An Earnest Appeal to Preserve and Promote True Peace within the Body of Christ (Part 1)

AN EARNEST APPEAL TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE TRUE PEACE WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST–PART 1

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: January 14, 2024

Series: Peace in the Church

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Our relationships with one another are a proving ground for our walk with God. If our walk with God is genuine, it will prove itself in the good fruit of brotherly love. If our walk with God is shallow, it will show itself in superficial relationships that cannot withstand the heat of testing. And the heat of testing is inevitable, for relationships are often complicated and difficult.

Just this past week I came across the following story – the sort of story that circulates widely on social media. I don’t know whether the story actually happened or if someone wrote it as a parable, but either way it makes a powerful point:

“A pastor asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast. “Lord, I hate buttermilk”, the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going. The farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, “And Lord, you know I don't much care for raw white flour”. The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one to feel uncomfortable. Then the farmer added, “But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don't like, when life gets hard, when we don't understand what you're saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen.””

The Lord does a lot of good mixing when it comes to relationships, but the process stretches us. We want everything to be easy, but relationships are hard. And yet, the Lord is purifying us, sanctifying us, and transforming us through the demanding process of learning to love another. The sure way for a church family to get better at loving each other is to go through tough stuff together. The sure way for a church family to get better at forgiving each other is to experience the sort of conflict and offense that set the stage for forgiveness.

What would it be like for the members of a church family to be virtually impossible to offend, and very quick to forgive? What would it be like for the members of a church family to have the ability to put up with a lot, and to always assume the best about each other? What would it be like for the members of a church family to have no interest in putting each down, but only to outdo one another at honoring each other? What would it be like for the members of a church family to not talk about the people with whom they have conflict, but rather to talk to the people with whom they have conflict – and to do so humbly, charitably, and promptly? What would it be like for the members of a church family to not be strangers to one another, but to be known to one another as beloved friends who know how to be present in each other’s lives without suspicion? What would it be like for the members of a church family to see relational conflict as an opportunity to grow in relational grace, and not as a dreaded situation from which to run? What would it be like for the members of a church family to speak frankly to each other as concerns or disagreements arose, with such conversations taking place with disarming humility, unusual honesty, devotion to Christ’s honor but no concern for one’s sense of self-importance? Ordinary, flawed, graced brothers and sisters loving one another in the same way that they have been loved by Christ – that is the goal.

The sermons in this series are titled: An Earnest Appeal to Preserve and Promote True Peace within the Body of Christ. It is an invitation to you to be soberminded and serious about doing your part to maintain and grow warmhearted and peaceful relationships among God’s people. By devoting several sermons to the purpose of shalom in our relationships with each other, my hope is that you will take concrete steps of relationship-building and peacemaking toward others, such that the learning that takes place in the sanctuary will be matched by the doing that takes place with each other throughout the week. My desire is that this sermon series function as a prompt to you and to me – a prompt to pick up the phone, or send a message, or write a letter, or set up a meeting, or invite someone to lunch. Believing in the theoretical value of preserving and promoting true peace within the body of Christ, is not the same thing as actually laboring in the strength of the Holy Spirit to preserve and promote true peace within the body of Christ. Maintaining peace and growing in love for one another requires fighting the good fight of faith and dying to self – not easy, but full of joy for those who hold on!

In this first sermon, I want to establish why it is so important to have peaceable, warmhearted relationships with each other as fellow Christians. I am thinking most specifically about our relationships with each other within the South Paris Baptist Church family, although you can and should apply these lessons in other settings: in your relationships with family members, and in your relationships with Christians from other local churches. But I am most focused upon our relationships right here in our own church family. Why is it so important to enjoy sustained peace in our fellowship with each other?

WHY TRUE PEACE AMONG CHRIST’S PEOPLE IS SO IMPORTANT

I would like you to consider five reasons why true peace among Christ’s people is so important.

Reason 1: Peace is at the heart of God’s plan

The first reason peace among Christ’s people is so important is that our peace with one another is at the heart of God’s plan. God’s big picture plan is to save a people – not isolated and disconnected individuals – but a multi-ethnic, multi-generation people who are brought together in Him.

