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Guest speaker Mike Chilcoat continues the 'Ridiculous Joy' series looking at Philippians 4:1-5 teaching about finding joy through treating other people right.

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Good morning, Orchard Hill. I am Mike Chilcoat. I'm the Regional Director for Young Life in what's called the Keystone region throughout Pennsylvania and a little bit of Ohio. My wife and I, and our three daughters live here in the Pittsburgh area, and we consider Orchard Hill our home. I’m so thrilled to get to be here with you this morning and spend some time, very excited about it, looking forward to continuing on this series. Kurt last week did a fantastic job, and he was in Philippians 3. Today we're going to keep that train rolling. We'll be in Philippians 4:1-5. We're going to be diving into talking about what does it look like to cultivate this Christ-like joy in our hearts, and then have that spill out into our conflicts and reconciliation that we have with friends and enemies, those who know Jesus, and those who are outside of the faith. 

So, that's what we're going to be diving into today, and we're going to be digging in and looking at those things. I do want to make one quick plug before we start. Russ Brasher earlier was talking about a concert with P.W. Gopal. P.W. and I are longtime friends. We grew up in communities next to each other. I've known him for over 30 years. I just want to mention that not only is P.W. Gopal, wildly talented performer, and musician, he also is filled with great depth and wisdom, and I think you'd be blessed by that night. So, I wanted to plug that in as well. Go see P.W. He's great. I'm such an old friend, he'll get mad at me saying this, we used to call him Peewee Gopal. If you see him, he's a big dude. We call him Peewee Gopal, but he's now P.W. because he's professional. 

Anyway, folks, as we continue this series, I want to tell you a quick story. So, if you know me well, we've been here for about seven years in Pittsburgh, but I have all kinds of Pittsburgh ties and Pittsburgh roots. My dad grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. My mom and dad met at Pitt. But I actually grew up in central Ohio, I grew up in Columbus, just north of the city, and in Columbus, because it's the capital they have the state fairgrounds there. And every year they would have the state fair and you could go down there. And state fairs are fun, eat a lot of fried food and everything else, but it's really more like just kind of a JV Kennywood when it comes to like the rides and stuff. 

So, it's not the most exciting place. But at one point when I was in high school, someone gave me free tickets to the fair. This isn't like getting Super Bowl tickets, but free tickets to a high school kid with no money, I thought, okay, this is great. And I really wanted to go, and it was one of those summer weeks when, maybe you've had one of these, where just tons of people are out of town and gone. So, I'm going down the list of my friends trying to call. You start with your close friends, and if they're gone, then you go to that middle tier. You don't let them know where they're ranked, but you go to that kind of middle tier of friends. And I keep going down this list, and this is back in the day where you had to have numbers memorized, and we're going through this middle list and then you get down to kind of the bottom of the barrel, right? 

And a couple of friends, one friend that I finally called, because everyone else said no, was a friend of mine named Corey. And Corey was one of the very best athletes I've ever been around. He was a phenomenal world-class athlete, but he was also just a little off. Like we loved Corey, we grew up with him, but I was crazy where like I would do pranks and silly stuff, and I was the class clown. That's how crazy I was. But he was a different kind of crazy. He was crazy where you were nervous to be around him. And basically, Corey was going to end up in prison is what I'm trying to say. So, Corey, I'm thinking to myself, I shouldn't call Corey and ask this, but I want to go, and I really want to get an elephant ear, funnel cake. 

So, I call up Corey and I'm like, "Hey, let's go to the Ohio State Fair." He's like, "I'll pick you up." Corey comes by, gets me. We go to the Ohio state fair, we're goofing around, going on some of the rides and everything. And finally, lunchtime rolls around. We grab a sandwich, and we go, and we're sitting on this park bench kind of area, kind of a grassy area right in the middle of the state fairgrounds and we're eating these sandwiches. As I'm sitting there observing and looking around as we're eating, I noticed that there were all these folks around us and they're all wearing white collared shirts and like these beige shorts, like khaki shorts. And I'm looking around, they're everywhere. Some are in over here playing hacky sack, some are sitting over here talking, some are throwing the football, but they're everywhere. 

