Life With Others Pt 4

Chapter 12 where we have been
for the last several weeks in this section on life with others. That’s what I titled it, which
really begins in verse 9 of Chapter 12 that courses all the way through. I would even argue through Chapter
14 life with other people and Paul is not. glossing here he
doesn’t say that we’ve got an easy task. He doesn’t ignore
the fact that people are difficult as we have seen. Paul knows the
full spectrum of the nature of of people and their personalities
their behaviors their conduct. Paul isn’t ignoring any of that
but he is giving us instruction so that we might know how to
behave towards people in spite of how they are and what they’re
like and what their shortcomings are. Paul basically gives us
here marching orders on how to how to respond first and foremost
to Christians. How do we conduct ourselves towards
believers in verses 9 through 13? In verse 14, a passage I’m
looking forward to, How do we look? How do we relate to those
who are antagonistic towards us in verses 15 and 16? How do we relate to the downtrodden?
You know, sadly, essentially what Paul alludes to there is
the tendency is just to ignore those who are downtrodden. In
verses 17 through 21, he deals with those who are contrary,
as I pointed out in weeks past and verse or in Chapter 13, the
opening verses, he deals with how the Christian is supposed
to relate to civil government. And then he moves to address
literally everyone. How do we deal with everybody? Well, if you would, for this
morning’s purpose, if you would just look at those first. Five
verses of. Of the section beginning in verse
nine. Where Paul writes by way of somewhat
of a reminder to us if we’ve been here, Let love be without
hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to
what is good. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Give preference to one another
in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence. Fervent in spirit. Serving the
Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Persevering
in tribulation. Devoted to prayer. Contributing
to the needs of the Saints practicing hospitality. Well, Paul began
this section life with others in urging us towards a Christ
like interaction with anybody that we come across. Essentially,
how are we to live as Christ would live towards anybody that
we come in contact with? Well, with regards to Christians,
he says, first and foremost, as we spent several weeks on
it is supposed to be a genuine affection. Verse nine says, Let
love be without hypocrisy. It is supposed to be a genuine
affection. We are not supposed to pretend
we’re not supposed to go through the motions. We’re not supposed
to say things that we don’t mean or propose things that we have
no intention of. Seeing through. We’re called
to a real genuine affection for our brothers and sisters in Christ. But secondly, Paul pointed out
that it is to be a purified affection. Abhor what is evil. Cling to
what is good. And that has not only relation
to what we find in our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don’t
endorse evil in them. But it also has regard to who
we are. That we are called to be holy.
We are called to eschew evil and embrace what is inherently
good. Good by God’s standards. Well,
not only a genuine affection and a purified affection, but
it is to be a practical affection. And this is where we’ve been
really for three weeks. A practical affection. That this affection
just isn’t a matter of sentiment. It isn’t a matter of mere verbal
expression. This affection that we have towards
others is supposed to essentially have legs, if you will. It’s
supposed to do something. It’s supposed to look like something.
It’s supposed to be palpable. It’s supposed to be tangible.
You’re supposed to be able to look on the Christian community
and say there’s something different there. Here’s what Paul says. This practical affection he addresses
beginning in verse 10 when he says be devoted to one another
in brotherly love. Give preference to one another
in honor. Those are the two main statements. This is what I mean when I say
practical affection. That there is supposed to be
devotion to one another in our brotherly love. There is supposed
to be a preferential treatment in giving honor. It’s almost
a battle as we saw a contention a contest if you will to see
who is going to render a greater measure of honor to whom. We’re
supposed to treat others in a brotherly fashion. We’re supposed to cultivate
that affection that is typically found only in the home but Paul
says expand the home expand how you treat your your most Dearest
loved ones and bring that mentality into the church. Cultivate that.
Well, as I’ve said, but I want to remind you. Everything else
in verses 11 to 13 essentially hang on those two statements.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference
to one another in honor. He basically wants to tell us
in verses 11 to 13 what that even looks like. That’s what
Paul wants. He wants our affection, our love
for one another to be intensely practical, not just feelings. He wants it to be seen by the
world. This is evangelism. This is the means of outreach.
