Parkerville Baptist Church
Continuing our "Family Ties" series, Jason Brooks will be talking about living with each other in community. Jason says, “In Colossians 3 the apostle Paul says we are to act with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering. It is in the local church context that we have the opportunity to rub shoulders with each other, to upset each other, to annoy and frustrate each other! And because of that we can practise the things that Paul talks about in this passage. Being in a church community means we are tested in these things. This can feel negative for many, but we can reframe this thinking and see it as the beautiful way God works through His people to shape them into the diverse, complex, yet wonderful and spectacular body of Christ!”
Colossians 3:12-17 NIV
Verse 13 other translations
CEB; Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other.
CEV; Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.
TLB; Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
The local church community gives us the opportunity to rub shoulders with each, to upset each other. To annoy and frustrate each other!!
For some this is negative, but, can this be reframed to be wonderful, because of the growth that comes from it.
Paul outlines some virtues in verse 12 which give us the opportunity to practise in our relationships and church family.
3 Stages Of Communities
Pseudo-Community
A very nice community, everyone appears joyful, but it lacks depth it’s often how communities and relationships start, but quite often if communities stay like this it is because they avoid conflict or being vulnerable and end’s up shallow, false or pseudo- community.
Chaos
After some time community enters a time of chaos, disruptions start to take place, people start to niggle at one another, we try, fix and bring people to our line of thinking we desire other people to think like us or act like us. A number of the group want the others to live according to their rules or expectations. This can cause chaos, or disunity.
This is a really important time of community and relationships, and quite often we try to avoid this and make it go away, we fear it. We try to try fix and heal the group.
We can start to blame and become intolerant of each other, “it’s his fault or her fault. It’s the leaders' fault."
Dying To Self
To bring true community there is a need to die to self, emptying ourselves is understanding who we are in Christ and were we have come from. The depth of sin we have come from. The depth of forgiveness which we have received in Christ.
Dying to self is dying to self-righteousness, dying to pride.
Sometimes We can project our own personal standards our own expectations and cast them onto others.
It is important to understand we are all on a journey and to show grace and compassion to one another.
Perhaps this is more highlighted in a Christian community because often we try to hold ourselves to a high standard.
And like the Pharisees who held themselves to a standard, they often did not tolerate those who didn’t live up to their personal standard.
Consider Forgiveness
Colossians 3:13 in the light of Peter's words to Jesus in Matthew 18:21-22
Matthew 18:21-22 NIV
Peter's Question To Jesus
• "How often shall my brother forgive me when I sin against him?"
• Peter was quick to assume his brother would require repeated forgiveness and seemed to forget he would need his brother's mercy as well.
• We often notice another's offense while remaining blind to our own faults.
• When someone says something that hurts our feelings, we can brand him as cruel and thoughtless.
• Yet when we speak a painful word against someone, we're misunderstood.
"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive," C.S. Lewis wrote. I think Peter would have agreed. He knew pontificating about forgiveness was a whole lot easier than practicing it. It's the doing that gets tough. But it's the doing that should characterize the child of God. To return evil for good is devilish, and to return good for good is human. But to return good for evil is Godlike.
What Forgiveness Is Not
• Forgiveness is not necessarily forgetting what someone has done.
• Forgiveness is not saying what was done is OK.
• Forgiveness is not putting yourself in harms way.
Forgiveness Is
• Forgiveness Is a release of the resentment .
• Forgiveness is a release of the bitterness.
• Forgiveness is a release of the anger.
• Forgiveness is to say that whilst I was a victim, I don’t ascribe to a state of victimhood. My life is not identified with being a victim.
• I’m freed from that, I’m released from that.
• I’m freed from that.
• I’m free in Christ!
