Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Thank you, Dan.
[00:00:02] The groups of people throughout history who have met together in the name of Jesus are varied and many.
[00:00:15] And they all look different from one another from time to time, even from the very beginning. It's funny when people say to me, hey, I'm really trying to get back to the first century church. I always wonder which one they're talking about.
[00:00:28] There's a lot of churches in the first century. There was the Corinthian church, the churches that met in different places. In Rome, there was a church that met in Ephesus and the ones in the Galatian provinces. There was the one in Antioch, and there's one in Israel and there's one.
[00:00:46] There's churches all over.
[00:00:49] And they all had different problems now. They had variations of the same problem, but they had different problems altogether from one to the next. The church in Athens surely had a different problem than the church in Ephesus and the church in the Galatian provinces. It's just there's a bunch of churches. There wasn't in the first century one big old church, as we say in Arkansas.
[00:01:15] There was ole is the official adjective of Arkansas.
[00:01:19] Everything's big ol or little old or. That's just how it is.
[00:01:23] There wasn't just one church where everyone flocked to and they did the same thing in the same way in different places. No, they were all pretty different. Now. They had similar practices, but none of which we do a ton of. But they had similar practices and they had similar goals, but people kept showing up.
[00:01:48] Have you ever walked into Walmart and thought, there's too many people here?
[00:01:55] Did you ever leave?
[00:01:59] Because if there's too many people, that's the right response.
[00:02:04] If you think the problem is the population of Walmart and then you add to the population of Walmart, you're the problem.
[00:02:15] But you can also walk into Walmart and say, oh, isn't this interesting?
[00:02:20] There's all sorts of people here.
[00:02:25] One time I pushed Nolan, who was 2 at the time, into Walmart.
[00:02:35] It was the only store we really had in Nashville, Arkansas that provided any sort of anything.
[00:02:43] And one of the motorized scooters, shopping carts, bumper car carts, I don't know what they used to be the most dangerous thing in Walmart, but one of those, the battery was dying and it was making a noise.
[00:03:10] It was going beep, beep, beep, like that.
[00:03:16] Well, Nolan heard that noise as a baby, just like I think someone repeated over here, heard that noise as a baby and started making it himself.
[00:03:28] Beep, beep. He was just doing that through the vegetables, which I was getting straight through to the Hot Pockets.
[00:03:42] We were walking through the vegetables and he was beep, beep.
[00:03:48] Yeah, well, there was. This is proving my point.
[00:03:55] As we rounded the aisle to go like down where the, you know, where they keep their meats and stuff like that. Rounded the aisle around with the vegetables. There was a guy pushing. There was a guy pushing his buggy, but he was leaned over on it.
[00:04:12] And I guess that. I don't know why, but he was going at the same rhythm that Nolan was doing the beep. They were just alternating.
[00:04:27] Well, Nolan noticed this and just slowly turned, kept doing it, beep, beep.
[00:04:36] And they passed each other looking at each other.
[00:04:41] I've never wanted anything to keep going more in my life. It was the happiest I've ever been. Maybe I just watching these two lock eyes. This older gentleman who was wrestling with his energy and this younger boy who had all the energy in the world. He could have made that beeping noise the rest of the trip.
[00:05:06] He was excited. In Walmart. Saw all sorts of people, but the difference between human beings. And they had this moment. It was like I wasn't even there. They locked eyes and were like, yeah, we're the same.
[00:05:19] They were united around. We're both making a noise.
[00:05:26] We have a tendency to be around people that are different from us and think, this isn't where I belong.
[00:05:39] But you could tell in their eyes that it was exactly where they belong. This is all, we're the same.
[00:05:45] We are united because we're both making a noise in Walmart. Only two maybe, but at least there's two of us.
[00:05:53] So I want to talk about people for the next couple of weeks.
[00:06:00] People I've spotted in Scripture that always.
[00:06:04] They're of interest to me.