This is the means of proclaiming to the world that you love Christ. In that you love your brother.
Everything else in verses 11 through 13 describes those two
statements. We’ve begun looking at them,
we’ve spent no little time on them, not lagging behind in diligence. We’re supposed to persevere.
It’s not supposed to be a once and done kind of proposition.
We’re not supposed to just write a card and let that be it. As
far as our ministry to our brother, we’re supposed to persevere in
that. We’re supposed to be diligent in that and not take one offense
and brush our hands and be done with someone forever. Diligence, diligence is that
word that really presses us to keep going with difficult people,
not to give up. We press on through those things,
we persevere with those that are difficult, we love the unlovely. It’s not about business, as we
saw. Some of your translations probably
even are translated there. Be dutiful in our business. It’s not talking about business.
It’s talking about what we do in relation to our brother. Be
diligent. Don’t quit. Don’t lag behind. If you say that you’re going
to do something, do it. Finish the job. If you say that
you’re going to pray for someone, isn’t that the thing that most
vexes us? We say that we’re going to pray
for something. We even think that we mean it.
And no sooner do we walk away, we forget. And then we hear tale,
you know, isn’t the most convicting thing ever that somebody comes
to you and says, oh, thank you, brother, for praying for me.
We don’t even remember what we were supposed to pray for, right?
Alright, I’m the only one convicted. Don’t like behind in diligence.
And part of the way he begins to build this this very practical
picture of what this love and affection looks like. He says,
be fervent in spirit. You will never ever be diligent
if you’re not fervent in spirit. If you’re not cultivating a fervent
spirit in your love for the fellowship, your love for the brotherhood
of God’s family. You’ll never be diligent if you’re
not fervent in spirit. You’ll never be diligent. You’ll
never love the brothers appropriately if you’re not if you don’t cultivate
the mindset that ultimately you are serving the Lord. That’s
what he says next. You’re not serving them. You’re
not serving on a committee. You’re not serving in a position. You’re serving the Lord. rejoicing
in hope. That’s what we’re supposed to
be doing. We’re supposed to have the grand picture, if you will,
of heaven in view. We’re supposed to have that as
our primary focus, fixing our hope on the end with Jesus Christ
for eternity. That is what carries us through
the difficult days. That’s what helps us to persevere. And as we pointed out all along,
we rejoice in hope for the sake of our brothers and sisters in
Christ. They need to see that in us.
Not only rejoicing in hope, but persevering in tribulation. We
don’t quit. Difficult times will come. Bad
moments. Bad days. Bad episodes and even
bad periods of time come. Great tribulation. Paul isn’t
minimizing this here. Paul knew tribulation and when
he speaks of tribulation he’s talking about the deepest darkest
trials that ever come into a Christian’s life. And Paul says you press
through them you persevere by God’s grace and he is building
these things and I every time I read it I’m more convinced
that he’s put these in a particular order for a reason not lagging
behind in diligence fervent in spirit. Serving the Lord. Rejoicing
in hope. Persevering in tribulation. Devoted
to prayer. You see, if you’re not devoted
to prayer, you’ll never have a fervent spirit. You’ll never
be diligent. You’ll never have hope. All of
those things begin to disintegrate if we don’t have that mighty
contact of communion with our Almighty God. We laid the groundwork. To finish
out this great section, this Lord’s Day. Paul gives two more admonitions
that really describe for us what a practical love of the brotherhood
looks like. What does church look like? What
is it supposed to look like? How are we supposed to practically
be devoted to our brothers? and sisters in Christ. How are
we supposed to practically honor one another. Well. The second to last admonition
he gives there in verse 13 is contributing to the needs of
the saints. Now I know what you’re thinking
because that’s exactly what I thought when I read it. You know this
is the benevolence fund right past the hat. And as we see a
need we’re you know we’ll contribute and you know as we see a need
we’ll let the deacons manage the benevolence fund because
then we can be twice removed from it. We give what we can
when we can to the benevolence fund. We let the deacons watch
over any needs in the church and we brush our hands to what
this passage really means. Let me tell you what it means. It says literally in the needs
of the holy ones being a partner. Well that begins to that makes
us a little uncomfortable now doesn’t it. In the needs of the
holy ones the saints God’s people those that are sanctified set
apart for Christ by himself. In the needs of the holy ones
being a partner. How can I be a partner. in a
brother or sister’s need. Let me tell you what this word
means and I’m going to take some time with this. Since we have
all the time in the world now. The word the root word for this
means common or communal. Here’s how the early church functioned.