And so, I can't help myself. I'm a curious guy. I lean over to one of them and I say, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I can't help but notice you're all wearing the same things, did we stumble into something, or what is this?" And the person says, "Oh no, we're with the Ohio state alumni choir and once a year we come and we perform here at the state fairgrounds, the outdoor amphitheater." And I said, "Thank you very much, appreciate it." And I sit back, I'm enjoying my sandwich and it dawns on me and I'm speaking aloud to Corey and I said, "It's so funny, Corey, I'm wearing a white collared shirt and beige shorts. And you are as well, what are the chances of this?" And I go, "How funny would it be if we tried to sneak in and perform a song with the Ohio state alumni choir?" 

Now I'm not thinking that I'm just saying that would be a wild thing to do. And Corey goes, "We're going to do that." And I'm like, "Really?" He's like, "No, no, we're doing that." Right then these guys in pink shirts that were kind of the directors of the whole thing, walk out, they clap their hands, and they have everybody get up and everybody starts getting in formation, two by two. All these people are next to each other. Corey and I just kind of sneak in, wedge ourselves in this line, we're behind these huge risers. We're realizing now that we have to go out on this big amphitheater stage and there are quite a few people that have gathered to watch this. So, all of a sudden, the pink shirt guys make kind of a hallway down where they can high-five folks as they go down this hallway to walk out on the top of the stage. 

So, everyone starts marching in place. And Corey and I are like, okay, we can do this. We're marching in place. Hey, here we go. And then everybody starts moving forward. We're like, okay, we're moving forward and we're high-fiving these pink shirt guys that are leading us out there and we're walking through the backup to go up the steps. And the first guy high-fives us enthusiastically, doesn't notice that we're there. The second guy is looking at us a little bit funny, like, hmm. One of those looks like, are you supposed to be here? The third guy, I could see on his face. He's like, okay guys, the party's over. And he starts to cut a step forward like this and I'm slowing up because I'm thinking that was pretty funny. We'd love to tell our friends, we almost got onto the stage at the Ohio State Alumni Choir. 

And I'm about to wave the white flag and surrender. And Corey had a different idea in mind. He had tunnel vision, right? He had a goal in mind and so right when the pink shirt guys like all right guys, enough is enough, Corey, big, tough athletic guy, Corey shoves the guy. So now I'm like, that's not good. That's not good. I came to the fair to get a corn dog, not assault charges, but okay. And Corey's like, "Keep moving." I'm like, "All right, you nut." And so, we're marching, and the pink shirt guys are like attending this other guy that got shoved. And I'm like, this is terrible, what are we doing here? What do we hope to gain from this? He's like, I want to perform a song. So, we come upon the front. 

Now we are up the stairs. We have walked out on the stage. And the pink shirt guys, I can hear them, they're like bees buzzing down below the risers. And I'm like, we've only got a few moments here. As we do these figure-eight formations, we weren't at rehearsal, so we don't know what's going on. We're just merging up on the stage. Okay. We push ourselves up, we're on the risers now facing the crowd and I'm thinking we've made it. So only one problem, I look over and I noticed that all the men are over on this section. We are smack dab in the middle of the women's section. And Corey's like, "Hang with this. Let's perform a song." I'm like, all right. We're sitting there and the choir director guy walks out, and bows to the crowd, and everybody cheers, and he turns around to us. 

And so now I'm on stage, the choir director guy is there, and I can see the pink shirt guys have now gathered on the side. They're waiting for a break so they can come in and say, hey, someone has infiltrated your performance here. I don't think that had ever happened before. So, they're waiting there. Well, he just gets right into it, and we start doing vocal warmups. Okay. So, me, my, me, mo, moo, this kind of thing, and I'm just, whatever, we don't know what we're saying. So, we're rapping or something. We're getting vocally warmed up. And then the pink shirt guys, again, they're ready to pounce, waiting for a break. There's no break. The choir director goes right into it. And a song is being performed. We are up there on stage as this woman comes in with a solo and then someone comes in, they're harmonizing and then this other section in, and so Corey and I are like, let's just go for it. We're here already. 

We just start belting it out, like, "Don't you know girl?" Like, we're just singing whatever. Right? And it's just crushing the performance and things are crashing and it's ruining everything. So, the choir director is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, we're 10 seconds into the performance and he's looking right at these two buffoons in the middle of the performance. And we do one of those things where we're like, who is that what the, what is that, us? That kind of thing. So, he is like something out of a cartoon, he drags us down by our collars. Now the crowd is kind of in on what has happened. Everyone's laughing. They drag these two buffoons off the stage, put us downstairs, and now we're in choir jail. I didn't realize that existed, but we're down below the risers in choir jail and the pink shirt guys are there. And this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to these picture guys, right? 

