Introduction
We are in this life together. We are not to be in competition with one another. We are to be here for each other. William Barclay tells us
If we are always concerned first and foremost with our own interests, we are bound to come into conflict with others. If for us life is a competition whose prizes we must win, we will always think of other human beings as enemies or at least as opponents who must be pushed out of the way. Concentration on self inevitably means elimination of others, and the object of life becomes not to help others up but to put them down. (William Barclay, The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, 38–39.)
Too often the church has this same mindset.
Too often the church is not any different than the world.
Too often the church acts like they hate other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yes, we will have disagreements.
Yes, we will have differences of preference.
Yes, we will have arguments. Even though,
There is no way we are always going to agree with everybody that we meet, but there is a way to handle disagreement. We can seek unity and try to find that place where our minds can come together. And even if we do disagree, we should have a certain attitude in the context of that disagreement, an attitude of charity. (R. C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans, 205.)
We are in this together and we are to have unity of mind. That unity is that we glorify Christ in everything.
We do not attack fellow believers behind their backs. That is gossip and slander. That is not genuine love for one another.
Paul lays out how we are to live together and get along in Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:9–21 ESV
In this text we see four very clear imperatives from Paul.
- We are to be all in with our love.
- We are to be all in with our actions.
- We are to be all in with our humility.
- We are to be all in with forgiveness.
If we all follow these four steps in our Christian walk, then we will begin to get along and see true and genuine change.
If we do not and we keep attacking each other and slandering one another behind their backs, we will not see change. We will see the devil and his demonic hordes grow and gain footing all over.
We are Christ followers and since we are, we need to act like Christ in our actions.
We do this by being…
All In With Our Love (9-10)
Let love be genuine, abhor evil, hold the good.
Love one another, outdo one another in showing honor.
This means that we are to have a love for one another that is not hypocritical. We care for one another with genuine love.
This is a love that cares in all things.
It is not fake or put on when people are around you. It is not a love that is all smiles to someone’s face and a false happiness to see them but as soon as they walk away you are plunging the knife in.
No. This is a love that is true and genuine even if the person has done something that you feel has wronged you.
If you have that feeling then you go to that person and say to them the fault they have committed against you and if they disregard you you take another or two with you and if that does not do it you take it to the church just as Matthew 18:15-17 tells us.
We do not go and slander the person to another ever and especially if we have not talked to them first.
That is true love. That is a love for another that abhors all evil. This is a love that holds fast all the good. This is real love. As one has said,
Most people know how to pretend to love others—how to speak kindly, avoid hurting their feelings, and appear to take an interest in them. We may even be skilled in pretending to feel moved with compassion when we hear of others’ needs, or to become indignant when we learn of injustice. But God calls us to real and sincere love that goes far beyond politeness. Sincere love requires concentration and effort. It means helping others become better people. It demands our time, money, and personal involvement. No individual has the capacity to express love to a whole community, but the body of Christ in your town does. Look for people who need your love, and look for ways you and your fellow believers can show your Christian love to others. (Bruce B. Barton, David Veerman, and Neil S. Wilson, Romans, 238.)
Not only to those outside the church but we must show this same love for our fellow brothers and sisters. Even more so we should show this to one another.
If we do not do this then we are not any different than the world and actually we are worse because we have the Holy Spirit in us to guide and help us.
We have no excuse for false love or hate towards another believer. None at all. We have the Spirit and the Word to guide us and we need to use that.
Not only do we need to do this we can begin to love others when we are…
All In With Our Actions (11-15)
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
This is the lynchpin to this argument of genuine love.
When we are zealous for the Lord and we worship Him with our everything and serve Him by serving others, we will not be able to have bitterness or false love in us.
We will rejoice in Hope because we have the Lord with us. We will be patient in tribulation because we know our Lord and savior.
We will be constant in prayer to Him because we know He is the only one who can give us this strength.
Through our service to the Lord we will contribute to others and by doing this we will be hospitable and that will direct our love.
All of this will culminate in us blessing those who persecute us and being able to genuinely rejoice with those who have advanced and are rejoicing rather than being bitter.
We will be able to weep with those who are sad rather than rejoicing over their loss or pain.
When we take our focus off of ourselves and our passions and focus on the Lord and do everything we do for Him and others to know Him, we will become genuine in all we do.
We will not let our life interfere with our joy and peace with other believers.
We will be sold out for the Lord and that will be all that matters.
What this means is that we will bless others. To bless means to not curse. Instead of hoping for the worst to happen to our enemies, we are to willfully hope that the best will befall them. Instead of speaking words of hatred, we are to choose to speak words of truthful good towards those intending to hurt us. Finally, we are to pray for those who we feel are preying on us. (Barton, Veerman, and Wilson, 241).
We can do this through the Lord rather than our strength.
All of this is depending on the Lord’s power. We do not know His power if we are not communing with Him regularly.
We do not know our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ if we are not communing with them regularly.
We can be genuine in our love and be all in together with each other when we are together.
It is simple. Be here and be here when you are here.
Do not set your mind on things of this world but on things above Paul tells us in Col. 3:2.
But for us to be this way we are to be…
All In With Our Humility (16-17)
Live in harmony. Do not be haughty. Never be wise in your own sight.
Repay no one evil with evil. Do what is honorable in the sight of all.
This is not allowing your own will and arrogance to rise up.
We are all proud and arrogant in many ways.
We were before Christ because we thought we were good enough.
We still tend to be this way when we try and tell others what to do when it is not our place to do this.
We then celebrate and rejoice when they fail or if something happens.
We are not to do that but to show honor in sight of all.
That phrase means all people and even alone because you are part of the all.
God sees your thoughts. He knows what you think of others when alone.
Be associated with everyone in all ways possible and love them completely when together and I promise you will begin to do what is honorable on a regular basis.
Too Many people use their contacts and relationships for selfish ambition. They select those people who will help them climb the social ladder. Christ demonstrated and taught that we should treat all people with respect—those of a different race, the handicapped, the poor, young and old, male and female. We must never consider others as being beneath ourselves. Are we able to do humble tasks with others? Do we welcome conversation with unattractive, nonprestigious people? Are we willing to befriend newcomers and entry-level people? Or do we relate only to those who will help us get ahead? (Barton, Veerman, and Wilson, 242).
Not only those kind but what about the people you disagree with? What about those who you think are against you?
Can you associate with them? Can you love them unconditionally as Christ has commanded us to do? (Matt. 22:36-39).
You may be thinking that I cannot do that.
You may be saying, Do you know what they have done to me? Do you know how they have wronged me?
Well the problem in that is the centering on me rather than centering that on God.
Here listen to this quote, “It is natural to love them that love us, but it is supernatural to love them that hate us.”
When we are focused on God. When we are zealous for Him and fervent in Spirit we will humble ourselves and allow Him to guide us.
When we do this then those issues will dissolve because we will be…
All In With Forgiveness (18-21)
When we are walking in genuine love through a zealous spirit in service to the Lord we will live in harmony because our humility is in check and then we will not return evil for evil.
We will not avenge ourselves. We will be able to feed, give a drink to, and help those who may be against us.
We will overcome evil with good because we are resting in the Lord completely.
We will have removed I from the equation.
We will see ourselves as servants of the Lord and guess what?
As a servant of the Lord we are not above our Master. He served unto death and stooped low to wash feet of those who abandoned, denied, and betrayed Him.
He did all that, we can do no less. We can live a life of full forgiveness and return evil with good.
We can leave any vengeance with the Lord because vengeance is all His.
He is righteous and just where we are twisted and jealous.
We are wrecked and off course many times.
We cannot see the heart of the person we are mad at. We only see what we want to see and there may be a totally different motive behind actions someone has done.
Take for example a person running red lights and speeding throughout town.
On first blush it looks like the person only cares for themselves and is disregarding every law.
All possible views and thoughts but what if the person is doing this because they have a person in the vehicle who had a heart attack.
What if their accelerator is stuck?
What if they are being forced to drive like this because a person is in the car and threatening to kill their child if they do not get them out of town?
We do not know the heart or the reason of many things people do, so why do we think we can judge them into the ground and condemn them as worthless and worthy of death?
We have no right or reason to be this way. We are nothing more or less than any other person.
We are all the same regardless who or what you are.
God is the only one who can see what we are doing and why and He will repay them for that far better than you or I ever could.
We must become a forgiving people because we have been forgiven.
We must lay aside our pride and arrogance to be this.
We can do all that when we hate evil, and reject those evil thoughts that enter our minds.
We love people because they are fellow image bearers.
We can do all this when we are zealous in spirit and serving the Lord by serving others.
Getting into action and committing to the Lord to glorify Him in all we do is how we live in harmony with one another and can be all in with forgiveness.
If Christians cannot get along with one another, how can they ever face their enemies? (Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Right Romans, 152).
Conclusion
When we get this way then we can be like John Wesley and say, I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field.
When we live this way then we can get along and love one another.
We can be All In Together when we take the focus off of ourselves and place it fully on Christ. If we are so hung up on our desires and what we want in everything, we will not be All IN Together.
If we are easily offended then we will not be all in.
We must place our full faith in Christ and have Him as He is, our Whole Savior. When we do this we will have each other completely as a fellowship that is working well together.
Then and only then can we love genuinely. Then and only then we will live in full humility. Then and only then will we give all offenses to God and let Him repay as is right.
We are incapable to do these things but the Lord working in us can and will make it happen.
