
in this way,
that could be very divisive
and that's not the way
to go into a church.
Now,
does that mean
you can't ever challenge
what Josh says?
Absolutely not.
It's ridiculous.
You know that that's not true
because we've had
many of them,
okay?
And so,
and there's a lot
of healthiness to that.
Praise God.
It has to be.
I'm not talking about
some weird
CEO apostolic
leadership stuff.
That's a joke.
You guys know
we're not talking about that.
I'm talking about
that God puts leadership
in place
to bring about
a certain direction,
a certain unified way forward
and it makes sense for us
to say,
hey,
I want to draw people
unto Jesus
when he's building
and not draw people
to myself
because if I'm independent
in that way
and I think
my way is the highway
or my way is so important,
I can unconsciously
draw people to myself
in such a way
where everybody else
is maybe going
in the same direction
that causes these splinters
that break things off
in an unhealthy way.
We've got to ask ourselves that.
Is that happening?
Do I have a tendency
for that to happen?
Do I have subtle thoughts
of that happening
in my heart?
I, with all my heart,
want this church
to be a healthy church.
I want it to have
good foundation.
I want us to be
one mind,
one accord
and regardless
of my influence
down the road
and involvement
down the road,
I would love
for this church
to be in unity
and oneness
and to last
for a long time.
But that doesn't
happen by accident.
We've got to be intentional.
We've got to be eager.
We have to fight
for together,
so to speak.
And close with
Romans 15,
5-6.
May the God
of endurance
and encouragement
grant you to live
in such harmony
with one another
in accord
with Christ Jesus
that together
you may with one voice
glorify the God
and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen?
Amen.