This is one of the first uses of the word in Acts. All the
all those who had believed were together and had all things in
common. Now mind you there are quote
unquote theological systems and movements going about even today
that promote a socialist view communism if you will. And they
suggest that it’s taught even in the Bible. Well that’s not
what this is teaching. This was by choice. They willfully
contributed. They essentially had a oneness
of spirit and mind in their things. But that’s the word that’s used
here. They had all things in common.
It was if you were a pool. Acts 4.32 says the same thing.
All things were common property to them. This will make us even
more uncomfortable because it is talking about what we thought
were our things. An interesting twist though.
Listen to Romans 14 14 same word Paul says I know and I’m convinced
in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself but to him
who thinks anything to be unclean to him it is unclean. The word
there for common is translated there unclean. Now, here’s the
image. You go to the picnic, right?
Love going up. We’ll have a picnic again up
in the canyon, hopefully even next summer. You go to the picnic,
right? We all go to the picnic. We all
get there. We walk down the big hill. It’s dusty, hot. We’re
thirsty. We get there. We’ve got plenty to drink. We
have one cup. OK. And so the first one steps
to the cooler and takes a cup, and he drinks. And maybe the
second. Maybe the third does likewise. Maybe somebody gets
creative and skips it you know and cuffs their hands. But sooner
or later the cop being communal is unclean. Right. That’s that’s
really the nature of this word. And so it came to mean defiled.
Matthew 15 11 it’s not what enters into the mouth that defiles the
man the same word. But ultimately, it’s that communal
idea that Paul is promoting here, not to generate the thought of
something being defiled or unclean, but the idea of commonality,
the idea of a partnership. We call it fellowship, right? And sometimes for us, fellowship
is a very, very thin veneer, isn’t it? We say that we’re in
fellowship with one another but we don’t know how we’re praying
for each other. We don’t know what our needs are. We don’t
know what our hurts are. Acts 2 42 they were continually
devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and
to the breaking of bread and to prayer. First Corinthians
1 9 translates the same word fellowship with his son. We have
communion partnerships. fellowship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Do you realize that? Paul goes
on to say in 2 Corinthians 13 that we have fellowship in the
Holy Spirit. We have a partnership. God himself
has established it. And we together are partners
with the Holy Spirit and ultimately with Christ. Well, Paul goes on to talk about
fellowship of the spirit, fellowship of the sufferings of Christ.
He talks about this partnership, and that’s exactly how he’s using
it here in this passage. To share, to partake, to have
real, true fellowship with someone else. Paul had used it as an
indictment. To the Philippians, he wrote,
of other churches, all the while commending them. He said you
yourselves know Philippians that at the first preaching of the
gospel after I left Macedonia no church shared with me in the
matter of giving and receiving but you alone. It was a testimony
to them. It was a commendation of what
they had done. But it was also an indictment on all the other
churches. They weren’t common. There was no fellowship. They
hadn’t shown Fellowship towards Paul, they hadn’t endured with
commonality his sufferings. Well. That’s the meaning of the
word. And so this idea of contributing.
That falls woefully short of what Paul is even meaning here.
It’s fellowship. It’s a passionate fellowship
with others in whatever they’re enduring. How else would you
rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
I would say most of us don’t even have a first clue what someone
is really going through. Lloyd-Jones said it this way
literal distribution is of course a part of the meaning. And so
when it says that we are to contribute there there is some of that idea
when we talk about a fellowship and somebody’s needs. Otherwise
you’re right back to what James is admonishing. Don’t just say
be at peace be warned to be filled. There should be some movement
of hearts. Literal distribution is, of course,
a part of the meaning, but it’s not enough. It’s too weak. It
really means entering into fellowship with the necessities of the Saints.
