Isn’t church all about me? Isn’t it about my wants, my wishes, my hopes, and my dreams? Are you saying right now, “No, of course not!  It’s about Jesus!”? It is about Jesus, but do we make it sometimes about us?

Paul spoke to the Corinthian church about something like this.  He said, “For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’” They were arguing about several things, but Paul highlighted their personality fight.  They were fighting about which teacher they liked best.  Does that sound like they were making it about Jesus?

It is a common temptation: we think that we know best and we fight for our opinion.  We fight hard because we think we are right.  We don’t stop and consider that we are fighting against our brothers and sisters.  We don’t stop and think about how we are sacrificing our relationships with them for something less than the gospel. We don’t stop and remember that people are supposed to know we are Jesus’ followers because of our love for one another and not for how well we can get our way.

Paul warned the Galatian church about this.  He said, “If you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” Have we become petty?  Have we been fighting for our way and not the way of Jesus? Do we keep choosing the wrong fights? Are we fighting for our opinions instead of for each other? God asks us to fight for each other. Is that fight our priority?

If the body of Christ is going to be strong, it must do things God’s way. God wants us to be unified.  Sometimes, that unity requires me to submit what I want to what you want.  Sometimes, it requires you to submit what you want to what I want.  Will we commit to that today?  Will we commit to submission? Let your love be without hypocrisy.  Love the family of faith!

Something to think about,

Pastor John