[00:06:07] These not big names. We're not going to talk about David.
[00:06:11] We're going to talk about the people lower in the credits that don't get mentioned. They don't have their own coloring pages in our Sunday schools, but they had big impacts on the Christian movement, on the first century in these small little churches with their own little variations and these small little problems. They led big little lives.
[00:06:38] And our first is Chloe.
[00:06:41] We see her in First Corinthians at the very beginning.
[00:06:47] He says, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree.
[00:06:57] We can get that scripture up on the board. That'd be good. Yeah. That all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you. Timeout. Churches use this passage to make you feel like when you're wrong, you're evil.
[00:07:18] That somehow if you just could. If you could just get it right, then we would all agree we need to be of like mind. And as it turns out, the mind we have to be like is the person who has the microphone.
[00:07:32] And I understand that. That's me.
[00:07:35] But I am not asking you to think like me, to understand a passage like me so that you can be a valued member of this church. That is power, and that is that it should be unacceptable to a congregation.
[00:07:51] We are not to use this passage to say everybody's supposed to be like Benjamin or everyone's supposed to be like the elders or the church. Put out a pamphlet that said exactly what we are. Unless you believe exactly the way we believe. Then all of a sudden that's.
[00:08:05] You're kicked out. You're kind of. You're not one of us.
[00:08:09] We want you to be united.
[00:08:13] And that, my friends, is not unity.
[00:08:16] Unity is not. When we all agree about the same things where we all have the same perspectives. That is not unity. That is uniformity. And it's dangerous. It's a dangerous goal. Because if we're uniform, if we're all the same, well, who's the person who gets to pick what we all are?
[00:08:37] They aren't to be trusted, usually because I've been wrong before. Have you noticed you've been wrong before? Has your spouse noticed?
[00:08:53] It happens.
[00:08:55] We have. Not just like about incorrect information.
[00:08:59] It's not just wrong answers which can happen. It's wrong answers, wrong motivations, wrong attitudes.
[00:09:07] Those are serious issues. And we don't need to all be the same.
[00:09:14] We need to be of a united mind.
[00:09:19] That means not that we think the same thing, but that we have the same goal, our direction is the same.
[00:09:31] We want the world to know they are loved.
[00:09:35] We want the world to know about Jesus. We want the world to know how Jesus can take a bunch of misfits and a bunch of broken people and make them saved. And one that we can make them all unified even though they are divided, even though they look differently, they act differently, they drive different vehicles, they have different types of bank accounts, they vote differently, they have different ideas about the way the world should work.
[00:10:06] That is unity, not uniformity. And it can only be done through the power of the King who is Jesus. Can only be done that way.
[00:10:16] Uniformity can happen with a pamphlet.
[00:10:19] You can just say, here's what you. Here's what you're supposed to believe. Do you Believe it? Yes. Okay, well, then we're the same. Here's what you're supposed to wear, here's the guidelines. Let's get some bylaws. We can get some uniformity. We can have the sameness of mind with some good old fashioned bylaws.
[00:10:36] But only Jesus can unite.
[00:10:40] Only Jesus can bring people who aren't the same together, value every single one of them equally and bring them together. Different perspectives. Let's sit around the table, different ideas, opinions. Let's gather at the cross.
[00:10:58] Different backgrounds and stories and different traumas. Let's go to the empty tomb and find hope.
[00:11:05] It's the king who sits on the throne that can offer that to us.
[00:11:09] We have the same mind and thought.
[00:11:14] There's not a single leader in this church who is gonna kick you out because of an opinion you have.
[00:11:23] Not a single leader in this church who's gonna kick you out because of an opinion you have, a perspective you have.
[00:11:33] There's not a single leader in this church who thinks we might have the power to kick somebody out if we wanted to.
[00:11:39] But that's beside the point.
[00:11:43] You are valued as a human being, as a follower of Christ in your own story, in your own story, as it goes and as it continues to go. And so we are united because of Christ, not uniform, because of our bylaws.
