Series: Characteristics of Believable Believers

Title: Unity in the Church Makes Believers Believable

Text: John 17:20-26

I. One (Presented by the Faith Drama Team – 10:30 Service Only)

 

Disunity is one of the most damaging things that can assail the church:

Disunity damages God’s people.

Disunity destroys our witness to those without Christ.

Disunity displeases Jesus.

Conflict is inevitable at work, at school, at home, and in the church.

But when conflict denigrates into chronic disunity, we become unbelievable believers.

The Christian band, DC Talk hit the mark when they said,

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

http://www.lyricsdepot.com/dc-talk/what-if-i-stumble.html

Disunity rears its ugly head when I’m consumed with what I think, with what I want, with what I like.

When we become obsessed with winning "my battle":

We end up loosing the war.

We end up not only hurting others, but ourselves as well.

 

Recently I read a fictitious story about heaven and hell.

In hell there was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made your mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They were angry. They were famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms.

Each one found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

In heaven, it was exactly the same. There was the large round table with a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made your mouth water.

The people had the same long-handled spoons, strapped to their arms, but here the people were laughing and talking and well nourished.

They fed one another.

What was the difference?

In hell, it never entered their minds to help each other.

In heaven, they were more concerned for others, than they were for themselves.

 

The same is true here on earth:

When we are only concerned with ourselves and our agendas, the result is always chronic disunity, and chronic disunity is a defining characteristic of unbelievable believers.

But when we are more concerned with others the result is godly unity, and godly unity is a defining characteristic of believable believers.

In our reading from John chapter 17, Jesus prayed to our Heavenly Father, for His church, for us, to be unified. Why?

So we would become believable believers.

So we would become credible witnesses.

So others would come to faith in Jesus by observing our heart-felt unity, by observing our genuine love for one another.

Let’s take a look at our reading from John chapter 17. John 17 is often known as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.

In verse 20, Jesus prays to our Heavenly Father. He says,

20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

Yes, he’s interceding for us, he wants to bless us, he wants to make us whole, but he’s also interceding for those who will become believers through our message.

 

What is the message that Jesus would have you and me send?

Is it the Four Spiritual Laws or the Bridge to Life?

Is it the life saving Good News of Jesus Christ?

Is it the need to turn from sin and make Jesus Lord?

Yes, that’s part of it, but not all of it..

Verse 21 gives us the answer. Verse 20:

20...I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

Verse 21:

21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

In this context, the loudest message you and I can send to an unbelieving world, is our unity, our oneness, our love for one another.

When unbelievers observe believers, who are willing to take a unified stand for what they believe, they’re impressed. When we started Faith Anglican Church and lost our $1,000,000 + location, an unchurched person told me, he fully supported us. He was impressed by our sacrifice and integrity.

But when unbelievers observe believers bickering and squabbling over personal opinion or minor doctrinal differences, they’re appalled.

When unbelievers see church members, more concerned with winning their petty battles, than they are for one another – like it or not – they receive a loud and clear message, a message which they "simply find unbelievable."

 

 

At home, "Little eyes are watching."

Parents, like it or not, they see everything we do.

They long for a unified loving example to follow.

At church, "All eyes are watching!"

Brothers and sisters in Christ, like it or not, they see everything we do.

They long for a unified loving example to follow.

They long for a place safety, a place of healing and wholeness.

When we deliberately love one another, when we’re more concerned for others than we are for ourselves and our agendas:

Our witness will become more believable to an unbelieving world.

Our efforts will become more and more effective.

And we will soar to greater heights.

 

There’s a reason God created geese to fly in a V formation.

As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the goose immediately following it.

By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the geese in front it.

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back and another goose flies point.

The geese honk from behind, not to complain, but to encourage those up front, to keep up their good work.

Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead.

All we have to do, to attract the unchurched to Faith, is for them to observe us acting like geese flying in formation:

We must travel in the same direction.

We must be willing to set aside our personal agendas and follow our leaders.

We must honk for our leaders, not honk against them.

We must be willing, to not just coast in the back, but take our turn near the front.

When one of members has fallen, either by sin or discouragement, we must not abandon them. If they’ll receive us, we must be willing to stay with them, to strengthen them, to encourage them.

As we do, we will soar to greater and great heights and go farther than we ever could have imagined.

As we do, those who are "weary and burdened" will fly up and join us (Matthew 11:28).

If our message is observed by unbelievers to be godly unity, cooperation, and love for one another:

They will find us believable.

They will find us attractive.

Ultimately, they will find Jesus in our midst.

James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 125-126.

Just like geese:

God did not create us to work alone. The believer who goes off in his own direction is a drag, not only to himself and to the church, but to those who are watching.

God created us to work with together. The believer who stays in formation, is uplifting, not only to the church, but to those who are desperate for God, those who are desperate to find an uplifting flock.

 

For us to be believable believers, we must be unified:

1) In our basic Christian beliefs.

2) In our life together.

 

Our reading this morning is from John 17:20-26. A few verses earlier, Jesus prayed:

16They [meaning us] are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:16-17 (NIV)

Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified:

To be set apart, in the truth of God’s Word.

To be set apart from the destructive sinful ways of this world, by being unified in the truth of God’s Word.

Unfortunately, throughout history, many Christians have lambasted each other over minor doctrinal differences. These disputes have tarnished our witness.

Peter Meiderlin, a Lutheran theologian and pastor living in Augsburg during the early seventeenth century said,

"In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity."

http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/unitas/essrev.html

This is the key to maintaining godly unity in our beliefs.

For us to be believable believers, we must also be unified in our life together.

I like what Pastor and author Bill Hybels said,

"The mark of community—true biblical unity—is not the absence of conflict but the presence of a reconciling spirit."

Bill Hybels, Leadership, Vol. 14, no. 1.

We must be willing to go to those who have offended us, and forgive them (Matthew 6:14-15).

We must be willing to go to those whom we have offended, and ask for their forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24).

We must never ever hold a grudge. We must forgive one another. We must reconcile with one another.

In his book Revolutionary Love, Bishop Festo Kivengere, of Uganda said,

He and his wife, Mera, had a misunderstanding about something, and he retreated into silence.

A fog settled between them. Even though he said nothing, inside he was angry.

When he heard the voices of a group of boys coming to his house, he suddenly remembered he was supposed to teach them a Bible study in a few minutes.

He cried, "Lord, what shall I do? They're arriving and I have nothing to say to them. I'm in a mess. Help!"

Quietly the Lord said, "Don't try to give them a message. Just tell them who you are. It is time for them to find you in a mess. They will know you better."

Bishop Festo didn't like it at all, but repented of his unforgiveness in front of the boys. Then in front of the boys, he asked Mera to forgive him.

Not only did it heal Festo and Mera’s relationship, but several of the boys were so impressed, that they committed their lives to Jesus that day.

(Revolutionary Love by Festo Kivengere 68-69)

As unbelievers observe us believers:

1) Unified in our beliefs.

2) Unified with one another – loving each other, caring for each other, forgiving each other:

Then and only then will they find you a believable believer.

Then and only then will they find you a credible witness.

Then and only then will they come to faith in Jesus.