Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Unity in Diversity, Part 15 of 33

TEXT: "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God'”(Romans 14:10-11).

IDEA: We should be sobered that we shall all give an account of our attitudes and actions to God.

PURPOSE: Why do we judge and look with disdain on other Christians who disagree with us? How do we stop?

I. In Romans 14:10-11, Paul asks two straightforward questions:

Why do YOU judge your brother?

Why do YOU show contempt for your brother?

Why do we? Why do we judge other Christians, especially in areas the Bible does not speak about? Why do we look with disdain on other Christians? What goes on psychologically? Socially?

We have difficulty handling diversity and keeping the unity. Differences often come to mean deficiencies.

What does this do to a church? . . . to a pastor? . . . to a Christian leader? . . . to a new Christian?

II. How do we stop? Two things to keep in mind:

We need to take seriously the images that Paul uses to deal with diversity and unity:

A human body has diversity and unity in the way different members function. (Romans 12:4-5).

A family has unity and diversity. In Romans 14:10, Paul uses “brother” twice in the two questions. This has to do with how members of the family relate.

“We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Everything we think, everything we do, everything we say has a relationship to God.

Christians may judge and condemn other Christians for issues that are “gray,” and ignore the great certainty that we will give an account to God for the way we have handled differences. All lies, gossip, and slander will one day be revealed.

If this makes us uneasy, it ought to.