[00:12:02] He says, I'm praying that there's no divisions among you, that you be of the united mind and thought. And then he says, my brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
[00:12:20] There are some from Chloe's household. All right, so you might not know Chloe, but that's her.
[00:12:28] Meet Chloe.
[00:12:29] Chloe had a household.
[00:12:31] That's about all we know.
[00:12:33] It's not all we know.
[00:12:35] We know that if Chloe has a household, then Chloe is probably fairly wealthy.
[00:12:41] That Chloe most likely was a widow. That she most likely.
[00:12:47] Or just a successful woman. It could be one of the two.
[00:12:52] And she had a household with children who lived with her, probably, and their spouses. I mean, there was all sorts of ways in which Chloe's house could grow. She had workers, most likely slaves. And when I say slaves, I don't mean they weren't ethnic slaves. They were most likely people who owed a debt and they joined the household to pay off that debt.
[00:13:20] She had a household, a group of people that she impacted, and that household worshiped Jesus.
[00:13:29] They all met together.
[00:13:32] They typically probably met in Chloe's house, which was probably one of the biggest houses in the church, where they would gather together, and they would eat a meal together, and they would take communion together, and they would talk about Jesus together. Like this was their church. It was her household.
[00:13:55] Her church was her house.
[00:13:59] And the report they give to Paul is that there's some divisions among the church.
[00:14:08] And people from Chloe's house told me this.
[00:14:14] Now, we don't know if it was Chloe. It was most likely not Chloe.
[00:14:18] But she set up a household that honored the way of Jesus so much that when they saw that the division started happening, they reached out to somebody.
[00:14:33] This is an important thing to remember about the Bible. There's not a single blog post in it.
[00:14:40] Philippians is not a blog about joy.
[00:14:44] Philippians isn't a blog about joy.
[00:14:47] Ephesians is not an article about unity.
[00:14:51] Romans is not an article about theology. It's not a blog. It's not an article. It's not a journal.
[00:14:57] Every single thing that was written by Paul in the New Testament was written most likely in response to something that was happening at that church.
[00:15:08] And so Chloe's house reaches out to Paul and they say, we have divisions here. We've spotted it and we've said, it's not good for someone to look and say, the way we are divided up is not healthy for someone to look at the church and say, this isn't the way unity works. We're striving for uniformity, and we're failing at unity.
[00:15:35] Because what happens is whenever, oh, this person is. He follows this teaching, and this person follows that teaching. Well, then we're at odds with one another. That's what Paul means. He says in verse 12, what I mean is this, One of you says, I follow Paul. The other says, I follow Apollos. Another, I follow Cephas. Still another, I follow Christ, which I feel like is a trump card. Like, that's, like, that's like the winning card, right? I follow Christ. Oh, awkward. You know, we were having a good debate, but he then says, I got a question for you. Is Christ divided?
[00:16:13] Was Paul crucified for you?
[00:16:17] Were you baptized? Immersed into the name of Paul?
[00:16:24] Now, notice here, he could have said Apollos. He could have said Cephas, which was Peter, except. But me, like, I'm not the one you follow.
[00:16:37] Jesus is the one you follow.
[00:16:39] Paul's not the one who can bring them unity. Jesus is the one who can bring them unity. And it all started because someone from Chloe's household, a nameless person, to be honest, someone from Chloe's household, a household that Chloe built and hosted this church and spotted a Division said, this isn't the way it should be going. We shouldn't be fighting for our way. And we shouldn't be fighting. We should be fighting for Jesus way. And Father forgive us when we combine the two.
[00:17:15] When we start saying that, oh, as it turns out, Jesus way is my way.
[00:17:23] It's like when someone says, oh, at this church we sing the songs God likes, which is always the songs they like.
[00:17:34] We sang those good old songs, songs that used to be new to someone and those someones didn't like them either.
