Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:8-12
Today, we are wrapping up our series on Churchy Habits. These are habits for Christians to cultivate their walk with God. It has been asking how are we spending our time, and what sorts of things are we putting into our minds and hearts? Now, these habits can seem like a struggle because of the number of distractions and responsibilities we have, but they are absolutely beneficial to our health in the long run.
Of course, the most important things, and the best things, in life come after intentional struggle. The best things are earned, not given. To prove my point, consider how we get our music.
Imagine, if you will, it is 1997. You have just been to youth camp in the summer, and someone told you about Kirk Franklin’s Stomp. Having been in a primarily white church, your teenage mind only knows Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant as the top Christian artists. Because you are a rebellious Christian teenager, you know about DC Talk and Jars of Clay, but the older people in your church don’t like them. They are a little too ‘secular sounding’.
But now, you have been introduced to the greatest gospel song of the 1990s—“Stomp.” You’ve just danced and worshiped to this wonderful song, so how are you going to relive your church camp experience? You have to buy a CD. Yes, children, you have to go to the store and spend $18 on a piece of plastic that holds the recordings of the Kirk Franklin of the album, “God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation”—that’s ‘Nu’ spelled N-U because this guy is COOL!
You buy the CD and proceed to unwrap the plastic that has been applied using some sort of industrial machine and adhesive that requires surgical equipment to cut. Then, you place it in the CD player and listen to an entire album, 13 songs, of just Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation. And to make it even better, the first track is a REMIX of Stomp! Truly, you are living in the most blessed of times! The hard work of saving your money, going to the store, unwrapping this monstrously wrapped CD, and pressing play has rewarded you with a surprise new version of that awesome camp song.
Fast forward 30 years, and now, as I tell that story, there is a teenager who is curious what in the world I am talking about. They will not have to do near the work of listening to this song. They can pull out their phone, type “Kirk Franklin Stomp” into their music app, and behold, the song will play. It will become just another song they’ve heard and not have near the impact in their life. Why?—because there is no struggle to listen to new music these days. Literally, any song from any decade of any century is a Google search away.
I have no idea what songs, much less albums, will be the ones talked about and celebrated 30 years from now. Everything is listened to and discarded just as quickly. Our attention spans can’t handle the bandwidth necessary for a song to make a lifelong impact
But that’s just music, right? It’s entertainment. Perhaps, and yet, music is something that speaks to my generation (and others) because many of us spent so much time listening to it. We remember the lyrics, the feelings, the beats, and the moment we told our friends to hush because the best part of the song was coming up. It’s important because we made it important.
So, what are you making important today?
What are you willing to spend the next 30 years reflecting on because it made such an impact in your life?
Let’s consider again how the Bible tells us to spend our time.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians 15:15-17
The days are evil. There’s no need to dissect that too much. So, how do we make the most of these days? We live wisely. We understand the will of the Lord. To do that, we looked at the habits of Sabbath rest, intentional love to others, meditating on the Word of God, and prayer.
By intentionally spending time with God, we will understand the will of God.
From that time with God, we can then look to the habits that affect our world around us. The next one was Stewardship—using the gifts, talents, and resources God gives us to His glory and building value in this world. We will be looking at Stewardship again in our Thanksgiving series this year as we look at forms of worship, so stay with us for that in November.
Last week, we took a look at fasting—being willing to abstain from the things we want in order to listen to the Lord more. This habit builds self-control and rewires our brains and spirit to be in line with God’s will. Paul writes,
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 15:18
If we desire to be filled with the Spirit, we can’t fill ourselves up with other things.
And now, let’s read the next verse.
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 15:19-20
One of the marks of being filled with the Spirit is this verse. We speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. It is a musical life. The reason music speaks to us so deeply, especially great music, is because it is one heart speaking to another heart. That’s how Art works.
But perhaps we are reading this a little too literal. It would be interesting if every conversation we had must be conducted by singing to one another. But that’s probably not what Paul has in mind.
How shall we sing to one another?
It is in worship. Often you have heard me say worship happens on Monday through Saturday as much as it happens on Sunday. Yes, Sunday we join together in worship, but our whole lives can be lived in response to what God has done for us. Specifically, for today, let’s take a look at how our relationships with others can be cultivated as a form of worship.
The Design for Community | Ephesians 4:1-6
From the very beginning, human beings were not designed to be alone. That is not my opinion — that is God's. In Genesis 2, before sin enters the picture, before anything has gone wrong, God looks at Adam in the Garden and says, "It is not good for man to be alone.”