The church is referred to as God’s household – God’s family – and we are brothers and sisters one to another. Paul tells Timothy to pattern his relationships with his fellow believers after the family model: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.” (1 Timothy 5:1-2)

The church is also referred to as the body of Christ – though many members, we are one body in Him. Like a close-knit body, we are “joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped” (Ephesians 4:16). The peace that is enjoined upon us is not a mere individualistic peace, but an inter-personal and relational peace: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.” (Colossians 3:15) God, the masterful Creator, “has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Corinthians 12:24-26) With regard to our gathering together as an assembly for the purpose of worship and instruction, Paul says, “Let all things be done for building up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)

To be brought together in Christ means, among other things, to be brought together under His Word. We are evangelized and formed into a maturing community of disciples under the authority of the Lord’s words:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The greatest commandment placed upon disciples is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30). Jesus identified this commandment as the most important commandment. However, He was unwilling to leave the most important commandment as a stand-alone. It is far too easy to claim to love the Lord, while at the very same time treating other people poorly. The Lord won’t let us get away with that. He immediately added the second most important commandment, which is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). Be as interested in your neighbor’s well-being as you are in your own well-being. Treat your neighbor in the same way that you would like your neighbor to treat you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12). While this neighborly love must be extended to all, even our enemies, Jesus raised the standard when He instructed His disciples how to love each other:

“just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

Now that you understand the fullness of Christ’s sacrificial love for you, that is to be your new standard. Love one another in the same way that the Lord has loved you – generously, sacrificially, willingly, gladly. Gladly sacrifice your life and resources for the well-being of your fellow disciples who, let’s be honest, are just as ordinary and flawed as you are. Do you know that the way you treat your Christian brothers and sisters is a reflection of the degree to which Christ’s love for you has been impressed upon your heart? If you are stunned that the Lord Jesus Christ would stoop low to serve you and wash your feet and lay down His life as a sacrifice for you in order to forgive and restore you, a great sinner, then surely it doesn’t put you out to humbly serve, graciously forgive, and gently restore a fellow sinner. But if serving, forgiving, and restoring a fellow sinner is like pulling teeth, then do you really understand the Lord’s redeeming grace?

In our natural sinful condition, apart from the grace of Christ and before the Holy Spirit transforms us, we are enemies of God and enemies of each other. Scripture says concerning our pre-Christian enmity with God: “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10). Scripture also says concerning our pre-Christian enmity with other people: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” (Titus 3:3) Through God’s redeeming grace, sinners discover peace with God through the blood of Christ, and they thereby discover peace with all the other redeemed sinners who have discovered peace with God through the blood of Christ.

“But now in Christ Jesus you [Gentiles] who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.” (Ephesians 2:13-16)

Those words show how tightly connected peace with God and peace with one another are. The greatest commandment and the second most important commandment show how tightly connected love for God and love for other people are. The apostle Paul summarized his instruction this way: the only thing that matters is “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). Faith summarizes our vertical relationship with the Lord. Love summarizes our horizontal relationships with each other. The apostle John gave the same summary: “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.” (1 John 3:23) Not to be outdone, the apostle Peter gave us a list of eight qualities characteristic of healthy believers: the list begins with faith and culminates with love (2 Peter 1:1-8). Faith and love.

We must not fool ourselves into thinking that everything is all right with our vertical relationship with the Lord, if so much is wrong in our horizontal relationships with one another. “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) John’s sobering instruction is not about our neighbors in general, but is specifically about our Christian brothers and sisters who are God’s visible image-bearers who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and are being transformed by the Spirit of God. Your Christian brothers and sisters, as imperfect and flawed as they are, are visible representatives of the invisible God – they are tangible symbols of God’s redeeming grace. You must figure out how to love them from the heart, or you have a big problem with God Himself. “And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:21)

God’s big picture plan is to redeem and transform a people who delight to know Him and who delight to display His character in their relationships with one another. Now, with God’s big picture plan in view, we begin to see how critically important it is that we be good stewards of God’s manifold grace by demonstrating love one to another. Further, we can see the crucial importance of preserving and promoting true peace within the body of Christ, by seeing the grave consequences of failing to do so.

Reason 2: failing to preserve and promote peace grieves the Holy Spirit

So, the second reason why peace among Christ’s people is so important, is that failing to preserve and promote peace grieves the Holy Spirit. We are instructed near the beginning of Ephesians 4 to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3-4). In Ephesians 4, the Spirit isn’t mentioned again until verse 30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) How would we “grieve the Holy Spirit”? Well, since the Spirit is the one who facilitates unity and peace in the one body of Christ, then grieving the Spirit would happen whenever we carelessly undermine the unity and peace of the body. It is not surprising, therefore, that the instruction to “not grieve the Holy Spirit” is sandwiched between two exhortations to show each other grace:

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:29-32)

We bring pleasure to the Holy Spirit when our attitudes, actions, and words are consistent with His work of creating and sustaining unity within the body of Christ. We bring pleasure to the Holy Spirit when we speak gracious words and when we exhibit kindness and forgiveness to each other. But we grieve the Holy Spirit when we undermine His work. The lead-up to Ephesians 4:3, which summons us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, is that the Triune God has done the work of creating a unified church:

