Accept One Another. Text: Selected Scriptures Series: One Another, [#4] Pastor Lyle L. Wahl March 24, 2019 Theme: Accept Every Believer Just As Christ Accepted You. Introduction. The television program ended over twenty-five years ago, but I suspect some of us still remember the theme song. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they re always glad you came. You want to be where you can see our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name. 1 In some ways these words would be a good theme song for the church. God designed the church is to be a community of people who need each other and who accept each other. While we may be more individualistic and isolated today than people were at other times in history, all of us need to be accepted, belong, and cared for. But sometimes Christians and churches are known more for what and whom they don t accept than they accept, for their differences and battles than their similarities and peace. The fourth one another statement of the New Testament we are considering today is to accept one another. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 15 verse 7, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God (NASB). Some versions read receive one another (NKJV) or welcome one another (NLT). The point is the same: Christians are to accept each other. The big, main truth for us today is that you and I are to accept every believer just as Christ accepted us.
Why Should I Accept Others Every Other Believer? An important question at the start is Why? Why should I accept others? Why should I accept every other believer? First, because Christ has accepted you. Romans chapter 15 verse 7, again, tells us accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. When you and I placed our faith in Christ as our Savior, God by His grace forgave and cleansed us from all our sins, gave us everlasting life with Him, and came to be with us forever. God showered us with His grace and accepted us as His children, even though we are not worthy, even though we were spiritually dead in our sins. 2 God welcomed, accepted us and made us part of the church, the body of Christ. Christ accepted us and so we are to accept other believers. We are to accept them just as He accepted us. God accepted us by His grace when we received Christ, based on Christ s death for us, not based on what we have done or not done, not based on our personality, not based on our abilities, not based on our cultural or ethnic background, not based on what we have or don t have. God accepted us fully. There was, there is no probationary wait and see how this person does condition in salvation. In the early church, in the second and third centuries, it was common for new believers to go through a long and detailed process of up to three years before they were baptized and fully accepted. Yes, that is quite different from what we find in the book of Acts of people believing and then immediately being baptized and accepted into the church. 3 All of this, as we often sing, is Amazing Grace! John Newton wrote Amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch [not, like you, but] like me! 4 In the same way are to accept all other believers. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul challenged the church as his fellow workers to follow his example in character and ministry. He began by urging them, as workers together with [God] [we] also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain (verse 1). Another translation puts it this way, As God s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God s kindness and then ignore it (NLT). Accepting other believers does not mean overlooking, let alone condoning sin. And that is not the point here. If and whenever we fail to truly, fully accept another believer, we ignore, squander, do not fulfill a significant part of God s grace and purpose for us. We should accept other believers because Christ has accepted us. 2
Then we should accept every other believer because Christ has accepted them. The old and good question at this point is If God has accepted them, how can I not accept them? In Romans chapter 14, that we read from earlier, Paul wrote about accepting and not passing judgment on others because of personal opinions. This was a problem then and still is today. There were immature and mature, weak and strong believers in that church, as there are in every church. Some of them struggled with stepping out fully into the freedom Christ gives, while others were flaunting it without love and at the expense of others. Paul said to the strong or more mature, accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions (verse 1, NASB). He went on to say that the strong are not to regard with contempt, are not to look down on a weaker believer because God has accepted him (verse 3, NASB). We are to accept every other believer because God has accepted him or her. The saying old habits die hard means that when we have been thinking, doing things a certain way for a long time, those ways can take time and effort to change even with God working in us. Today we know something of both the psychological and physiological factors in this being true. Knowing that should bring understanding and also a determined effort to work with God to bring about change where we need it. But it does not mean and it should not lead to conditional or probational acceptance of some believers. There is a good example of that in the early days of the church. Seven or eight, perhaps ten years after the church began, the apostle Peter still had not come to fully accept that he no longer had to eat only Kosher food and, more importantly, that Gentiles were on equal footing before God with him and his fellow Jewish believers. So, as we read in Acts chapter 10, God gave him a vision of all kinds of animals, Kosher and non-kosher, with the command, Get up Peter, kill and eat! (verse 13, NASB). Peter didn t get the point fully until God directed him to a Gentile who was seeking God. Peter told him about Christ. When the man accepted Christ, the point of the vision finally became clear to Peter (verses 17-48). Old habits die hard. Whoever or whatever another believer may be, truly, fully accept that believer because God has accepted him or her just as He has accepted you. 3