They're like, okay, I need these guys apprehended. At one point there's a radio, this is my favorite line. Somebody on the radio says, "We have them in custody." And I'm like custody? This isn't a global manhunt. This is two guys sneaking into a choir. We're sitting there and we're like, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And the pink shirt guys, they're like, you know, hey, you thought you could pull a fast one? One of these kinds of things. And I can't believe this worked, folks. I was a 17-year-old buffoon, I can't believe this worked, but all of a sudden I said, "Hey, I'm really sorry. I apologize for what I've done. And hey, look over there." And everyone turned away and we ran away. 

Hey, look over there was the brilliant scheme that I came up with. And in conclusion to this story, like this was at the end of summer, and like a few days later, we headed back to school, and I went to this large high school on the north side of Columbus. And this girl that we knew that we grew up with, that we went to high school with, walks up in the hallway sees Corey and I and a group of our friends walking. And she walks up, and she goes, "Chilly, Corey, I didn't know you guys performed in the alumni, Ohio State Choir." And we're like, we attend high school with you, we're not in the alumni. Anyway, so she thought we were actually performing. Anyway. Folks, I tell that story because imagine that choir performance, you have dozens of folks who had gone to rehearsal who had memorized lyrics and lines, had studied how the music comes in and the timing of everything and the tempo and the harmony, the pitch, all of it. It had been prepared to work harmoniously together. 

All of a sudden you drop these two guys in the middle of it that don't know what they're doing, and it all gets destroyed. Galatians 5:9 says this, "A little bit of yeast works through the whole batch of dough." Now what that verse is talking about, is specifically it's talking about false teaching in the church. False teaching in the Christian community. That if you drop even just a little bit into something big, boy, it works through the whole batch of dough. And that was the case here with this choir, you might have dozens of folks who are on the same page and they're singing harmoniously, but you drop a little bit in there, and it wrecks the whole thing. It destroys it. 

And this is oftentimes the reality when relationships or teams break down. Usually when relationships or team’s breakdown, 90% of it is intact and all right, but boy, you might have that 10%, that small little section that's off, and it destroys the whole thing. The whole thing comes apart at the seams. But it's a difficult proposition to be in righteous standing with our Christian brothers and sisters. Now righteous is a big churchy word. What do I mean by that? What do I mean by righteousness? So, what I mean by righteous is to be justified before the Lord, to live out a life devoted to the Lord in humility, with the authenticity of heart, to say, Jesus, I can't do it on my own. You need to do the heavy lifting. I trust you, Jesus. I'm going to put my hand in your hand and I'm going to trust you as I walk this life. 

However, we are incapable of doing this by ourselves. We're incapable of achieving holiness or righteousness apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. We mess it all up. I mess it all up. You mess it all up. We're like two guys being dropped in the middle of a choir, a little bit of yeast works through the whole batch of dough. We mess it up. Sin gets involved. God does the heavy lifting and righteousness can only be achieved through confession and understanding of who God is and who we are, with sober judgment, recognizing God, you are perfect and all-loving, sacrificial, even to the point of death on a cross. And Lord God, I am wretched. I'm a screwup. I mess things up. But Lord do you love me? I'm also beloved. This doesn't lead us to lay in the fetal position and just say, well, life is over. I'm terrible. Instead, it causes us to have appreciation and joy because we can be in a relationship with Jesus. In fact, to the point where he died on a cross because he loves us so much, and he'll do whatever it takes to get to us. 

I had a mentor of mine, a spiritual mentor, and just a great buddy over the years, he used to say this a lot when he would describe righteousness. He would say, "Righteousness is right witness." He'd say righteousness is right witness. And he'd say, "It's getting right with God." Have you ever argued with a loved one, someone you really care about, that you're personally invested in, a spouse or one of your kids, or a great friend, whatever it is? You've had a situation before in your life where you guys have gotten crossed up, maybe an argument ensues, maybe somebody said something silly. Maybe somebody did something that was just pretty bad, and it causes this wedge, this division in the relationship. You've been in there, and it's a horrible feeling. Maybe the silent treatment is happening, maybe it's like someone's playing a game of chicken to see who calls first or who talks first. It's awful. 

