210925 - 1st Century Lessons for 21st Century - Division Divides - Diversity Unites

This particular teaching is potentially the most. Put it the most. The greatest potential for conflict will come in this teaching. I intended for the unity of the body, but because of how polar, the United States has become and the world in recent years.

I feel this is an important subject and I'm, I'm covering it in a way that I hope honors the Lord and honors the body of Christ and honors. All of us. I have no intent of pointing fingers, or causing division, or harming, or confusing. I'm hoping to provide Clarity and what regard and in a particular regard and what we can learn from the early church. The early church was even more divided than we are today. In many ways. We think we know the early church, but I'm going to help you understand that you don't have kind of introduced that already, but I'm also going to bring this forward into today. This presentation has the fewest slides, but is in some ways the most challenging and I pray that it honors the Lord and the body of Christ. Amen. And amen. 1st Century lessons for the 21st century considering what we have in common. Our differences are dignity, the image of God and unity in the Lord. This is what we have in common. Do we have anything else in common, Maybe? Maybe we both like woodworking or maybe we like gardening or maybe we love roses or maybe we like to listen to particular music. But but that's just something that we kind of enjoyed together. That's not the main common thing. The common thing is Our dignity, the image of God in us and the unity are unity in the Lord.

The one thing, the early church had was they believed in Jesus is Lord. Everything else less important. Early Jewish Believers. This is a great summary over. What we covered already. They came from many different backgrounds Fair six-sided ucn playing Jewish Zealot Dead Sea Scrolls. People at cetera. We don't even know how many judaism's the were in the first century, but they all had baggage and they all brought their baggage with him when they brought them into a new Fellowship. I remember, I'm here at your son Messiah. Someone heard me teaching one week and they could not believe that I did not believe in the Rapture of the church, the pre-trib Rapture. You must believe. How can you not believe in that? You're a Christian or supposed to be a Christian. How can you not believe that? I don't, I have a different breed than that and I did explain to them but they were indignant about this particular thing. And another thing that's come up in this in this church. Someone has come up to me and and insisted on double predestination that God had definitely destined some people to die. And I go, yeah, maybe But not as many as you think.

And then other things, I mean, there's a lots of things that can cause this kind of this kind of tension, but the body of Christ is not supposed to be like that. The body of Christ is supposed to enter play with each other in and actually,

Keep the relationship open to not separate from the body. Let this be one body with differences is fine. But let's not separate. I'll call you that little bit better. Each background had many different schools parties and alliances. There was no monolithically uniform, first-century, Jerusalem, Judaism. We frequently think of Judaism as monolithic a single thing. It wasn't couldn't have been not as not the way, it's not the time. The temple was kind of Monolithic. Yeah, really big monolithic, but the 500 neighborhood. Synagogues had many differences between them early Jewish. Believers were very, very, very diverse. But each was still a Jew. They had separated there, still consider themselves Jew, a part of the community of Jews who came to faith in your shoe, or how much they are and make it. Bring that confidence, that dignity with them. When they went to the temple courts to teach or to learn.

Early Gentile Believers, many different backgrounds, wealthy. Romans talk about them. Paul, and Barnabas the Anna and Antioch Church was Syriac Paul's. First missionary journey went through Cyprus, which the Eastern end of Cypress anyway with Celestia, which is like over on the mainland there and the West End of Cyprus was arguably play Phillip Phillip for city of pisidia. Yeah, so you got one little island. You got two major different cultural groups, who probably spoke different languages. On a little Island. But he went to both places. And then he went up to purga. He landed at purga and then other three possible routes, he took up to pisidian Antioch and their arguments among the scholars about which way he took. And I think he went up the river valley, which was very treacherous mountainous, terrain, and very fiercely independent people. And these people are so fiercely independent that when Alexander the Great was Conquering the world. He decided not to try to deal with these people cuz they were too hard. The little place, but Alexander goes that's going there. Alexander the Great not going there. That's where Paul probably went. Why did he go that way? There were synagogues up that River Valley. And what did what was Paul's? The Jew first and then to the Gentile. So the scholars who argue that? This is the way. Paul went. There's a good argument. He went to the Jew first even in a very difficult treacherous, dangerous hostile potentially hostile area to get up to pisidian Antioch. And then he goes to Iconium and then he goes to Derby. And then it goes to lystra, and pisidia is arguably Latin. Iconium is phrygian. Completely different cultural, anything and lystra Anatolian. So, these are like neighboring cities who don't even speak the same language. And these are all when a place called galatia. And we have a book written to the Galatians. Who when we read it. We usually think. Oh, yeah, the church in galatia. Like the church in Xenia.