Another reason to accept every other believer is because we are interdependent members of one body. This was the first foundational one another truth we considered. Romans chapter 12 says, For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another (verses 4-5). All believers are members of the body of Christ, the church, and each believer is a member of every other believer. Paul developed this truth in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. God placed us in the body just as He pleased (verse 18). Each of us need every other member. So, the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you ; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you (verse 21). Because we are interdependent members of each other we must accept every other believer. Even if I do not see, sense or want it, I am, we are, members of one another who depend on, who need each other. We are to truly, fully accept every other believer because Christ has accepted us and them, because we are members of the same body, and also because we are to love one another. This was the second foundational one another truth we considered. We are familiar with Jesus commands for us to love one another. He says to us, love one another. 5 He says to us, love one another, just as I have loved you 6 (NASB). He tells us to love one another, even laying down our lives for one another as He did for us. 7 Paul picked up this truth and said, walk in love, or, think, speak and act motivated and directed by love. 8 He tells us to put on love, or make the choice to love. 9 And that this love is the perfect bond of unity (NASB). 10 Question: How can I say that I love another believer if I do not truly, fully accept him? The answer, of course, is that I cannot truthfully say that. The apostle John wrote in chapter 4 of his first letter, If someone says, I love God, but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers (verses 20-21, NLT). 4
The answer is I do not really love other believers unless I truly, fully accept them. There is a story about a lady who started attending a church. She stood out, being different from the people there. After some time she approached the pastor and told him she enjoyed the church and wanted to become a member. He told her to think and pray about it for a week and then let him know if she still wanted to become a member. When she came back and told him that, yes, she wanted to become a member, he again told her to think and pray about it for another week. This process was repeated several more times. Then she stopped coming to that church. Some time later the pastor saw her in the community and asked her what she had decided about becoming a member of the church. She told him that while she was praying about it, God told her to stop trying to get into that church because He Himself had been trying to get in for years without success. 11 Yes, accept every believer just as Christ accepted you. How Should I Accept Others Every Other Believer? Since that is the case, the next question is How should I accept other believers? How do I do that? What does it involve? It starts with seeing myself and others as I ought to, as God tells us how we are to see ourselves and others. To do this we need to recognize that we inherited a nature where self and pride are at the core of our being. Pride basically is placing ourselves at the center, in the first place, before and above others. Even the most kind and giving people share this with the most cruel and selfish people. The Bible tells us that God hates pride and arrogance. God said, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech (NLT), 12 and also that none of those characterized by it will go unpunished. He declares they will surely be punished (NLT). 13 We should always remember that our hearts determine what we really are. Provers chapter 23 verse 7 tells us as he thinks in his heart, so is he. What we really think at the core of our being determines what we are. Jesus restated and elaborated on this when He said, 5
What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person (ESV). 14 While the principle is stated in negative terms about sin, it also, of course, is true on the positive side. Sometimes people think their inner, private thoughts are just that, private thoughts that do not really affect them or anyone else. Remember, as we think within ourselves, so we are. This is why the apostle Paul tells us not to be conceited or selfish, 15 not to think more highly of ourselves that we ought to, 16 but to give preference to one another in honor. 17 So then, how do I really see myself and others? Do I really see myself and others clearly, accurately? A young woman asked for an appointment with her pastor to talk about something that worried her. She told him, I have become aware of a sin which I can t control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and realize that I am the most attractive one in the whole congregation. None of the others come close. What can I do about this sin? Her pastor said, That s not a sin. It s just a mistake! 18 Seriously, seriously, how do we see ourselves and each other? In our eyes is every other believer our equal? In our eyes is every other believer equally valued by God? In our eyes is every other believer equally important to the church? Am I really a servant of every other believer? Am I really concerned about the interests of every other believer? Am I really praying for the needs of and praising God for His blessings to other believers as much as I am for myself and those close to me? You see, seeing myself and others in the body of Christ as I should will help me truly and fully accept all other believers as I should. Let s move on from this starting place to the process, the actual practice of true, full acceptance. First we need to note and remember that the goal of accepting one another, as with all aspects of our lives, is to bring glory to God. We go back to Romans chapter 15, this time starting at verse 5. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6