[00:17:45] We have our own ways about us. We like our way. And a lot of times we'll say, well, this is Jesus way.
[00:17:53] Turns out it looks a whole lot like Benjamin's way.
[00:18:00] And when I want the world to acquiesce to my will, a good question. Is Benjamin, did you. Were you crucified for them?
[00:18:12] How Paul turns that on himself.
[00:18:15] Were you crucified? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Not a single person was baptized in the name of Paul, DJ Or Benjamin.
[00:18:26] Not a single person. We weren't crucified for anybody. It is not our way that will bring unity, only uniformity. It is only when we sit at the table of God and embrace the division that exists there, the difference and that that difference, that division is overcome not by correctness but but by crucifixion, that division is overcome not by us getting it right, but by a resurrection that actually happened. A man who was dead walked alive out of a tomb. That division is overcome not by some sort of, some sort of divine plan that we've laid out for our church. Division is overcome because the king calls us to the table and there we sit every Sunday together.
[00:19:23] Chloe spotted division in her house and knew it needed to be addressed.
[00:19:33] She sent people most likely to tell Paul because if someone from Chloe's household told Paul something, there's a good chance Chloe sent them.
[00:19:47] She knew that division was not the way.
[00:19:52] And all of First Corinthians comes out of this problem.
[00:19:58] Even when he gets to the famous passage, you know the one, the one that's read at weddings.
[00:20:05] The first wedding I ever did was, was on the beautiful beaches of Galveston.
[00:20:17] It was, it was we first wedding. I was, I was super young. I was 24, I think, and I had my Bible open.
[00:20:35] It was a chaotic day.
[00:20:39] Have you met a wedding?
[00:20:45] It's not a non anxious event.
[00:20:50] The couple almost broke up that morning and it was just, there's a lot of stuff happening.
[00:21:06] The bride thought she lost her Wedding ring in the ocean the day before.
[00:21:12] And instead of putting on sunscreen, I went and looked for it in the ocean, apparently.
[00:21:21] And I was burnt to a crisp.
[00:21:26] Have you ever worn a suit while burnt to a crisp?
[00:21:31] So I'm standing there ready to read the Bible into this situation that needed it, and the wind's just blowing my pages. I'm having to. Like I say, like the scriptures say, love is not patient, love is not kind.
[00:21:58] Now, here's the beauty of being an officiant at a wedding.
[00:22:02] No one listens to you.
[00:22:05] Not a single person. Hard, mate. Except Rachel.
[00:22:09] She goes, no, no. That passage is like this floaty passage that we read at weddings and try to get right. Turns out, love is patient and love is kind.
[00:22:27] Yeah, we read those at weddings.
[00:22:33] That's a really hard passage, guys. That's not one. We get to skip through the flowers and hold hands with the text.
[00:22:42] That's a passage that calls us to kindness, to patience.
[00:22:47] It calls us to, like, deep actions that benefit the people around us.
[00:22:54] And that this is all spoken out in a response to division that was trying to be solved by uniformity, because Chloe spotted it and sent some from her household.
[00:23:12] And Paul wrote back and said, I've heard that you're divided. I ask that you be of the same mind. And he gets down to the way that there's. He gets down to this passage about love. And love is sent toward unity. And even at the end, he says, at the end, there's three faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
[00:23:34] That you are unified because of the way you love each other, not because of the way you've debated each other.
[00:23:43] You are unified because of your kindness and your affection toward one another, not because of the way that you have all figured it out and had the same Bible study and now you have the same notes in your Bible.
[00:23:55] And I'll tell you this, love is way harder than notes in your Bible.
[00:24:03] Love is way more difficult than having the right opinion.
[00:24:09] Love calls us to all sorts of different actions.
[00:24:13] And when we love one another, like Chloe spotted a group of people who weren't loving one another, and she called for reinforcements.
[00:24:23] And Paul says, I would like to speak authoritatively here, but I can show up with a stick if I need to.
