God���s Standards, not Man���s Traditions - Acts 15:1-35

I just almost killed an electric guitar. Did you see that? Oh gosh. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace. All right. So much to do today, but before we begin, I want to do something I've actually been looking forward to for a while. One of the things that happened right off the bat when I got here is we started the process of developing eldership and doing all that stuff. For those of you that don't know, now you know. As hip hop as I get.

We are an elder governed church. What that means is our elders govern the spiritual affairs of our church. They're are also my bosses, and that's good because accountability is necessary at every level, always. And so nobody should ever be above the law. So these guys have served diligently. And in the process of coming here, one of the things that they wanted to do was to continue to develop new elders and do all that stuff.

And so, we started the process, and then there was this little hiccup in the world called COVID. And so it was a stop and start and stop. And we thought we were meeting them. We weren't. And then this happened, and that happened, and today is the day. We made it. This has been a long process for our new elders. And so I want to introduce you to our elders. And we have a couple that are rolling off that we want to honor, and then we have some new ones coming on. So I want you guys to come out, and the chairman of our elders, Jeff Turk, scholar and a gentleman, will take it from here.

Thanks, Aaron. Let me make sure we get in the right place on stage, because we were slinking back in the first service. So like Aaron said, my name's Jeff Turk, and I'm currently serving as the chair of the elders. And I'm glad we have a chance this morning to acknowledge guys who've served with us and have now completed their terms and rolling off, and also to introduce you to our current elder team.

So before we do that, I just want to let you know a little bit about what we do as elders. Here at Southeast, the elders, we're leaders who seek to apply biblical truth in a consistent way and with integrity. And we work through our lead pastor Aaron, to pursue and fulfill the mission and vision of Southeast Christian Church.

So as I introduce the team today, first, like Aaron said, I just want to acknowledge some men who have served with us, who've now rolled off of our team, but have just been instrumental in the life of Southeast Christian Church.

So first, Dean Otie. Dean has served... I was trying to think about the number of decades that Dean's been instrumental to the life of this church, but I chose not to go there. But Dean has done so much, has meant so much to many of us, and he still teaches, leads, and just Dean, I'm so thankful. Thank you for all you've done.

Next, Chris Webb. Chris has served as an elder, as a leader, a mentor and a friend. Chris, thank you. You've meant so much to all of us. Appreciate everything that you've done and continue to do.

Next, I'd like to introduce the guys that like me are in our second terms of eldership. And so these guys have been here, have served a first three year term and are now in their second terms. First, Christian Shannoth. Next, Scott Dubois. Dennis Gordon. Guys, thank you. Thank you for your contributions.

And then next, the four guys on the end are our newest elders. They've stepped into the team, have joined us within the last six months. And so they're in their first terms, and we're just so thankful to have them on the team. We're so thankful for what they bring, their heart for God, and making us better as a group. So first, Chris Brusher. Next, Rob Leonards, Ryan Sorg, and Brian Southern. So thank you, guys.

So before we finish today, I just want to ask that you just join us in prayer. Everything we do, we just want to be seeking God's guidance. There's choices that need to be made, there's decisions. Everything we do, we really want to be seeking God's guidance in those things. So if you would just pray with us, I'd love that. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we just come to you this morning humbly. Lord, we just ask for peace, strength, guidance, integrity, in only the way that you can provide. Heavenly Father, I just pray for these men and their families, for protection, for strength, for wisdom. Lord, I just pray for our church and our church body, that we would always reflect you, Lord, in the decisions that we make, in the ways that we lead. Lord, we want more of your kingdom to be demonstrated. We just thank you for your grace, your peace, and your love, Lord. Your most holy precious name. Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I can tell you I've worked with a lot of elderships over the years, a lot. I've even built some. Planted churches, you start everything, including elderships. I've never worked with a better group of men. It's just true. These are, they're good guys, and they really want God's heart. So I appreciate them. Bonus check for that? Talk about it. Talk about it.

All right. We got some ground to cover. You guys ready? We are going to poke the bear today. All right. Acts 15:1-35 is where we will begin.

Now, remember the context is Paul in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas are in Pisidian Antioch. And they have the conversation at the synagogue about the fact that because of Christ, you Gentiles can worship God too. You don't have to be circumcised. And the Gentiles are ecstatic about that. And then some Jesus followers from Jerusalem come to Pisidian Antioch... By the way, that's no small journey. They really went out of their way to make a point. And they try to undo what Paul and Barnabas are saying. And then Paul and Barnabas leave, and they go to, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. And then they turn back around and go Lystra, Iconium, Pisidian Antioch, down to Italia. And then they sail back to Seleucia, and then back to Antioch of Seleucia, and that's the first missionary journey. And so, they're going to do that.