“For through him we both [both Jew and Gentile] have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you [Gentiles] are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:18-22)

Do you hear the language of unity? We both. One Spirit. Fellow citizens. Whole structure. Joined together. Being built together. After this instruction concerning unity which continues in Ephesians 3, Paul expresses the desire that God the Father be glorified “in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21) Then Paul immediately instructs us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1) and to “be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) Why? The passage continues:

“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 4:4-6)

Paul goes out of his way to highlight the unity of the body of Christ. This objective unity that exists among all true believers is not something that we have achieved. God has done it! The Father planned it! The Son died for it! The Spirit applies it to His people. The unity of the church is the work of the Triune God! Thus Paul doesn’t call us to create it, but to preserve it. Paul doesn’t call us to make it happen, but to maintain it, steward it, and guard it! We must keep in step with the Holy Spirit who brings about objective peace in the fellowship of God’s redeemed people.

We are right to be bothered when sinners take any work of God, and twist it. Sinners take God’s good work of masculinity and femininity, and they twist it. Sinners take God’s good gift of marriage, and they twist it. Sinners take God’s good gift of procreation, and they twist it. Sinners take God’s good gift of work and wealth, and they twist it. So easy for people inside the church to get worked up about how idolaters out there are twisting God’s good gifts – and they really are, and it really is right to be burdened about it. And yet, we can somehow fall asleep when it comes to the amazing good and gracious work of God in creating the church through the blood of His dear Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, the church – that is, your Christian brothers and sisters brought together in Christ – the church is the special work of God, the people of God, the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. And yet, we can be so slack in the way that we relate to one another, so sloppy in our speech, so dismissive in our actions, so selfish in our evaluations, so eager to get our own way and not so “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Those whom the Holy Spirit has brought together as one body in the bond of peace, let no one put asunder! We grieve the Holy Spirit when we undermine His work. We grieve the Holy Spirit when ungracious, destructive, and corrupting words come out of our mouths. We grieve the Holy Spirit when ungracious and meanspirited attitudes come out of our hearts. Failing to walk in love grieves the Holy Spirit. And, if we are grieving the Holy Spirit, then that will obviously impair our worship, ministry, and mission, since all of these things depend upon the Holy Spirit empowering and strengthening us.

Reason 3: failing to preserve and promote peace undermines our witness

The third reason why peace among Christ’s people is so important, is that failing to preserve and promote peace undermines our witness. God’s will is that our very life together be a vibrant testimony to the world and to the angels. Concerning our testimony to the world, Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Loving each other with a costly, sacrificial, peaceable, visible, generous, warmhearted, and joyful love is a signpost to the world that we belong to Christ, that the love of Christ has captured our hearts, that the power of Christ isn’t a matter of talk but is actually transforming our lives, priorities, and relationships.

Concerning our testimony to the angels, the apostle Paul said that God’s purpose in bringing believing Gentiles into His family and making them fellow heirs with believing Jews is so that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:10) Outside of Christ there is so much pride and envy between different ethnicities and cultures and socio-economic groups, but in Christ “there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11) When a church made of people of diverse backgrounds come together in gladhearted unity to worship the Lord together and to serve one another in love, the angels see God’s manifold wisdom embodied in earthly form, and it is beautiful to their eyes.

But if the world looks upon us and sees bickering and bitterness, and if the angels look upon us and see disorder and discord, then they may sensibly conclude that this group of people has not yet learned Christ – this group of people has not yet grasped the love of Christ – this group of people has not yet internalized the wisdom of God. Failing to walk in love undermines our testimony.

Reason 4: failing to preserve and promote peace is the path to destruction

The fourth reason why peace among Christ’s people is so important, is that failing to preserve and promote peace is the pathway to mutual destruction. This is the warning that Paul sounds to the Galatians. At the end of the day, there is no neutral middle space between life empowered by the Holy Spirit and life empowered by the sinful flesh. It is one or the other. You must not hedge your bets that if the way of the Holy Spirit doesn’t work, you’ve been clever enough to leave some room for the flesh to bail you out. You must be all in! Since “the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22), we can be sure that if we “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) then we will be serving one another in love (Galatians 5:13). The alternative is to walk by the power of the sinful flesh, which is always destructive. The Holy Spirit generates true love, which is oriented toward serving others and is constructive and edifying. The sinful flesh generates a ball of unruly desires, which are oriented toward self-serving pursuits that are hurtful and destructive. Paul writes,

“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:13-15)

