Failures in Community - Coarse Joking

Failures in Christian Community - Coarse Joking

On Sunday after church, a restaurant worker should be able to tell those who attended church not only by the clothes they are wearing but by the language they are using. Sadly, this is rarely the case. 

Listen to Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:4:

4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Not only is sarcasm common in our daily language, so is filthiness and foolish talk. Our topics of discussion, our language used, and even our shows watched reveal very little difference than those who are not Christians. 

This ought not be so. This is out of place for those who call Jesus “Savior” and “Lord”. Jesus teaches that the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart (Luke 6:45). This means that what is in your heart is brought to the surface by your words. 

What are your words revealing? 

What are your words reflecting?

Failures of Community - Harmful Attitudes

Failures in Christian Community - Harmful Attitudes

Ephesians 4:31

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

We have all felt ostracized. Left out. Not wanted. We have all felt like we didn’t fit in. Didn’t connect. Were not noticed. We have all heard that someone said something about us. While we may quote “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” the reality is words do hurt. Words create wounds that remain for days, months, years, and decades. 

How we treat one another matters. Sadly, the long-standing joke is that churches all across our country split over stupid disputes like carpet colors and room decor. It is not simply the color that does this, it is the attitude of the opposing sides. 

Christian community should be a place of reconciliation not revenge. It should be a place of love not hate. It should be a place of honest sharing not hidden slander. Bitterness exists. Wrath and anger bubble over. 

Clamor happens when disagreements are had. Slander is experienced. Malice is too often allowed. Friends, as we seek to live in community, we must combat and correct our own attitudes towards others. 

We need to work on the log in our own eyes. We need to consider what fruit is coming from our life, the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the flesh (see Galatians 5:15-23). Your attitude matters. Are you holding it in check? Are you taming your tongue? Are you giving grace or demanding justice?

Failures of Community - Sexual Misconduct

Ephesians 5:3

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

The last few months in the Metroplex have revealed quite a few failures by church leadership in the area of sexual misconduct. Our church history is also stained by sexual misconduct (see this video for my thoughts). It is infuriating that men and women who have been given leadership in the church have chosen to abuse it for their own pleasure and pursuits. 

Paul is clear in Ephesians 5 that this should not even be named among you. This accusation should not even be thought of in light of you. The temptation of sexual promiscuity is all around. Whether you are seeking it or not, images, enticements, and invitations are being made to pursue what is outside of what is best. 

The stranglehold that sexual sin can have on your life is not foreign to me nor to many close to me. It is a vicious cycle of shame, guilt, fulfillment, and desire. It is always desiring and never satisfying. 

Today, I want you to pray for those who have been hurt or harmed by the church through sexual misconduct. 

Pray for those boys and girls taken advantage of. 

Pray for the victims of abuse of power and position. 

Pray for healing. Pray for help. 

Pray for them to know that God is love even though what they experienced was not. Pray for the victims of sexual misconduct today.

Failures of Community - Sarcasm

Failures in Christian Community - Sarcasm

This past Sunday as we discussed Christian Community, I began to think about the negative versions of community I have experienced in church. So for the next few days, I want to bring these to light. The first detriment to community I think about is sarcasm. 

Now, I know that I am one of the worst offenders of this. Sarcasm has become the cheap conversation substitute that has taken over our friendships, our churches, and our workplaces. I was at a ministry luncheon a few weeks back and the leader started the whole talk with this statement: “Sarcasm is the love language of this group.” While it got a few cheap laughs, it broke my heart to think that in a collection of ministry leaders we are choosing sarcasm over encouragement. 

I am reminded of Ephesians 4:29 today.

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Sarcasm is fun. Sarcasm is funny. Sarcasm is not building up. Sarcasm does not give grace. Rather than joke sarcastically, what if we spoke intentionally? Rather than disparaging a friend in jest, we spoke highly of a friend seriously. Sarcasm is a cheap substitute for honest feelings and conversations. 

Today, I challenge you to fight the temptation to be sarcastic. Speak in a way that builds others up.

God is calling me to generosity!

2 Cor 8:1-4

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.

I have always been impressed by this writing of Paul about the church in Macedonia. Paul is clear that they are in the midst of hardship. Severe trial. Extreme poverty. This does not seem like fertile soil for generous people.

Yet, he is clear, even in the midst of trial they were rich in generosity. They gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.

This is not a devotion to twist arms towards church giving. This is simply a reminder to all of us who are in the midst of an inflated economy, with soaring house prices and car prices, and burdens that seem to show up weekly, that we are still called to be generous towards God.

We are called to live towards him in a spirit of faith that he can and will provide. Remember who Jesus praised in the temple, the woman who gave the smallest sum because it was also the biggest sacrifice.

It is easy in this season we are approaching to be caught up in gift buying and the extravagance of the Christmas celebration (none of which are necessarily bad), but I urge you to consider how you can support something more than our own abundance. How can you be generous with your time, your stuff, your resources, and even your money this season? Who can you help? Who can you bless? What can you sacrifice so that someone else can have?

This has been a great year at our church and we have many things to celebrate. If you are contributing to our church, I want to say thank you. Your generosity not only feeds my family but it helps us feed people with the Word of God. If you have not started giving, maybe God is calling you to say no to something so that you can say yes to this. Even if you are giving, I still think we can hear God calling us to take another step of faith in the world of our finances. I know that he has done that with me multiple times in the past year and a half.

I do not know the outcome, but I do know that God calls us to be generous people. You can be generous with many things. Will you?