And I'm such an over communicator that I can't stand this. It's funny, Kimmy and I, 23 years into our marriage. We are still figuring this thing out because I just want to communicate and be like, are we okay? Come on. Let's just overly talk about it. Let me drive you crazy with words. Right? And at first, we started to realize that she was like, I need a little bit of time, I don't even want to look at you right now. Right? And I'd be like a puppy in the corner and be like can we please talk about it? And she would be like, no, no. She'd need time. Now, if I left Kimmy to her own devices, she might take several days apart from me. Right? 

So, we had to come to a conclusion and a compromise where I would say, "Kimmy, I know you need a little bit of time. How much do you need? Okay. A couple of hours. Okay. I can do that. Go take a couple of hours. I'll take a couple. We'll pray. We'll get back together." And then when we come back together in compromise, the way that I would want to do it instantly, and she would want to wait, we would compromise on that. And when we'd come together, we would lovingly tell each other, I'm sorry for this. Or, hey, this bothered me when you said that, we would talk through it. We'd hash it out. And at the end we would both conclude with, I love you. And I'm really sorry. And when we would hug and makeup, we would be right with each other again. 

It was off, it was broken. There was something wrong. A wedge had been driven in the relationship and now all of a sudden, we're right with each other. So, righteousness being right with this is us coming before the Lord and saying, "Lord I've screwed up. I messed up. I fell short. Lord, will you forgive me?" And of course, his grace abounds, and he does and now all of a sudden, we're right together. So, righteousness is right witness. 

An example of this reconciliation with the Lord within human relationships can be found in Philippians four, which is the passage we'll be taking a look at today where we'll be camping out. Let me read Philippians 4:1-5. "Therefore my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for my joy and crown stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends, I plead with Euodia and I speak and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes. And I ask you my true companion help these women since they have contended at my side and the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." 

Folks. It is time for me to get a Bible with bigger font. I am too old. That was a battle. All right. I had another spiritual mentor that would always tell me when I encounter a therefore written in the word, ask yourself, what is the, therefore, there for? And we start this passage today with, therefore. So, what is the, therefore, there for? What refers back to Philippians 3: 17-21 that Kurt covered last week. And it says this, "Joined together and following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For as I have often told you before and now tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction. Their God is their stomach and their glory is in their shame, their mind is set on earthly things, but our citizenship," don't miss that part, "Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." 

Last week, Kurt described the importance of an authentic eternal focus as a follower of Jesus, to look at the eternal and not get caught up in the temporary here and now. Here today, gone tomorrow, temporal things. So many times, we fix our eyes on those things and invest in things that will rust, spoil, or fade. But Kurt was urging us, keep your eyes fixed on the eternal. One day, God will eliminate sin from our experience, we can be a part of God's eternal victory, but in the meantime, God doesn't smack us on the back and say, "Hey, good luck with that. Hope it works out for you." 

He gives us resources right now that help us as we attempt to stand firm in the Lord. These resources provided by God will encourage followers of Jesus to unity together with other believers and will ultimately cultivate an appreciation of service. What do I mean by an appreciation of service? Well, if I understand that my full identity is not here and now, and how others perceive me or what, you know, how much I establish myself at work, power, money, or influence. Instead, if I realized that my citizenship is in heaven, eternally, that's my ultimate address. 

When that clicks in my mind, and I shift and focus eternally, it will change the way that I serve. It will change the way that I love. I will give of my time, money, and effort knowing that I can't keep it anyway, and I'll give it generously because I'll say I want to leverage these things on this side of heaven and invest in the eternal. Verse one, if you remember in Philippians four, when we looked at that, therefore my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, think about the deep intimacy of the words he's using here as Paul's talking, my joy and crown stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends. It says brothers and sisters in verse one, brothers and sisters. 

We are called to pour out our love, the love of Christ to our enemies, let alone our brothers and sisters. So, Paul is describing this intimate relationship of brothers and sisters. Yet I'm so convicted, folks, I'm so convicted when I studied and prepared for this talk because I'm like, I can't even love the people closest to me well, let alone my enemies. We're called to love our enemies, the furthest out, folks that don't know Jesus, we're called to love them sacrificially and earnestly, yet I can't even get the relationships closest to me correct. My pride gets in the way, my ego gets in the way, and my desire to be right gets in the way. We can't seem to get this right. It's deeply convicting because I fall so woefully short in this area. 