[00:24:33] That's summarizing.
[00:24:37] But we have been called to a love that unifies.
[00:24:44] And you know what?
[00:24:47] If we could be a little bit like Chloe, like, when we spot unnecessary, divisive nonsense.
[00:24:58] And instead of just going, well, I guess I just won't like that on Facebook or I won't engage. If we could occasionally pull those people aside and go, hey, have you tried love?
[00:25:16] But then again, that's just an opinion, isn't it?
[00:25:21] Maybe we just pull them aside and love them because in the end they're just wanting to be seen, they're just wanting to be heard.
[00:25:35] They may be wrong as all get out, but may because you are there, they be the most loved wrong person ever.
[00:25:51] They may be, as you've met, a fool headed person, wrong headed, some say just heading in the wrong direction, making foolish choices.
[00:26:07] Have you met some kids, like not your children, your grown up kids.
[00:26:16] Some of you know that like their whole upbringing you were like, oh my goodness, when they get out of the house, it's just going to be so much easier then. And then they get older and it's harder.
[00:26:29] They marry people, they have kids and then don't take those kids on vacation. You took your kids on vacation, they drop their kids off with you and then they go on vacation.
[00:26:48] What happened?
[00:26:51] They didn't learn that from you, so it might get a little more difficult.
[00:27:01] And have you ever been with an adult child and you've thought, well, they're making the wrong choice. I'm just going to tell them the right choice and they'll make it.
[00:27:10] How did that work out?
[00:27:13] It doesn't ever work out. They never do what you tell them to.
[00:27:19] No one does what you tell them to. But you can love them and succeed not at getting your way, but if the goal is to love them and you love them, you've done it.
[00:27:34] It's not love to an end, it's love.
[00:27:41] And love that exists just on its own for its own purposes, that unifies.
[00:27:49] It unifies a family, it unifies a church.
[00:27:53] It unifies.
[00:27:56] That's what's beautiful about Jesus, is because all of the love that we can be shown in the world was shown to us on the cross and out of the tomb and on the throne, Jesus shows us that love.
[00:28:14] And when God, or when Jesus was approached and asked, what's the greatest commandment?
[00:28:23] He told them something that Chloe knew several years later, that the most important thing we can do is love each other, love God with all that we've got.
[00:28:37] And he wasn't asked, what are the top two?
[00:28:41] He said, what's the greatest commandment? They said, what's the greatest commandment? And he said, love God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength.
[00:28:50] And then he offered the second. And he said, but the second is like the first.
[00:28:56] The second is like the first, love your neighbor as yourself.
[00:29:01] That little phrase gets me. The second is like the first.
[00:29:07] Because I found that when I'm having trouble loving, feeling connection to God, that the quickest thing I can do to reestablish my connection with God is to love people well.
[00:29:21] And that the quickest thing that can help me to love the people around me is to love God well.
[00:29:28] That one impacts the other, and so on and so forth. That we grow in love for each other and we grow in love for God, and we grow in unity, not uniformity. We grow in unity together.
[00:29:44] And that's a beautiful thing.
[00:29:48] If you want to join this unity to make Jesus your king, to share in his death, burial and resurrection, if you want to give your life to Jesus, today's the day, you know, Tomorrow would be a good day, too, but today we're all together already.
[00:30:09] There's water, I think. Yeah, well, we'll see.
[00:30:14] We're good right now. Okay.
[00:30:17] There's water, there's a church, there's love in the room.
[00:30:23] Give yourself to Jesus.
[00:30:27] Give your. Join a group of people who are going to love you in unity.
[00:30:32] If you need prayers, we'll have our prayer team at the back. I'll be down front. But whatever you need this morning, know that there's no wrong answers to what you need.
[00:30:45] There are no wrong answers.
[00:30:47] There's just a community that loves you in the unity and love of Jesus.
[00:30:52] If you need anything this morning, please come forward while we stand and while we sing.