You do not merely distribute to them the necessities of the
Saints. You enter into fellowship with
them. You become partners with them.
You share with them. That’s what Paul’s pointing to.
But mind you also. We don’t want to create something
here that God would be displeased with. And so if you look, it
says that we are in fellowship with the needs, not the wants
of others. Genuine needs, not those things
that gratify their greedy desires. provide iPads or iPods or stuff
or bling and all those. You know, we we want to be concerned
with people’s needs. You say, well, what are they?
I think God has made it abundantly clear what real needs look like. Food. Somebody doesn’t have food. That’s a need. They might make
it a week. Maybe. Shelter in this town in
the winter. You don’t have shelter, you might
make it a couple of hours on a cold, bitter night. Clothing,
that’s a need. Practical love, that’s a need.
And Jesus himself put a premium on these things, didn’t he? Turn
to Matthew chapter 25, just for a moment. Matthew 25. Food, shelter, clothing, practical
love. Jesus is addressing the end times.
Look at verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in
His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on
His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered
before Him. He will separate them from one
another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And
He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are
blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited
me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will
answer him. Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you? or thirsty and give you something
to drink. And when do we see you a stranger and invite you
in or naked and clothed you? When do we see you sick or in
prison and come to you? The king will answer and say
to them, truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it
to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did
it to me. God puts a premium on practical
love. And he says food, shelter, clothing,
practical love. It’s not all the stuff that the
world has to offer, and he does the same thing. In the negative, to the least that
you did not do it to any of these, you did not do it to me, and
there are consequences woven in there as well. God is not
wanting us to cultivate a welfare system, a welfare state in the
church. He’s not wanting us to just level
the playing field and put all of our money into one pool. What
he’s wanting to do is cultivate a fellowship of heart that allows
us to enter in to our brothers and sisters situation where we
really know what they’re experiencing, what they’re going through, and
to take every opportunity in our power to minister to those
needs. We should care about the needs
of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even more than we care
about our own. We talked about giving preference
to one another in honor the other day. Can you imagine a situation
where you don’t even worry about your own needs because your brothers
and sisters are worried about those that you’re more concerned
about showing honor to them in their needs than you are about
even providing for your own. That’s Christianity. What he points us to is being
in fellowship being in rich fellowship. Where the joy of one is the joy
of everyone where the pain and the suffering of one is the pain
and suffering of all. And this isn’t anything that
Paul doesn’t point to in different ways in other places. We looked
at Philippians 2 last week ultimately a call to humility right. Paul
says, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility
of mind, regard one another is more important than yourselves.
Get this. Do not merely look out for your
own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
He says the exact same thing. The Christian is going to be
encouraged and eager to fellowship in the needs of other Christians. And this has reference to what
we think is ours. And in a sense, it is. It’s for
our stewardship. It’s for us to know how to fellowship
in what God has given us in this particular country and so much
abundance. Well, this was exemplified, you
know this, so I’ve already pointed to it. It was exemplified in
the early church. Acts chapter four there was not
a needy person among them. Wouldn’t that be a great great
thing. Great testimony to the world.
There was not a needy person among them for all who were owners
of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of
the sales and lay them at the apostles feet and they would
be distributed to each as any had need. You know it transpired
out of that. Well Paul commended the Philippians
already pointed this out that in a very real way this is the
only church that stood with him. This is the only church that
looked at Paul saw the need and said you know what we need to
participate. We need to fellowship with him in that. When he wrote
to the Philippians he said even in Thessalonica Philippians 4
you sent a gift more than once for my needs. This was a church
that didn’t just write you know the annual missions check. OK
that was off our plate. Not that I seek the gift itself,
Paul said, but I seek for the profit which increases to your
account. It’s fellowship. It’s oneness of heart and mind
and purpose. Paul went on to say, but I’ve
received everything in full, I have an abundance, I am amply
supplied. Having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent,
a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And then Paul says this, my God
will supply all your needs. That’s the way it works. So it’s not only exemplified
it’s also Paul also goes on to encourage. That this practice
be emulated by other churches. Paul told the Corinthians 16
1 now concerning the collection for the Saints as I directed
the churches so do also in other words he’s encouraging them to
emulate the churches of Macedonia. Philippi Philippi rather Paul addresses that in 2 Corinthians
8 and 2 Corinthians 9. Paul is urging them to emulate
what the Philippian churches the churches of Macedonia had
done. And in many ways the scriptures
reiterate this command to enter into fellowship with our brothers
and sisters needs in a practical way. How about this one. How about this clear command. Hebrews 13 16. Do not neglect
in doing good and sharing for with such sacrifices God as well
please. So our sharing should be sacrificial. It’s one thing that you know
to have a windfall. You know the Lord blesses you
and maybe kind of be a conduit redirect that in five different
ways. It’s another thing to say you
know what look this really stings this hurts the smarts but I’m
going to participate. Titus Chapter 3 Our people must
also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs
so that they will not be unfruitful. This is the fruit the fruitfulness
that he’s talking about here is the fruitfulness as a Christian.