There is no neutral middle space. Either we will “through love serve one another” or we will “bite and devour one another”. Either we will “[bear] one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), or we will weigh each other down with ungracious words and deeds. Either we will protect and promote one another’s well-being, or we will “become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26). Either we will restore our brothers and sisters when they have stumbled (Galatians 6:1), or we will consume one another to our mutual ruin. Blessing each other, or biting each other. Serving one another, or snapping at one another. Delighting in each other, or devouring each other. Restoring one another, or ruining one another. No middle ground. And if someone says, ‘I’m on the sidelines, neither building up nor tearing down’, I would say that you ought to reflect on Proverbs 18:9, which says, “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” One of your work assignments as a Christian is to build up your brothers and sisters. Whoever is slack in the work of building up is a brother to him who destroys. In other words, slack edifiers are essentially destroyers. I don’t say this so that fragile brothers and sisters would lose heart, but so that all of us would have a sober mind about the critical importance that we be on the field of battle, suited up in God’s armor, always eager and ready to help one another in whatever ways are needful. Failing to walk in love is the pathway to mutual destruction. Since the stakes are so high and the fleshly and slack way leads to ruin, let’s be doubly resolved to “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:19).

Reason 5: failing to preserve and promote peace endangers your own soul

The fifth reason why peace among Christ’s people is so important, is that failing to preserve and promote peace puts your own soul in grave danger. If you refuse to pursue loving and healthy relationships with the people that the Lord has put in front of you, especially the brothers and sisters He has put in front of you within our own church family, then that will cause massive interference in your relationship with the Father. Jesus taught,

“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

To be reconciled to your brother is an urgent matter; then afterward come into the sanctuary and sing a hymn of praise or put your gift into the offering plate. If we had a temporary drop in attendance or a temporary drop in financial giving because brothers and sisters were busy having private meetings in order to sort through issues and be reconciled to each other, we would be on the right track.

After teaching us how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus offered commentary on one aspect of the prayer. Part of the model prayer is: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). It is rather difficult to pray that way if you haven’t forgiven your debtors, right? Jesus comments on this part of the prayer:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

The point is not that our ability to forgive each other earns us forgiveness from God. The point, rather, is that we cannot abide in the peace and joy of fellowship with the Father (a fellowship which depends on His gracious forgiveness toward us), if we refuse to be conduits of His gracious forgiveness to one another. Either we will live in the stream of divine mercy from God to us and through us to others, or we will suffer drought and famine and barrenness in the land of bitterness and unforgiveness.

Summary

Brothers and sisters, love for one another is the God-appointed fruit of His love for us and our love for Him. God’s design is for His love, His forgiveness, and His generosity to create and sustain a Christ-centered community that is marked by mutual love, forgiveness, and generosity. When we chart a different course, we grieve the Holy Spirit, undermine our witness to the world and to the angels, bring great injury upon one another, and put our own individual soul in peril.

A FINAL WORD

Lord-willing, next week we will begin to look at the practical tactics necessary to the work of preserving and promoting true peace within the body of Christ. For now, I encourage you to begin asking questions like: Is there a relationship with someone here that needs tending, developing, strengthening, mending? What action steps will you take? Clothe yourself with humility, because your initiative might be rebuffed at first! Clothe yourself with humility, because someone else may realize that he or she needs to take initiative in reaching out to you. How will you respond when that other person reaches out to you?

If I may speak personally for just a moment, I want you to know that I live in the middle of this stuff. I haven’t descended from the ivory tower in order to share these thoughts today. I know what it is like to have strained relationships. I know what it is like to sit as a mediator to help brothers work through their differences. I know what it is like to have a disagreeable email show up in my inbox. I know what it is like to not dismiss said disagreeable email, but to labor over it patiently in order to give a constructive and peace-promoting answer.

For the last several months, the other Elders and I have spent considerable time seeking to tend a strained relationship with an honorable brother. It is the sort of situation where the phrase “well, it’s complicated” really seems to fit. But even so, that situation prompted us to put together a letter to the whole congregation, because the strained relationship that we have with this honorable brother is actually relevant to the entire congregation. If the copier in the office doesn’t break down and the ink doesn’t run out, this important letter will be put into your Family Files on Tuesday. I commend the letter to you not only because of what it says, but also because of the example that it sets. Having to expend time and energy in order to preserve and promote peace among us is not a distraction from our calling; it is part of our calling. The exhortation to “pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace” (2 Timothy 2:22) is given to us amid a fallen world, an imperfect church, and complicated relationships, and the action of actually pursuing peace is labor-intensive and often choppy, unpredictable, three steps forward and two steps backward. And it is totally worth doing because it involves us in God’s work, and God is up to some good mixing, and when the mixing is done, the final product will most certainly “be even better than biscuits.”

Brothers and sisters: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing…. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 1:2-4; 3:18)