So, our first truth and the resource that the Lord gives us when we're preparing to stand firm in him is this, let's fix our eyes on our ultimate citizenship in heaven, and cultivate a deep and biblically sound conviction around this eternal perspective. If you know me well, you know that I'm a lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan. I am passionate about all Pittsburgh sports. Actually, it's almost a problem. I've almost had to have therapy, Kimmy at times says, you're insane. Why do you care so much? And I've tried to get better at that, but I'm addicted. I even care about the Pirates, folks. That's how bad it is. They matter to me. 

And if I go down to a Pirates game, typically I'm scalping, but if I'm going with like a large group from the state of Pennsylvania, sometimes we'll have big meetings in Pittsburgh and we'll bring all the full-time staff around the state together. And maybe we'll do a huge, massive trip to PNC and I'll buy a bunch of tickets in bulk, and we'll have spouses and kids come and everything. And we'll take over a section of the park. And a lot of times when that happens, folks will call and say, "Hey, something came up, or hey, my kid got sick." So, I'll always end up with like a little stack of tickets that aren't being used. 

And as I'm walking up to PNC park, there could be two attitudes there, one could be, listen, I've got my ticket. I'm good to go. You know, whatever, I'll just waste these other tickets because I've got mine. I'm secure. And I could walk right in. I don't know if it's a personality trait or what, or I just like getting free things and maybe I could pay it forward, but I can't do that. I cannot walk into the park when I have tickets burning a hole in my pocket. So, I'll take a few minutes. I'll say, hold on a second and I'll walk around. I'll say, okay, here's section of four, walking up to the box office. Hey guys, we have four right here take them. Hey, I have to get these tickets out of my pocket. 

Think about if our eternal perspective, this is a silly little illustration, but think about if our attitude was, listen, I've already got my ticket to heaven. I know I'm already in. So, you know, whatever. Instead, if it was wow, I'm secure with my ticket. I have all these other tickets I could go lovingly, give these away. Think about the difference in our hearts and attitudes if we live that way. You see it doesn't matter where you're from or your political affiliation. I'm not saying these things don't matter at all. I'm saying they're not the most important. 

It's not how much money we have or getting wrapped up in the quality or quantity of our worldly possessions, or even in the perks and security that money can bring. And there are perks and security to that, but it's not about that. It's not in our worldly power or influence. For those who are in Christ, in a relationship with Jesus, our citizenship is in heaven, and we are a member of God's eternal kingdom. That is first and foremost, the most important thing, it's not these other things. Our hope is in Jesus's return to establish his kingdom once for all, we walk in that victory and hope. If you know Jesus, you walk in that victory and hope. As we cultivate an eternal perspective, let's link arms with other believers as we stand firm in the Lord, let's stand together. 

Scripture says it better than I ever could. First John 4:20 says this, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar." Wow. "For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen." Maybe it's because I'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch but I love it when scripture is just so overt, straightforward, honest, and real. Scripture is always honest. But when it's that clear, there's no ambiguity there. 

Boy if you say you love people and you don't even love your brothers and sisters is the truth in you? I don't know if that hits you, but that hits me, where I think boy if I can't even love those closest to me, how in the world am I going to love my enemies and love people that don't know Jesus yet? So, this brings us to the second truth and resource for us. And that's, "Let's humbly submit and work with other Christians to advance the gospel. Let's link arms and work on the same team." Don't get caught up in fights and quarrels that don’t matter. This is a huge distraction. And imagine the folks that don't know Jesus that are watching and observing, and they're looking at that going, wow, they can't even love each other well, these Christians. 

Are we being peacemakers? Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Now, what does the word peacemaker mean? This is in the Beatitudes, the sermon on the Mount, right in that section, Beatitudes, when Jesus is teaching there, he says peacemakers. Now, what does that mean? Well, peacemaker means he or she who unifies and unites men and women. He or she who unifies, their intention, their motivation, their priority is to unify and bring together men and women. Peacemakers. 

So, it doesn't mean we don't talk about hard things, but we do it with a genuine heart to heal and bring together. Mobilize, challenge, sacrificially love, are you part of the solution or part of the problem? As the scripture in Philippians 4 continues on it says this, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you my true companion help these women since they have contended at my side and the cause of the gospel." 

In this section right here, it's evident that Euodia and Syntyche were involved in some kind of dispute. They had worked together, they were on the team, we've had this before, you've been around it, I'm sure. There's some kind of dispute, when Paul references their names being written in the book of life, he's reminding them lovingly and us that their common citizenship is in God's eternal kingdom. And that fact is so much bigger than any disputes or gossip or slander, whatever was going on here. Most likely this was some political argument, but whatever was happening with these women, Paul's reminding them no, your citizenship is in heaven, so much bigger than these petty arguments. 