That we are supposed to enter into fellowship with others.
And that is fruit bearing. That is your testimony. Galatians
6.2. Very simple. One sentence. Bear
one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. Well, what kind of burdens do
people have? Prayer burdens. They have prayer burdens. And
you know what? I’d say most of us aren’t wealthy, rich, well
to do. We can all pray. We can all pray. Financial burdens, they come.
Service burdens, there are always things that need doing. And we
can all roll up our sleeves and bear one another’s burdens in
at least one of these ways, can’t we? And for the great measure
we do. Isn’t it a privilege as a Christian,
and as you think back in your mind’s eye, To have been on both
sides of that equation. To have been in a situation where
somebody just blessed you without you even knowing it or expecting
it. You didn’t even realize that anybody noticed your need. And
all of a sudden it was met. Not just helped. Your need was
met. Isn’t it a privilege also to be on the other end? Where
God stirs your heart. You know he has. God stirs your
heart. He opens your eyes. You see it.
And by God’s good providence, he has enabled you to meet that
need, whatever it is. We are called to contribute. To participate, to fellowship
in the needs of the saints. And Paul closes this great section.
A section where he presses us, not just to life with others,
The life with God’s people, how are we supposed to respond? He
tells us and he closes with this. Practicing hospitality. I’ve
quipped a number of different times, some of these great professions,
medicine, law, they spend their whole lives practicing. I practice
law. I practice medicine. Well, God
gives us an opportunity. He’s going to give us the whole
rest of our lives to practice hospitality. It isn’t the mere
exercise of having somebody into our home. That’s what we think
of my hospitality. We allow ourselves to be warmed
by the service that we render on behalf actually our wives
cooking and cleaning and we opened our home. and showed hospitality
really isn’t even begin to touch the meaning of this word. It
is. If you wanted to literally translate
it is the love to strangers pursuing. And it’s a funny it’s a really
funny phrase. The love to strangers pursuing
you see the the verb here practicing That really is a rendering and
it’s a I guess a decent rendering but the verb really means to
persecute. To pursue to the point where
the pursuit was seen as persecution. One described it this in these
terms pursue chase as in war or hunting elsewhere in the New
Testament of the Christians zealous quest. One is not just to wait
and to take the stranger in. Almost every one of you would
answer the phone. Yes. Uh-huh. Okay. All right. Send them over. Right? Wouldn’t
we all take that call? You’d all take the call. We’d
all… Some more willingly than others. Okay. Sure. Send them
over. A meal, a night’s rest, whatever
the case may be. Almost all of us would do that.
How many of us would go looking for that? Hey, do you need any
help? Need a place to stay? Hey, are
you hungry? That’s what it means it points
to a zealous pursuit of a stranger who is in need. And the honest
truth is we just don’t go about it that way. It’s vigorous effort
here. It’s a strenuous quest for an
opportunity to serve somebody. The word translated in Romans
pursuing pursue prosecute. It doesn’t mean lunch. It doesn’t
mean social gatherings is the extent of our hospitality. It
is a love of strangers. It is a practical love of strangers. And we’ve seen it in times past.