so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God (verses 5-7, NASB). Yes, acceptance benefits the people we accept and ourselves, but above and beyond that it brings glory to God, demonstrating and pointing to the splendor, beauty and majesty of God. Remember that Jesus told us that when we love one another as He loved us people will know we are His disciples. 19 I can t truly love someone unless I truly accept him. I can t bring glory to God as I should without accepting other believers. Also remember that love is the perfect bond of unity. 20 Again, I can t truly love someone unless I truly accept him. And we can t enjoy unity without true love and acceptance of other believers. The Bible gives us examples of believers not accepting each other as they should. Turn to James chapter 2, page 1387 in the church Bibles. We start at verse 1. My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor man, You stand there, or, Sit here at my footstool, have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (verses 1-4). Let s focus on the main issue and term partiality, or personal favoritism. The idea behind this picturesque word comes from the culture of the Middle East. When you met an important official, you wouldn t look at him eye-to-eye. You would look down, or even bow or kneel down. If that official wanted to show his approval or acceptance of you, he would reach out, lift up your face and then you could look at him eye-to-eye. This custom was used as the background to picture unfair or partial treatment by some judges judges who would lift the face, recognize, favor one who should not be. With or without bribes, the judge was being partial, showing personal favoritism. God does not show partiality to anyone, and so we as His children should not. As the apostle Paul wrote, God shows personal favoritism to no man, or as it reads in another 7
version, God has no favorites (NLT). 21 Here in James the issue is showing favortism based on success and wealth, or at least the appearance of it. While that was and is common, personal favortism is also based on people who are like me, people who agree with me, people whom I find easy to like and/or understand, and a host of other things. So Paul solemnly charged his protege Timothy in the presence of God, Christ Jesus and His chosen angels to keep true to the truth in life and teaching, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality (NASB). 22 Whenever personal favoritism exists, whenever we elevate some believers and look down on others, true and full acceptance does not exist. We need to banish personal favoritism to accept others as we should. That is something of believers not accepting other believers as they should. What about the positive side? What about examples of believers accepting others as they should? Don t we like positive examples as well? One crisp, wonderful example was Barnabas accepting Saul of Tarsus after God stopped and saved Saul on the road to Damascus. Luke records in Acts chapter 9 that Saul then went back to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple (verse 26). Those believers knew Saul had been the great persecutor of the church and that he made this trip to Damascus to find and arrest people who had put their faith in Jesus. Enter Barnabas. Luke records, But [an important little word] Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. So he was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out (verses 27-28). And then later, as we read in Acts chapter 13, Saul, now known as Paul, and Barnabas were sent out together as the first missionaries of the church. That was true, full acceptance. It meant going upstream against the flow of fears and the majority view. It meant risking to accept one who had been so dangerous. Barnabas truly, fully accepted Paul. So, let us by God s grace and strength truly, fully accept every believer just as Christ accepted us. 8
Conclusion. One church leader in the 19 th century had solid convictions which led to serious disagreements with some people on key truths of the faith. At the same time, he knew what it meant to truly and fully accept other believers, including those who disagreed with him. He ended a letter to one minister who disagreed with him by writing If you and I should never approximate higher to each other in our views [in other words, if you and I never work this out], I would nevertheless still love and esteem you as a Christian, as a citizen of heaven. 23 As you think about and talk to God about accepting one another, thank Him that He has accepted you on equal footing with every other believer. Thank God for your brothers and sisters in Christ who have accepted you. Examine your heart to see, and ask God to help you see if there are believers you do not truly and fully accept, believers you ignore or avoid, believers you look down on or judge. If there is any attitude, if there are any actions that are not as they should be, get that straight with God now and then, if and as needed, get it straight with those who are aware, those who know you have not fully accepted them. Determine by God s grace to truly, fully accept all believers. 1 Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo. Theme From Cheers. 1982 by ADDAX MUSIC CO. INC. All rights reserved. 2 Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13. 3 Acts 2:37-41; 16:16-19, 25-34. 4 John Newton. Amazing Grace. Public Domain. 5 John 13:34. 6 John 15:12. 7 See John 15:13. 8 Ephesians 5:2. 9
9 Colossians 3:14. 10 Colossians 3:14, NASB. 11 Old story, with a good number of variations. Original source not known. 12 Proverbs 8:13, NLT. 13 Proverbs 16:5, NLT. 14 Mark 7:20-23, ESV. 15 Romans 11:20; Philippians 2:3. 16 Romans 12:3. 17 Romans 12:10. 18 Old story. Original source not known. 19 John 13:35. 20 Colossians 3:14. 21 Galatians 2:6; see also Acts 10:34. 22 1 Timothy 5:21, NASB. 23 Cited by Max Lucado. Love in Spite of Differences. <https://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2010/july/loveinspiteofdifferences.html>. Accessed 11 March 2019. 2019 Lyle L. Wahl Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture marked (NASB) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 10