It continues in four and five and it says this, "Rejoice in the Lord, always, I will say it again, rejoice." I'm not saying life is not hard. I've had a few hard things in my life. I guarantee that if I walked out and started to interview folks in the crowd, it would not take me long before I discovered someone who would put my pain to shame. They would have had some experiences in their life that were so much more difficult and painful than I could ever imagine. It wouldn't take me long. So, I'm not saying this in your face. I'm saying it with you. I understand that life can be hard. I understand sometimes it's hard just to say rejoice when you're going through it. But the Lord says this to remind us that regardless of what's going on, we can have joy in him. Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near. 

You see, we have bigger fish to fry, folks. Orchard Hill Church, we have bigger fish to fry than to get caught up in these sideshows, arguments, and debates. Don't get distracted and get caught up in these disputes. Nothing good comes from this. What do we argue about that truly matters over the long haul? What are we arguing about that will never rust, spoil, or fade? Second Corinthians 4:16-18 says, "So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but what is unseen for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

If we looked back on our arguments a hundred years from now, or 200 years from now, or 300 years from now, does it matter whose sports team was the best? Or the minutiae of political debate that we get drawn into, sometimes over social media, or is it the grudges that we hold against people, even other Christians, or the gossip, the way that we rip people behind their backs or the slander. Are these actions going to move the needle and make a lasting impact? These things will knock you off course and cause you to fumble away your opportunity to love well and to make a lasting and eternal impact. You will miss your shot. 

If we come in contact with people that desperately need to know Jesus, and they look at our lives and are like, man, that doesn't look like there's any difference between the worlds. In fact, they might not even love as well as other people I've seen. You will miss your opportunity to share the hope found in Jesus alone with that person. You'll miss your shot. Why not take back the time we waste in frivolous disputes with others to consider God, his people, and his word. Those are the things that will last forever. God, his people, his word. 

Folks, I don't know if you're like me, I waste so much time on these other things. What will your life be like if this focus truly shifted for you personally? It's hard-working with people and working through relational challenges with others, but God designed it this way. You see, fear sees the obstacle, but faith sees the opportunity. The opportunity is we can come together and show a unified front even when we have disagreements, we can work through it lovingly. Unity allows for the unleashing of God's power in ways he will only display in interdependence. 

Do we believe that more of Christ can be shared in a body of believers than on our own? If we link arms and do it together, will we get more accomplished than if we were by ourselves? Use music as an example, I talked about the choir. Imagine this huge choir, two guys get dropped in, imagine that the mess it makes. You see the message in the music is the lyrics and words. The lyrics and words are the messages of a song. The medium is the music that accompanies the lyrics. 

I took a class in seminary. You would study movies and the theology that came out of movies. And they would talk about, a lot of times, not all the time, but a lot of these Christian movies. They had ramped up the cheesiness so much, the acting was so bad, it was so heavy-handed and so in your face, the medium was so bad that even if the message was great, it wasn't conveyed properly because they lost the audience. They didn't think about the art of it, right? So very few will remember or be affected by the message if the medium is poor or unattractive. 

The opposite is also true. A wonderful medium will draw attention to the message, it will stick with you, even if the message is mediocre or false. Our message in Christianity is the greatest news in history, victory in Jesus. What if the people who share the message of Jesus are just as alienated, superficial, and unsuccessful in their relationships as one another, as nonbelievers are? Our message in Christianity is the greatest news ever, so on the other hand, what if people who share the message of the good news of Jesus Christ demonstrate an ability to build and enjoy close, healthy love relationships with one another. Wow. What if we actually did that? 

What would it look like to lean into God's peace and allow the holy spirit to heal broken relationships in our lives? What if we were truly freed up to forgive? Think about what would be lifted off our shoulders if we were freed up to forgive, to pick our battles, to sacrifice love, or to give when it's hard for us. And if we don't think the other person deserves it, to do it then, what kind of message or medium would the Lord be orchestrating through us? I would argue this, it would truly cultivate a Christ-like joy, and it would heal and bring authentic reconciliation, exactly what the world needs. 

You know what cures, what ails the world? Jesus Christ. He's powerful, loving, and sacrificial enough to do it. And we have the opportunity to tap into that and allow him to heal us and renovate us from the inside out. Thanks for listening.