No. Very diverse. Possibly warlike diverse. Well, they were in galatia who were the who were the galatian? Why were the Galatians called the Galatians?

Initially from Gaul. Where is Gaul? Celtic.

It's recorded that the Galatians were very light, skinned light skinned, with red hair and fierce eyes knowing about the Galatians. We don't picture it that way.

we picture like the first galatian church on the corner of 2nd and Main, you know, I mean, we don't picture it that way. But that's what it was more. Like Paul's letter to the Galatians was sent to these people at least seven regions, maybe eight and eight languages are cultures with nothing and,. These people had nothing in common, except Jesus and that's even a stretch. Paul's going to the synagogues, the Jewish synagogues to the Jew first and then to the and then to the Gentile Synagogues first, so not all these guys were Believers in Jesus with some of them became Believers in Jesus. As it goes through these areas. Here's a picture. So this does not have the two places in in Crete, but it does have

Most of the places so goes up to par guy. He lands at per guy here and he goes up this River Valley to pisidian Antioch, and then it goes down through here. So, these are all really close together. See, But those are three different nationalities, and this is galatia. So we read this, like it was a simple missionary journey like going to Florida.

Nope. Nope, that's the wrong. Way to look at it early Roman Believers and Martyrs from well-established Romans to a host of Martyrs. How more diverse can you get than that? Wealthy. Romans, 2 martyrs. The first Martyrs because we were mentioned the word, we brought up the word martyrs, where the in this is ancient. The Holy Innocents that Herod killed in Bethlehem. They're considered the first Christian. Martyrs in the church.

Ancient tradition. Believed to be Believers in Jesus. These children, who died. Why? I don't know why they made that argument, but their honored that way in the church. Someone then James James Ebony's. Son is the first and possibly Apostle. He's the only one listed in the New Testament as being in a martyr. They thought it'd be a good idea, because the juice seem to like it, when we kill Christians is sort of the argument and that's why they killed him. And then after that, someone probably Peter, we're not sure. But someone started a church in Rome don't know who, but we think it might have been Peter. The Catholic Church says it was Peter, Peter start at church. I don't know that they're right, but you know, I don't have a problem with it. Start at church, in Rome in the 40s and flood. He's expelled the Jews. After the over the Christos Affair and 49 possibly an argument about Christ for the requirements to be a part of this body. So you can imagine there was this conflict in the church about what it meant to be a Christian to believer and Call some friction, and the Romans didn't like friction. They wanted the pox Romana. So they threw them all out. They came back eventually, going to win the church grew in this. Through martyrdom, that seemed to explode through margarine. The more Martyrs. They killed. The more people that came to believe in Jesus. And when you, when you think about that, you go, something really weird is going on. You go to this big, big Community Gathering, and you see Christians being killed in, everyone's cheering and then half of the group that's cheering becomes believers. This is kind of unusual. Why would they become Believers? Only one reason? Christian's apparently died. Well,

It's important to live. Well. But if you're destined to death as a martyr, you can do it with dignity. And we may be facing that in the days ahead. I don't know. But it's something we should come to grips with. If we're studying the early church at all. We should see what we can learn. That might be relevant in her own day. And that's one thing. They seem to die. Well. 22 lien Road and 197. It's a long time later, but his idea actually began earlier than he said it but he wrote that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Does anyone in here? Except for me know anyone? Who wanted to be buried in an arable land or something like that? Because they believe the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. No, woody night, a guy who taught us in Saudi Arabia, good, Christian friend. He hoped to be buried in Saudi Arabia because of the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. That was his deepest heartfelt prayer. Wonderful minister. Was he there as a minister know? He was there as an air of linguist, but he wasn't a minister. And you wrote a sermon every week. That was his practice. Church sees. So we talked about the organization of the church. When did the church cease begin? Well, they didn't. but, If you went to Ephesus, who would you want to see there?

John. Or Luke, they were probably both there for Mary. If you went somewhere else, you would want to see. The the Apostle who was there? Corinth Phillipi Ephesus, in Rome eventually became seats of doctrinal authority because this is where the original autographs of the letters of the fathers of the church resided. And so, people went there to hear about the teachings of the earliest apostles. And try to lie and list, four of them, as pre-eminent Corinth, Philip II episode syndrome. And this was based on Apostolic authority, doctrinal authority over time. This kind of morphed into jurisdictional or Regional Authority. Well, I'm going to be in Antioch. Who should I see? Who's the leader there? I'm going to be in Constantinople. Who's the leader there and needs to be eventually became sees you here about the Holy. See. Well that comes from the Latin sank. The Sadies say this is where the words C comes from. It doesn't mean in ocean. Or doesn't mean they see better, it means. This is the seat. Authority. So the church says he's developed an interesting question. He said it depends on which culture you're in, what form the authority comes. If you're in Jerusalem, The Authority would be more Hebrew, at least, for a. Of time, Hebrew Authority. If you were in Syria, your church structure would look more like a Syrian situation. If you were in Rome, the church structure would look a little more, Roman little more organizational. And that's, that's absolutely true. When we were talking about. I wasn't part of this conversation, but when the elders were trying to decide what, what form of government that the church should take Church in the Messiah, when we were forming, they settled on.

Something as close as they could get to the first-century, but shortly after they decided on a plurality of Elder model, which is the hardest model to use, by the way. Be a lot easier to say I'm in charge.

I bet to tell people, no, I I don't make that call, we function under a plurality of Elders. That's the takes longer and harder and you'll have it. You have to have the whole you have to believe the holy spirit's guiding you in order for such a model to work. And every Elder needs to believe that if it's less than that, it doesn't work. You can't, you can't have a plurality of Elder model and ruled by. Committee. You can't have a vote. It has to be concurrence. And people say, so why is everything going on? And I go, if we don't have concurrence, nothing happens. We've done that. We voted. We voted by committee before. Doesn't work. It really doesn't so it's hard. But depends. So and then and then Dwight had to defend all the other Church structures because people should lose this kind of church structure. Is this kind of church structure wrong. They're all good. They all function in different cultural contexts. Each culture has its own context. Why is ours this? Cuz we're trying to be as close as we can to first-century. That's why we function the way we do not because it's elegant or works. Well,

anyway, that's why these Church cease came forth. First doctrinal. And then jurisdictional and unoriginal and it's just a function of the realm of rum. Now we can have, we can say bad things about Rome or we can say bad things about the syrians or bad thing. We can say bad things about any of these groups, but the truth of the matter remains every one of us is functioning with pieces and parts from all three major groups. We're all operating with some First Church Jewish believe review with some Gentile. View. Proud to be a gentle, even I've heard people say from time to time. I don't feel bad in my Gentile body, you know? And incense and sometimes we have things in our, in our, in our spirit, and our understanding of God that comes from the Roman View. and, We're all or kind of like a mishmash of all three. Which one's better, which one's worse it. So you don't understand. Where is Christ? He's in all three.

We can learn from what they understood in their cultural reality. So, we're in the new cultural reality today. Early, Roman Believers, Believers continued. Faithful witness living and dying to the Lord. Jesus Christ for me is to live to die. Is to gain. The Confluence of events happened. Masses were coming to Christ partly through martyrdom. This is Roman Civil War and Constantine wanted to Unify the, the Roman Empire again and he had this weird dream and it resulted in the reunification of the Roman Empire. Christianity being approved as a state religion and a Creed of Nicene Creed that 1800 Bishops agreed on. Why was the Creed developed? We never had a Creed before that, that doesn't mean we didn't have cradle statements. There are perhaps dozens of creedal statements fragments of creedal statements in the New Testament. but,

We didn't have a single Creed. Why did a single Creed have to develop it? Had to develop in response to the destructive heresies that were growing up all around the church? Without a single Creed, the heresies could prevail. the big heresy that was put down at at nicaea was the Aryan heresy. and there were two or three Bishops who are renowned as being the champions of the anti Harry and anti Aryan movement. One of them is Saint Nicholas. Apparently, it was quite a Bruiser. And he according to the tradition punch Darius out.

In the council there, others. Saint Nicholas.

So nice, Santa Claus story. To keep in mind, he was not just a jolly old elf.

Teaching from Solomon's. Porch, you've heard me read this before. Our instruction comes, only from Solomon's Colonnade. A, why am I bringing it up here? Because it's it's the best statement. I know against the heresies that the Creed was written to avoid. Other than decreed, I'll do questions later. I'm sorry. Martyrdom of polycarp. Polycarp is the first recorded example of Christian Mardi. Ology the leader in this circus of killing Christians. Is trying to get polycarp to renounce his faith in Christ. And he says you're an old man. You need to do a reasonable thing. Take care of yourself. Take care of your family. There are people who need to. I need to hear you teach and other things. All you need to do to stay alive and not. I swear by Caesar and say away with the atheists. And I need a little context here. The Romans believed. The Christians were the atheists because they didn't believe in the Gods.

So, the Romans called the Christians atheist. Away with the atheists. All he had to do was point over to the Christians about to die and say away with the atheists. And instead. He looked at the crowd. The Pagan crowd and pointed at them and looked at heaven and said away with the atheists.

I just love that story. I don't think that word means what you think it means. So polycarp is, it's fascinating to read this account. They decided to burn him alive. And so they found him and he said he didn't need bound. And so they began the fire and they, they were burning him alive. But the fire formed like a vault around polycarp and didn't harm him according to the tradition. And one of the Roman soldiers said this isn't good. We got to kill this guy. So he takes a spear or sword. Any a kills him bite by the sphere of the sword and then he falls down and then they burned them. And after they burn them the Christians scooped up his ashes and took him some place special and he was honored in death, and many came to Faith as a result of his martyrdom. According to the story and there many stories like this. These were part. And parcel of the early Church in this, in this part of the world, many stories like this. So, I came across an article that said diversity doesn't divide. Division does.

And I thought, you know, you're right. Okay, and then I thought about mathematics because you know, that's okay. Anyway, when I went to school early on I learned addition, subtraction multiplication and diversity. Right.

No. Diversity, doesn't divide. Division does. What's diversity? Do I think diversity? There's another symbol there. Yeah, that's the integrate symbol. And what is the integrate symbol do it? It integrates. It's on differentiates. It on differentiates. That's absolutely true. You have more clarity, does that's good?

The integral symbol, and a great.

Makes things clearer makes things more whole expands the understanding of Truth diversity. Expands. I think it actually, I think the versiti actually grows the church as we have more cultures represented here as we have more. Generations represented here. I think the church gets bigger. And our witness grows. So, this month in Christianity, Today, they had an article called The False Gospel of populism. Populism is a modern phenomenon where one one group is pitted against another. It's the idea of US versus them. It's about. I'm good. I'm right. I'm I'm holy. I'm Good and they're evil their centers there in opposition to what's holy true. Right? And good. The pop you List, the common populace, the people against the power. It's a false Gospel according to Christianity today, and I I don't agree entirely with the article, but it's good article. I did put it puts out an us-versus-them mentality. The author says it poses dangers to democracy and I agree and even worse are the dangers. It poses to Christian witness. I think that when we put ourselves in US versus them situation, we can easily accuse people of being evil or even or or think of them as being evil. And when we, when we think of them as being evil, it's kind of like we've taken, we've taken the person And pick them up and put them in a box.

And once I've got that person in a box, I don't need to deal with him anymore. They're evil. I'm good. They're wrong. I'm right. and when I do that, I have just taken. The image of God in them. And said, it's not there.

I've taken the Dignity of being a human being that's innate in them and said it's not there. I cancelled them. Now, we can have at least negated their importance to me. We're good. They're bad. Evil is real population. Populism says, and it reaches only it, it, it resides only. Our enemies doesn't reside me that teaches their centers. They're not made in God's image. They have no dignity. And furthermore, populism teaches our problems can be solved with the hot changing. Our own hearts. Now, this is so anti-christian. I can't even begin to communicate it. But when when when you put someone in a box and say they're Sinners and I'm not, that's a lie. When you say they don't have the image of God in them. I do. That's a lie. And when you're negating them and and and canceling them out because you disagree with them, you're canceling at your own Christian Witness.

You're even saying I don't need Jesus to help you solve my problems. I don't need to change my own heart. I maybe need.

A politician, delete us.

I maybe need a minister the Litas. I don't need Jesus. I just need a very charismatic leader.

Do you hear what that's doing to Christianity? It indicates it completely. We're not Sinners. They're not made in God's image. I don't need God's help.

Yeah, you do.

And the other thing.

I separated myself from them. Because they're evil.

I'm no longer allowing them to be part of the community. We can't even talk about it. There's no more communication. There's no hope. For relationship. It's destroyed. I've scuttled everything good. In my life, in order to call someone else evil.

Really messed up.

The morning show. There's a Show recently recorded.

Jennifer Aniston, as I think is the one of the

Yeah, this is a quote that one of the really ugly people. Nasty. People says he's he's he's stalking down. The importance of Integrity in German journalism. Kind of people get horrible news. Delivered to the palm of their hand 24/7. Just the way they want it colored. Exactly the way they like it. It's awful. But you manatees addicted to it because it's not news. It's not journalism. It's entertainment in the depression. People watch Fred Astaire. And Ginger Rogers. Dancing live in a dream. World. Dream worlds are essential depressed. People need Escape. Let's give them what they want. Weis.

24/7. Just the way they like it. That's kind of weird culture is I almost don't have to turn on the radio or the TV as soon as I turn it on I go they're leaning left or how they're living, right, but there's no. Truth in journalism anymore. There's no Integrity. I don't think in the world and Christians need to bring Integrity back. I want my nation back, but I want my nation back in a way that I can talk with. The people that I don't agree with.

Not separate myself from the community that were both part of.

US versus them, this is Alexander solzhenitsyn in the gulag archipelago book. I read years ago about what happened in 1917 after, After the Bolsheviks took over the Soviet Union before it was the Soviet Union the line separating good and evil passes. Not through States classes or political parties. It passes right through every human heart through all human hearts. This is good and evil line isn't the Bolsheviks versus the popular Common People. It isn't this guy vs. That guy. It's it's every human heart has this line separating, good and evil. Right through our hearts. We need to weigh in our heart. What is right? True and good way to your matters. Go back to the first century. This is an interesting, take a Crosstown rivalry existed between galileans and some Pharisees who considered galileans to be in. These are things. They actually record non-observant ignorant or simple-minded centers. They actually right simple-minded centers. Stupid would be another word that you might think that they might have used. One of these. Pharisees was astonished that Jesus didn't wash his hands before eating.

Why aren't you washing your hands?

Guy invites you to dinner. He doesn't wash his hands in the guys offended by it.

Did Jesus violate Torah?

Not according to flew sir, not according to the juice when the school has to have to research. Not according to the Center for Judah. Christian Studies not according to Rob Wilson. I'm not sure about the Elders of Church of Messiah though.

But I can speak for the center only because I I know it. I know where do I came from?

Jesus wasn't Center. He was observant in the first century sense. Just because he didn't live up to the supercilious. Expectations of some people didn't make him a sinner. First time I heard supercilious. I thought it was a very silly word. And that's what I thought. It meant super silius.

It means haughty and arrogant. Putting yourself above someone else. And when I learned, that was what it meant. I said, while I was right the first time. Super silly. You're not above me. Anyway, that's how I felt back then. Others accused Jesus of violating Shabbat by plucking and eating grain. That's kind of crazy. And healing seven times on the Sabbath, the actually healed seven times on the Sabbath and then Jesus directed his seven was to these The Arrogant leaders. It's interesting. It's seven times. He healed and he directed The woes 277 and that it's it's meaningless, but it's just interesting. Jesus disciples were mainly Galilean who didn't blend in Galilee was way off up here and Jerusalem is way down here. And the galileans were thought to be regular plane. Non-religious, non-observant people. They were just Country people. They were can anything good come out of Nazareth? No, that's dumb. Yes. But they're finding out in this since you're only recently they're finding out in the century. Only very recently. Actually, they found a factory for stone vessels in the Galilee. They actually were so serious about their their Torah observance that they actually manufactured and used Stone vessels. Which were clean?

you can use anything and it would be okay, but they were more serious about certain aspects of Torah than the people in Jerusalem, where And I can tell you from the Beatitudes, which was in the same area where Jesus was teaching. Jesus had a higher expectation of observance than the silly tithing, mint and Dill, guys in Jerusalem would have ever had. He knew what was really waiting. What was really important?

So he, he kind of like the galileans Simplicity. They were very religious. They just didn't care about supercilious minutiae. United with differences. Each major Church faction had great diversity. Major factions had very little, analogy between them. All, the individuals had only one, connection and that was Christ. Today's popular culture is considered a modern phenomenon, but there's no doubt that they considered one another evil at times. I can't imagine an early believer, not thinking the Romans were evil. You know, I mean, when I put myself in the world there I imagine. Being slapped and having to turn the other cheek. I imagine being told to carry a pack of Mile and all the rest of put down all your stuff and carry this for a mile. I consider that evil. but maybe it wasn't, maybe I'm Maybe I'm Wrong. Early Believers, most likely considered them evil. Yet. Jesus instructs us to love our enemies. Pray for our persecutors do good and bless those who hate us and pray for our abusers. Doesn't matter if we think they're evil, doesn't mean if matter if we think there are enemy. Love them, pray for them, do good for them and bless them.

Differences are okay but schisms are bad. So I've used the word heresy a few times today, and I need to let you know that in the New Testament, the word heresy is not bad at all. The Visions are bad. When you divide yourself from the community, that's bad. There must be Paul rights, factions heresies among you, so those who are tested and approved become evident. So if we happen to have a difference of opinion about anything, that's okay. We can discuss it. We can argue it. We can bring it into a conversation.

That's good. What part of the community were part of the family were part of a functioning body of, Interacting people. It's when we Schism from that body, that it's not good. So the Sadducees was a heresy, not destructive. The Pharisees were a heresy, the Nazarene sect, the Christians were a heresy and the way. Was a heresy, all, according to the New Testament, but they're not bad. They're okay. They're just different ways of looking at things. They're different understandings of what's going on, but none of them are schismatic and themselves. Schism is the problem. Later on. We learn destructive heresies aren't good.

2nd, Peter who's secretly bring in destructive heresies. That's when heresy becomes a bad word. Even denying the master bringing upon himself Swift judgment. Heresies are. Okay, schisms are bad destructive. Heresies aren't good. 1st Corinthians, I appeal to you, Brothers, by the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ that all of you agree and that there be no divisions schisms among you, but that you be knighted in the same mind and judgment has been reported to me. There's quarreling among you what I mean. Is that each one of you says I follow this guy or I follow this guy right by this guy, right? Follow this guy is Christ divided. And I added may it never be. Christ is never divided. Amen. An amen.

And that concludes