We are towards the end of that in Acts 15. We're skipping Acts 14, if you're paying attention. We just don't have time to preach everything. I wish we did. I don't know if I told you guys this, my original run of sermons for Acts, the book of Acts, was 82. There was 82 different really great... So we cut it down to 30, so you should be thankful. But here, so we're going to pick up the story in the midst of this tension between Paul and Barnabas and these Judaizers who are Jesus followers. They're trying to undo what Paul and Barnabas are doing.

Okay. Verse one. "But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you're circumcised according to custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate..." I don't know what that means. No small dissension and debate. I don't know exactly what that looks like, but I bet it was loud. "With them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and the elders about this question."

So they're like, "Okay, fine. If we can't get on the same page, Paul and Barnabas and a group of us are all going to go to the church in Jerusalem and hear from the elders, who were your spiritual authority, Judaizers. So whatever they say has got to go. Whether you like it or not is of no consequence."

So they were appointed to go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and the elders about this question. "So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said it is necessary to circumcise them in order to keep the law of Moses." The Pharisees, and this is a big conversation when we go to Israel, but the Pharisees... There's all these different groups of Jewish people that are trying to figure out what to do with Rome. How do we understand God's work and Rome's role in our life and all this stuff.

The Pharisaical answer was just keep the rules. Just keep the rules. Don't worry about Rome, just follow the rules. And so they are rule followers. Now we could look at that and go, well, that's legalism. No. For them, they're trying not to go back into captivity. It's rooted in a good thing, but it's an expression in a really bad way. And so they're wrestling with this. If we let go of this rule, what are we going to do? Let go of all rules? That's their... Just have them circumcised.

"The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate..." So everybody comes together. There was robust dialogue. It's a typical board meeting. It'd be much debate. Peter stood up and he goes, "Guys, I can't take this anymore." "He stood up and said to them, 'Brothers, you know that in the early days, God made a choice among you that by my mouth, the Gentile should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?'"

What he's saying is we didn't follow the rules well. Why are you trying to make them? They're not going to follow the rules well, either. The difference is if we had the rules first and we watch you try to follow them, we get to make fun of you. And you don't know that we don't follow the rules.

"But we believe that we will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. And all the assembly fell silent..." Just in time to hear somebody's cell phone go off. Is that you? No. No, it wasn't me. All right.

"All the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. Now, after they finished speaking, James replied, 'Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophets agreed, just as it is written after this, I will return, and I'll rebuild a tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and that all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord who makes these things known from old. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood.'"

Now, the Jews had 613 rules, laws, and commands in Torah. And they're like, "That sucks. So we're going to give them four." And what I think they believed, what I know they believed is this. If in their pursuit of Jesus, they become aware of the Holy Spirit's work in their life and they understand how to steward that, he'll take care of the rest.

But the problem for us is that they have to know where they're wrong. Let me just offer some theological advice. It is not your job to convict the world of sin. That's the Holy Spirit's job.

Right.

So stop being the Holy Spirit. We don't do a good job of it. "From ancient generations, Moses had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read in every Sabbath in the synagogues. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men from among the brothers with the following letter."

So the elders in Jerusalem write a letter to the churches in Antioch, Samaria, Seleucia. Here's what it says. "The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Seleucia." I said Samaria. That's not right. Syria. Antioch, Syria, and Seleucia. "Greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds although we gave them no instructions."

Now, by the way, here's what that means. We know that this group that's been up there bugging you guys came from our church, but we didn't tell them that they were supposed to do that. They did it on their own. By the way, when you don't act under spiritual authority, it creates problems. Here's why. Because when you try to make people follow the rules without any relationship, it always leads to rebellion. Rules without relationship leads to rebellion every time. So we want to make people follow rules, but we don't want to get to know them. We don't want to understand them. We don't want to learn who they are, figure out their story, because then we might like them. And then it would be hard to be mean to them.

"Although we gave them no instructions, it that seem good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who've risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." So they put credibility on this letter by saying Paul and Barnabas, the ones that you think our church is after, are coming up there with leaders from our church to tell you it's not our church. This is just a weird bunch of wackos.

"We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements, that you abstained from what's been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what's been strangled and from sexual immorality." Four rules. "If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well." Farewell. Hope you figured that out. You know that every person from a Jewish background in that crowd is like... Their jaw hit the floor.

"So when they were off, they went down to Antioch. And having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. And after they'd spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also."

So there are four lessons that I want to pull out of this passage that I think are particularly significant. There's probably lots more. Well, I know there's lots more. Not probably, there's lots more lessons we could look at. These are four that I think are particularly significant for me. And I'm the one talking. So here we go.

Number one, we must make sure that we hold to God's standard, not man's tradition. Now here's the thing. Man's tradition isn't bad. It's not. It's not evil. And a lot of times, traditions serve a purpose in helping us grow in our faith. But over time, the longer we're in the church, the harder it is for us to separate between tradition and God's commands. It's hard. And so we have to work at that. What we have to work at is holding our tradition with an open hand, because God... As soon as you invest in a tradition in your life, which may be very helpful for you in helping expand and grow your faith, it has a ticking clock on it. And eventually, the life of it will wear out, and we have to be willing to let it go. And that's okay. Now we're going to fight it, because this is how I found faith. And this was good, and it was useful, and it had life. It just doesn't anymore. And so how do we navigate that? It's hard.

Here's what Proverbs 30, verse five and six... People that find Proverbs a hard book to read because it's not really... It's just a bunch of individual things, think of it like this. Proverbs is the Twitter of the Bible. You surf Twitter for hours. It's the Proverbs. I'm going to get on Twitter. Proverbs. Here's what it says. "Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar." Don't add to his words.

Isaiah 29:13. Here's what it says. "And the Lord said, because this people John near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men..." He's going to go on to say, "I'm not going to listen to them anymore. They worship me in vain."

Jesus picks up on this in Mark chapter seven. These Pharisees come to him. Here's what it says. "Now, when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled. That is unwashed."

Okay. For the record, my mother was a Pharisee. You don't come to the table with dirty hands. Don't do it. For the Pharisees... And all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the traditions of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. When do you ever get to eat? When is there the eating part? That's the part that's important to me, is the food in my belly.

"And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, 'Why do you your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?'" What a strong word, defiled. This is what we do with traditions, is that we make them these absolute moral judgments. Eat with... no, they're just not washed. "And he said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites. As it is written, these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" We got to be careful with that. We got to be careful with that.

Second lesson that we need to pull out in this chapter is I want to talk about anything sacrificed to idols, because this is a big deal in the New Testament. This goes on and on and on. So remember our four things, that no blood, nothing strangled, no sexual immorality, and nothing polluted by an idol. Now here's what you have to understand. In the first century, if you're going to buy anything, they don't have corner markets. They have one place where you go to do all your buying and selling, and that's called the Agora. Think shopping mall. That's where you go to do all the buying and selling is in the Agora.

Well, in the Agora, there are places, like in our world, they're meat shops. We would call them butcher shops. But for them, the butchers are not just meat cutters. They're priests that are always attached to a pagan temple. You can't buy meat that hasn't been offered to an idol. And the reason, how it would work is people would go and make a sacrifice to whatever god they chose, maybe multiple ones in a day, and then they would bleed it out a little bit, maybe sacrifice one quarter of it or something. Then they would butcher up the rest of the animal. Well, if you have hundreds of people coming to your temple in a day and you have all this meat, what are you going to do with it? Well, you take it to the market and you sell it. Sell it as meat. That's not a problem, except for we can't touch anything polluted by an idol. So do we eat the meat or not? We're like, "Yeah, I would eat meat." But the rule says nothing sacrificed to an idol. Nothing. Nothing.

But there's this really weird conversation in I Corinthians that Paul's having with the Corinthian church there, so let's talk about it because this'll make it all really clear as mud. In I Corinthians 8, here's what Paul says. "Now, concerning food offered to idols. We know that all of us possess knowledge." Now what's the knowledge? Don't eat anything sacrificed to an idol. This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. This is one of the ways for you to know whether or not the words you're speaking to someone are from God or from your own sense of moral right and wrong. Because knowledge puffs up, makes me look good. Love builds up. It helps you be better. And I can disagree with you in a way that builds you up. But I need the Holy Spirit to do that well.

"If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he's known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there's no god but one. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us, there's one God, the Father from whom all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things and through whom we exist." Paul just took a pretty substantial rabbit trail. "However," back on task, "not all possess this knowledge. But some through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol."

And here's why this matters, because when you have meat that's sacrificed to an idol, when you eat that meat, in the ancient world they believed that you were ingesting the god literally. This was actually part of their festivals, that you would eat meat that was sacrificed to the idol as a way of taking the god into yourself, to get the indwelling presence of the god. Which you're like, "That's weird." We talk about the same thing. We just don't eat a steak to do it. I don't know why that would be awesome. You're like, "Babe, we got to have a steak."

So some people, that's what they know. And when they eat the meat, they believe that they're actually doing that because of where they were connected growing up. "And their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God." What he's saying is the meat doesn't make us closer to or far away from God. He said, "We're no worse off if we do not eat it, and we're no better off if we do."

"But take care of that this rite of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." So what he says is you can eat the meat. It doesn't make you better or worse, but don't eat it in front of people that are going to have a problem with it. "For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed."

So what he's saying is if you eat this meat, knowing that it's not real, it doesn't make you closer or further away from the god, but this person believes that it will. So he's like, "Well, you're eating it. I'm going to go in there and get closer to this god too." And the one true God is like, "No, you can't do anything that will divide your loyalty among gods."

"So by your knowledge, this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." Man, that's a really strong statement. I will never eat meat.

Okay. Except he picks this conversation up again in I Corinthians 10, same letter, this would've been read at the same time as people were reading that first part. Here's what it says. "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever's sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience." Okay, what? Nothing sacrificed to an idol. Yeah, go ahead and eat it. This feels like Paul's contradicting himself.

Here's what he says. "For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. If one of the unbelievers invite you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever's set before you, without raising any question on the ground of conscience." He's like, don't make them feel bad for serving you what they serve you. Just shut up and eat it. Stop trying to be a moral monster, truth bully, right fighter.

"But if someone says to you, this has been offered in sacrifice," in the Greek there, it says, this is holy meat. If they make the point that by eating this, you're eating sacred meat, meat that's been sacrificed to a god, which means they believe that by eating it, you're agreeing to take that god into yourself, then do not eat it. So if they just put it in front of you and don't make a deal about it, just eat it. Just shut up and eat it. But if they try to make it something that draws you away from the Lord, take your stand.

Amen. That's right.

"Then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you and for the sake of conscience. I do not mean this for your conscience, but for his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?"

So this is weird. There's this... Here's the rule. But then, here's a time that would be an exception to the rule. What the... What do we do with that? This is the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. And too many times, we lose the spirit of the law in upholding the letter of the law. And we really damage people. Why? Because knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Love always wants to draw us back to the heart, the spirit of the law, so that other people can be better. The laws aren't there just so we can make a system of control. The laws are there for our good. So now we have to understand what is the good that's trying to be brought about.

And now we're going to poke the bear. When we first started talking about the topic of justice in our culture, people had a lot of varying responses, and it was really interesting. Justice is a vast topic. It's vast. And we had a lot of people like, "Oh, you're been into culture. You're trying to become culturally relevant, blah, blah." Listen, justice is all over the scripture. You can't have an honest rendering of the scripture and not care about justice issues. Now we don't get to do it the way the world does it, but we got to care about this stuff. We got to do it in a way that honors and glorifies God. We have to. The Bible talks about it over and over again. But it's really big. There's a lot of... Poverty and people in prison and mistreatment of the elderly. And there's a number of topics. There's a bunch of them.

What's interesting is very early on in the conversation, people that were really passionate about it tried to make it really narrow. And they wanted, like where do you stand on LGBTQ? That's all we care about? This is a big topic. That's where we're going to put our flag in the ground? Okay. Let's talk about it.

Let me be clear. As long as I am the senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church, there is no context under which we will be an affirming church. Now, can we get to some really important questions, far more than that? Like this. We all want LGBTQ people to know Jesus. We want that, but they're not going to find him out there, which means that you and I have got to create space in here. And if we're not going to allow them in here, then they're not going to know Jesus. And that means that we don't treat the gospel right. We stand before God guilty for that, not because they don't feel safe. We made them that way.

And furthermore, while I'm here, I had somebody say to me, "What are you going to do? Put a gay pride flag in the lobby and make them feel more comfortable?" No, that would be dumb. I'm not going to do that. By the way, if you'd just be Jesus, I wouldn't have to worry about it. That's the... We want to stand in the... scowly-faced at them. "Oh, you can come here, but know that I'm not happy. I disagree with you." Nothing sacrificed to idols.

Listen, the Bible says what it says. We don't get to negotiate with that. But we sure do get to pick how we treat people. This isn't about who's right and who's wrong. It's about being Jesus. And you don't get to carry the mind of Christ without also carrying his heart. You don't get to do that because then we demean the gospel. God's heart is for those people to find him. And in order for that to happen, in order for them to understand the fruit of the spirit, they've got to have a space at the table, which means that we have to be willing to create that space.

I'd keep going, but I'm afraid I'd get in trouble. We're asking the wrong questions if we're saying, "Well, is it right or is it wrong?" That's wrong. It's sin. Let me be clear. Engaging in a same sex sexual lifestyle is a sin. And there's so much to be explored there because when you say... There's so many polluted terms, and it's difficult, it's complex. Here's what I know to be true, though. Regardless of the issue that we're facing in our culture, we're not better when we try to solve it by pushing people away. We got to bring people into community and figure it out together. That's what Jesus wants us to do. If we're going to talk about...

Here's the funny thing. When we talk about justice, I'm super passionate about adoption, super passionate about adoption. By the way, we did. I'm super passionate about it. Nobody's like, "Where do you stand on adoption?" So we want to cherry pick sins, that we're like... Let me be real clear. In this room, statistics tell us, in this room, we have people, men and women, that are absolutely hooked on pornography. In this room. In this room, statistics tell us that we have men that are hitting their wives. In this room, statistics tell us that we have people that are absolutely hooked on drugs and alcohol. In this room, we have people that are living outside of God's design for marriage. In this room. And you know what we say about that? Nothing. You know why? Because they've gotten really good at keeping it hidden.

So what we teach people is to shove all their problems in a little ball and stuff it way down, which if you repress it is a guarantee to keep being stuck by it. You won't get past it. The goal is victory and freedom, not making sure you know that I think you're wrong.

Let me keep going. I don't have time. Thank you. I don't have time. Here's the problem. When we do that... By the way, not just the particular sins that we're camping out on. Not just them feeling bad, but those statistics tell us that there's women in this room that had an abortion, and they're carrying so much shame about it. And you know what they learn? They watch how you treat people that have sinned, and they learn to keep it stuffed down. And they're stuck their whole stinking lives because they don't have the freedom to talk about it. If that's the position we're in, we're not caring about the gospel. The gospel is about freedom, not about manipulation and control.

Come on. Come on.

I'm going to need a nap. I just... Church, this is the last thing I'll say, and then we got two more points to make. The church has acted as if culture is moving away from godly standard, and that's true. And so our answer is to yell louder about getting back to the church, getting back to God, getting back to relationship with Jesus.

Here's the thing. We don't need to be louder. It's not that they can't hear you. It's that they've just gone, "Gosh, the louder you get, the less I want to hear." They're just not listening anymore. It's not that you're wrong. It's that you're irrelevant. Why? Because we say words with our mouth that we deny with our life. Say whatever you want to, but live like Jesus, for crying out loud. Because it's when we're in Christ, this is what we screamed about last week. The resurrection gives us the power to be in Christ. And that's what draws people. That's what Jesus said. If I be lifted up, I'll draw them in to me. You don't even have to do it. It's his job. You don't have to be salesy persuasive. Just be Jesus.

I know it sounds ridiculous. That's too simple. I know God made it simple for people like me. I'm not very bright. Remember, I told you guys, 1.75 GPA in college. It's true. That's the truth. I had somebody message me on Facebook, "That cannot be true." I was like, "Absolutely. 100%. That's the truth." D is for diploma. That's what I learned. That's what I learned. Don't do that. You do the best you can.

Listen, we got to be better. We got to be better at living out the spirit of the law and not crushing people with the letter of the law.

Next lesson. The people from Judea, the Judaizers, were not Orthodox zealots. They were Jesus followers that were trying to act without spiritual authority by taking matters into their own hands. Now here's what I know. It's a little bit sticky for me to talk to you about how you should live under spiritual authority because I are one. It's like me telling my wife that she should be a better wife. She's like, "Sure you'd like me to be a better wife. You would receive the benefit of that." So I'm not going to say much about it. Other than this. I'm going to give you one verse, Hebrews 13:17. Here's what it says. "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account."

Let me tell you something. Spiritual leadership is not a power trip. It's an understanding that whatever you do, you will incur a stricter judgment. That's a weight. You shouldn't be critical of your spiritual leaders. You should pray for them. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Don't be hard to deal with because that doesn't... When they don't want to do their jobs, that's not better for you. It's not better for you. That's all I have to say about that.

Number four. The work of the elders in Jerusalem was to only enforce minimum requirements for people to be a part of the community and to be Jesus followers. They weren't trying to put on a bunch of laws and rules, and they weren't trying to make it difficult. They're not trying to make it hard. They're trying to throw off all the obstacles. They're not trying to find all the places where we disagree. They're working towards finding common ground.

Wouldn't it be great, wouldn't it be great if we had a politician... We don't. But if we did, that was like, "Hey, you know those people from the other side of the aisle? They had a tremendous idea." I would vote for that person. If they were fighting for hey, I don't need to be right. What's the best option for our people? That's what public service means. What's the best option? I don't have to be right. I don't need to be aligned with the political agenda. I need the people to have the best opportunity to succeed. That's it. I don't know. Maybe I'll run for governor. It won't work. Don't vote for me. Don't.

The elders in Jerusalem worked to make peace with what was going on in the offense that people that were not even people who were working with their authority. These are people that were just under their care that offended a bunch of people. And they felt like, "No, no, no, it's not enough. It's not enough for us to just admit that it was wrong. We got to make it right. We got to do our best to make restitution." That's what being sorry means. Being sorry isn't, "Oh, I'll never do it again." Being sorry is stepping into the vulnerability of saying, "I was wrong. Please forgive me. Here's the mistake I made. And it won't happen again." That's where we start to get forgiveness.

So much more I'd like to say about that, but we got to tie this bad boy down. Some implications. Number one, we should work towards everything that God has called us to, but we must never require more of people than what God requires. Now we don't get to require less either, but we must always work towards being the fullest version of what God has called us to be. But we don't get to impose more on others than what God's called them to be.

Number two, when we act outside of spiritual authority, we can damage people and the reputation of God. I'm not going to say anything else about that.

Number three, spiritual leaders work to find common ground, not places to disagree. Hear me on that. Leaders, people who are mature, who love correctly, not immature love. [inaudible 00:43:01] that's immature. Mature love tries to work hard to find common ground without compromising their values. You don't have to do that. Now by the way, that's hard. It's a tension, but that's a tension we're called to.

Number four, owning our wrong and trying to make it right is important in the growth of the people we offend. We will offend people. By the way, to jump back on the soap box for just a minute, amongst all these other sins that I'm calling out and finger pointing at, amongst us is anger and condescension and jealousy and ambient arrogance and all those things. And you know what we say about those? Nothing. Nothing. But when you live that way, you're going to offend people. Maturity tries to make it right. Not just say, "I'll never do it again," but own it and try to make it right.

Because we make mistakes. And it's hard. Let me just validate every fear. God keeps calling us back to community. In the book of Acts, we're seeing these people function in community. God keeps calling us back to it, and we're afraid of community because it's hard. People are difficult. They're going to offend you. They're going to say mean things. Sometimes they'll mean to, and sometimes they didn't even know that what they were saying was pushing a button. They didn't know that, but they said it, and now we got to clean up that mess. But that being said, this is going to happen. Let me validate every fear for you. "Well, what if they say, what if they hurt my feelings?" They're going to.

Any of us that have been married know that's true. This is the person I love the most in the world. My wife, she offends me all the time. No, I'm just joking. Just joking. My wife is the most gracious human being that I know because she's married to me. And I know all the times that I've given her reason to be offended, and she just keeps working towards... We're going to offend even the people that we love the most in the world. And yet, we keep... God didn't change his call. That's what we're called to. Because we got to do this together.

And so as we enter into our communion time, I would just invite you to consider what is it that's keeping you stuck away from relationships. What is the fear? What is the concern? What is it that you're right fighting about, that you need to let go of? What is it that you are living by the letter of the law, but you've lost the spirit of the law somewhere along the way? That doesn't make wrong, right. That just makes me be able to live in a way that honors the Lord. Let's sit with that for a minute as we prepare our hearts for communion.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it. He said, "This is my body, which is given for you. Whenever you eat this bread, do it in remembrance of me." Let's remember him.

And then after the dinner he took a cup, and he said, "This cup, this is the blood of the covenant which is shed for you. So whenever you drink this cup, do it in remembrance of me." Let's pray.

God, thank you for your grace. Thank you for the call for us to be instruments of your mission in the world. Help us, God, to care about the whole law, not just the rules, but the heart behind them. Help us to be people who represent you accurately. In Jesus' name, amen.