Think about that. Paradise. Perfect creation. No sin, no death, no sorrow, no conflict. And God says: this is not enough. Something is missing. You need someone.
Eve is created. Community begins. And then, of course, Genesis 3 happens, and the relationship that was created for beauty and support and shared flourishing gets broken. Sin does not just break our relationship with God — it breaks our relationships with each other. Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. And humanity has been pointing fingers ever since.
From the nations, the Lord calls out Abraham whose descendants will become Israel, a nation for the Lord. Israel is given laws concerning the poor and those who need extra help. You shall not harvest the corners of your fields, because the poor need somewhere to glean. You shall care for the widow and the orphan. You shall not oppress the foreigner among you. The Law is saturated with concern for the vulnerable, for the weak, for the person who cannot fend for themselves.
The Prophets record the prophets God raised to give warning to Israel for failing to uphold these conditions in the covenant. The Writings in the Old Testament record the stories of God’s people failing to uphold these statutes and the disastrous consequences.
Then, God sends His Son.
Jesus fulfills the Law, completes the work of Atonement on the cross, and rises to life bringing hope and life to those who follow Him. Before He ascends to heaven, He establishes the Church. At first, it’s just a handful of believers, but very quickly it will grow into the thousands. Fast forward 200 years or so, and the Church includes millions of believers. Today, there are approximately 8.3 billion people in the world, and about 2.5 billion of them identify as a Christian.
Believe it or not, those 2.5 billion Christians don’t always get along with each other.
It would appear surveying Christian History, that we have a tendency to repeat the same mistakes as our Old Testament forefathers. So how are we supposed to continue working together fulfilling the Great Commission that Jesus set for us 2000 years ago?
Unity in the Community requires us to bear with one another.
If we back up in Ephesians a chapter, Paul gives us a short version for what this looks like.
I therefore, a prisoner for 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, 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 and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6
First, unity in the community begins with our own walk. We are urged (and I love how Paul casually throws in his imprisonment) to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. In other words, if you are going to call yourself a Christian, then act like it. And that’s what these habits are all about. They help us understand how to walk, and when we lean on the Holy Spirit as these habits help us do, we find the power to actually live as we are called to live. And so:
Before we worry about other people’s lives, we have to begin with ourselves.
Jesus taught,
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Matthew 7:3-5
And so, before we ask someone else to have patience, gentleness and humility with us, we must practice those traits ourselves. Looking back at Ephesians 4, Paul includes the phrase “bearing with one another in love.” I did a word study on ‘bearing’ because I was curious exactly what this verb entailed. I asked, “Does bearing mean I have to fix someone’s problems?” Does it include giving? Does it include counseling? How much do I have to bear? I was curious because some people have A LOT of problems, and quite frankly I don’t know that I have the energy or resources.
The word is anechomai and means closer to ‘endure.’ In fact, in other verses the translators use ‘endure’ rather than ‘bearing’. In a sense, Paul’s use of “bearing” has a connotation of “putting up with one another,” but I should be quick to add it is not a begrudgingly ‘bearing.’ Keep in mind Paul says to live this way eagerly in verse 3. We are to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.
Bearing with one another requires eagerness to maintain unity and peace.
So Paul is not calling us to a grim, teeth-gritting tolerance of the people around us. He is calling us to an active, intentional, eager pursuit of unity. The endurance is real — yes, people are difficult, yes, community is hard, yes, there will be moments when you are simply putting up with someone — but the posture underneath the endurance is eagerness. We want this. We are pursuing this. We are working toward this.
Think about it this way. Those of you who have been married for more than a week know that marriage involves a certain amount of endurance. There are moments in every marriage — every good, healthy, loving marriage — where you are simply putting up with the other person. They are putting up with you too, by the way. Do not get too proud.
But no one who loves their spouse would describe their marriage as primarily an exercise in endurance. Because underneath the hard moments, underneath the difficult seasons, is something deeper: I chose this person. I want to be with this person. I am eager for this relationship.
That is what Paul is describing in the church. Yes, there will be hard moments. Yes, there will be people who are difficult to love. Yes, you will sometimes be simply putting up with someone. But underneath all of that should be an eagerness — a genuine desire for unity, for peace, for the kind of community that only happens when people are truly committed to each other.
As with every habit we have looked at, the habit of bearing with one another requires intentionality. It must be a goal that we have in our local community of believers to be united in our mission to worship and reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ. And this is where we will find true unity—or perhaps we should use the word “harmony.”
Think about those 2.5 billion Christians. They represent a multitude of cultures, languages, and histories. And yet, they are all bound together in Christ. Here’s a quick music lesson. If a group of musicians play in unison, they are all playing the same notes. It’s nice, but it can be boring. What great musicians do is play in harmony. Each may have their own set of notes and rhythm, but they work together to create one great piece of music.
Each Christian will have their own notes to play in this arrangement we call “Church,” but when we are playing together in harmony, it creates beautiful music. In order for this beautiful harmony to happen, though, we must remember who is the Conductor. Paul reminds us in verse 4, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” When we allow the Lord to conduct our lives, we will find ourselves in harmony with one another.
Bearing with one another requires us to remember God is leading our community.
As each of us surrender to the Lordship of Christ, then we will understand how we can bear with one another and help one another. This point brings us back full circle. What was the Greatest Commandment we read in our first two habits?
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
It is impossible to bear with one another and maintain unity when we fail to keep these two commandments. And, when we eagerly and intentionally seek to follow these commandments, it is impossible not to bear with one another.
Perhaps the reason you have so much trouble with bearing with other Christians is because it has been some time since you have spent time with the Lord loving Him with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Perhaps you have forgotten to love your neighbor as yourself because you’ve forgotten your neighbor is not just the person that agrees with you. Your neighbor includes the guy that votes differently than you, plays different music than you, or eats weird food.
As Christians we are bound to Christ. Let’s look to Him as we learn to live with one another.
Now, I have primarily written this sermon with Christians in mind, but I would like to take a moment and address those who are still wondering about following Jesus. This community of faith that I am describing here only works if we are in Christ. We cannot be together in unity until we are together in Christ. I mentioned our history includes many examples of God’s people failing to uphold the unity that we are called to, but history also includes many examples of hostility breaking down because of Christ.
One of my favorite Early Christian writers is Justin Martyr who wrote a Defense of Christianity to the Roman emperor in the second century. In this defense, he explains how whole tribes and nations have converted to Christ, and in doing so, the tribes they used to be in constant war with are now brothers and sisters to them. Barbarous tribes who wanted only plunder and war now seek peace with their enemies because their enemies are also Christians.
This pattern of peace is also true of Christians. Through the last 2000 years, people have found unity and peace under the banner of Christ. Even today, in some of the most war-torn areas, communities are finding peace when they find Jesus.
If you also desire peace in your heart, in your family, and in your community, go to Jesus. He is called “the Prince of Peace” for this very reason.
If that is you this morning — if something in you is responding to what you've heard — I want to give you a simple next step. You don't have to have everything figured out. You don't have to clean yourself up first. You don't have to understand every doctrine or have every question answered. You just have to come.
You can pray something like this, right where you are:
"Lord, I know I need you. I know I cannot do this on my own. I believe you died for me and rose again. Forgive me. Come into my life. Make me new."
If that is your prayer this morning, I want to know about it. Talk to me after service. Fill out a connection card. Pull one of us aside. We want to celebrate with you and walk with you into whatever comes next.
The door is open. It has always been open.
As we close, let’s return to where we started. It’s 1997, and I can tell you all about that summer. It’s the summer I learned who Kirk Franklin was. It’s the summer I spent a week sharing the love of Christ with some refugee kids that had come to Nashville, TN from some of the worst areas of the Middle East. It’s another summer I bonded with friends I still hear from every now and then. It’s the summer God told me I would be a pastor.
Thirty years from now — I want you to think about this seriously — what will you remember from this season of your life?
Will you remember the hours you spent scrolling? Probably not. Will you remember the shows you binge-watched? Maybe a few. Will you remember the arguments you had online with people you have never met? I hope not.
Or will you remember the season when you started actually practicing Sabbath — when you started beginning your week in the presence of God? Will you remember when you started praying in a way that was real, that was honest, that was actually a conversation? Will you remember when you started fasting and discovered that you could, in fact, survive without the thing you thought you couldn't live without?
And will you remember the people?
The small group that prayed with you through something hard. The person you chose to bear with — to endure, to put up with, to love — even when it was difficult. The moment when the harmony of the church became real to you, not just a metaphor.
These habits — Sabbath, love, prayer, meditating on the Word, stewardship, fasting, bearing with one another — they are not a checklist. They are not a performance. They are not a way to earn God's favor, because that check has already been written. Christ has already died. God already loves you.
That is settled.
These habits are how we respond to that love. They are how we become, over time and with intention and with the Holy Spirit's help, the people we were always meant to be.