This characteristic, this character quality is absolutely expected
of elders. We are absolutely to be on the
look for opportunities to serve a stranger in need. But really,
Elder qualifications aren’t anything that others aren’t called to.
We’re just called to those. Absolutely. In other words, what’s expected
of the elders is also expected of you. And Timothy makes that
Paul makes it clear when he writes to Timothy in chapter six, verse
18, instruct them, the others instruct them to do good, to
be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share. That’s
expected of all of us. But how about this one? Be hospitable
to one another. Without complaint. Man, that
smarts, doesn’t it? Because this guy, he came in. He ate all my food. He ate the
whole sleeve of, you know, those thin mint cookies that we put
out. There was just supposed to be
a couple here and there. He put his feet on my coffee
table. No sooner, you know, just as
soon kick them out. But no sooner do they leave,
we wipe our brow. It’s not supposed to be that
way. Our hospitality is to be without complaint. We’re supposed
to be eager to befriend, eager to reach out to those who are
struggling and destitute, especially of believers who are traveling.
Anybody who’s ever traveled I think that’s why you should travel.
You should travel more so that you know what a bad pillow feels
like. Right. Then when you show hospitality
hey you take your pick. How many pillows do you want.
Hospitality isn’t just about having friends over for dinner.
In fact Jesus downplayed that element. In Luke chapter 14,
he said he also went on to say the one who invited him when
you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or
your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they
also invite you in return. Well, I thought that’s what it
was all about. I thought there was this reciprocal agreement.
It’s not what it’s about at all. One pastor said the true test
of godly self-giving hospitality is what we do for others. solely
out of concern for their welfare. Did you rest well? Did you get
enough sleep? Do you need a hot shower? Do
you need a good meal? How about this one? This echo of what Paul’s teaching
here, Hebrews 13, 2. Do not neglect to show hospitality
to strangers. That’s basically what Paul’s
saying, right? Only Hebrews gives you the reason why do not neglect
to show hospitality to strangers for by this some have entertained
angels without knowing it. I mean isn’t that a powerful
motivation to do what’s right what’s expected. What Christian. I’m sure we could we could finish
our time. until well into dark today talking
about those opportunities that we’ve had that might have been
those very kinds of situations. I never saw the man again. I
had never seen him before. God just laid it on my heart
by God’s grace alone. I responded effectively. I ministered
to this individual and poof he was gone. How do you know what
tests come your way. How do you know what tests God
has sent your way that you bungled. You fail that miserably. But
how do you know what gracious tests God has sent your way? What opportunities that purely
by God’s grace alone you responded. You gave to the man what he needed.
And ultimately was an angel. What an exciting thing. What
an exciting thing to discover in eternity how God had used
us in these various situations all with the intent of heart
to serve our brothers as we ought to serve them. One pastor said it this way with
regards to this entire passage love is the badge of Christian
discipleship. You go out to witness, they’re
not going to give a hoot what version of the Bible you read
or what your doctrinal, what your end time view is. They’re
not going to care about any of that. But the way that you respond
to your brothers and sisters in Christ, the way that you care
for them, the way that you love them, He said, Love is the badge
of Christian discipleship. It is not knowledge, nor orthodoxy,
nor fleshly activities, but supremely love, which identifies a follower
of Jesus Christ. The mark of a true Christian
is love, and that is a genuine, active love, not in words, but
in deeds. Would you examine your heart
before God? Our merciful King, We have relished
and enjoyed this passage. We came into it. We know that
we did. Even with questions. Even with
limits that we would put on dealing with, especially a problematic
brother. The really nice and sweet, perfect
ones. God, we know that we love those. They’re easy to serve. But it’s
the difficult ones. It’s the difficult people It’s
the difficult parts of people’s lives that we bristle at. We
know that Paul knew this, too. We know that Paul wanted us to
be instructed in how to deal, how to live towards one another. God, grant us the grace to examine
our hearts in light of this passage, that you would take us and use
us and reshape us after this verse. that if nothing else,
if we don’t figure out what we believe on a particular passage,
or if we don’t have a particular doctrinal structure in place,
if nothing else, Father, the world would see that we love
one another. Grant us that grace, we pray.
It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask.