"It was the right hook that got him. Pastor Waite might have stood in front of the Communion table trading punches with head deacon Ray Bryson all morning had not Ray’s fist caught him on the chin two minutes and fifteen seconds into the fight. Waite went down for the count at the altar where most members of Emmanuel Baptist had first declared their commitment to Christ.
"Donald Waite’s navy blue, three-piece worsted was almost impossible to wrinkle, but two of his front teeth were so loose that he would have trouble with corn on the cob for the next three summers. Ray Bryson’s hand was broken in two places. Some of the townspeople dubbed him Sugar Ray after that Sunday, but never to his face…
"The fight ended when the police arrived on the scene. They restored order, took down names for the report they would file, and recommended that some of the men seek medical attention…
"The following Wednesday each of the deacons received a notice to appear at the Newton Courthouse for a hearing.
"Pastor Donald Waite had also been summoned...
"When the court officer entered, breaking the uncomfortable silence, one of the deacons recognized him immediately as David Goldstein, one of the stars on the Temple Beth Shalom’s softball team…
“'I know some of you from the softball league,' he finally said, 'We may have had our differences on the ball diamond, but the cause of religion in our city is at stake here. There must be some way you can settle your dispute among yourselves.'
"After hearing their lame responses, Judge Goldstein said with a wrap of his gavel, 'I’m dismissing this case. No charges will be pressed at this point, but I urge you to work this out within your own church. Your Jesus Christ may allow this sort of thing in His followers, but the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not permit fistfights as a regular order of church service.'"[1]
The story may seem far-fetched, but it really happened… right here in Massachusetts no less! I know that our differences and disagreements in the church don’t usually end in a fistfight, but that doesn’t make our problems any less real.
The Church at Philippi was not without its problems either. Paul wrote in chapter 2 of his letter urging the Philippians to pursue unity in Christ. In chapter 4 he returns to the same subject, but this time he addresses a very specific situation. Listen for God’s word to you from Philippians 4:2-3…
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 in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
This brief passage contains two encouragements. The first is: to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Paul says something similar in Philippians 2…
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded…In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
I do not believe that the Lord wants us to agree with other Christians just for the sake of agreement, merely for the sake of unity. And we are never going to agree about everything. But in terms of our faith, there ought to be a unity. And, I believe, there is no true unity that is not based upon truth. We need to be of the same mind in the Lord. To me, that means—in Christ and based upon his teaching in the Gospels. Unity in the church must be based upon a relationship to Jesus and his teaching.
When Charles V stepped down as the Holy Roman Emperor some 400 years ago, he spent much of his time at his palace in Spain. He had six clocks there, and no matter how he tried, he could never get them to chime together on the hour.
In his memoir he wrote,
How is it possible for six different clocks to chime all at the same time? How is it even more impossible for the six nations of the Holy Roman Empire to live in harmony? It can’t be done. It’s impossible, even if they call themselves Christians.
Today, we know it’s possible to have clocks in perfect harmony, when all are aligned with the same source, calibrated to the same standard—Greenwich Mean Time. Likewise, unity in the church is possible, but only when church members are calibrated to one standard—Jesus Christ.[2]
So, what are the things that cause disagreement and division in the church? Paul does not indicate what the disagreement was between Euodia and Syntyche. But Paul thought it serious enough to address in a letter to be read aloud to the entire church.
Apparently, these two women were leaders in the church. They had worked together with Paul in spreading the gospel. These women were not on the fringe of the church, but at the very center of its life. Apparently, their disagreement was not of a doctrinal nature. Otherwise, Paul would have pointed this out and settled the matter by indicating the correct teaching that should be followed.
Of course, there are many things we disagree about as Christians that have little to do with doctrine. Who knows, maybe Euodia and Syntyche were co-chairs for the interior design committee for the first church building in Philippi. Maybe one wanted the sanctuary to be pink and the other wanted green. Churches have split over such inconsequential matters.
One thing many Christians disagree about today is worship style. Most of the time these disagreements stem from differences in preference rather than differences over doctrine. All that really matters is worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
Many years ago, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti performed together in Los Angeles. A reporter tried to press the issue of competitiveness between the three men.
Domingo responded by saying, “You have to put all of your concentration into opening your heart to the music. You can’t be rivals when you’re together making music.”
If, when we come to worship, we put all our energy into opening our hearts to the Lord, then I believe we will, by God’s grace, be in unity with one another.
Divisions sometimes come about in the church when we are more attached to people than we are to God. Paul talked about this in 1 Corinthians 1. Apparently, in Corinth, some felt that they were followers of Paul, others were followers of Apollos, and still others were followers of Peter. Paul asked, “Is Christ divided?”
We run into problems when we get our eyes off Jesus and on to other people. It leads to disappointment and division. Our commitment ought to be to Jesus and his church, not to any one pastor or leader.
Recently, a friend of mine told me she had stopped going to church because she was disappointed in the national leadership of her denomination. I tried to suggest to her that maybe her focus was on the wrong thing. Mere human beings will always disappoint us. But when we focus on Jesus and coming to church to worship him, we will not forsake the fellowship of believers. Whether it was due to my comments or not, I was gratified to see that my friend was in church the next Sunday.
Of course, Christians often disagree about doctrine too. What are we to do about that? Paul suggests a solution in Ephesians 4:15. He calls on us to “speak the truth in love” to one another. I think sometimes we are better at the truth part than the love part. But we need to get good at both.
Euodia and Syntyche were probably not in disagreement over doctrine. Their source of conflict probably came over something less important. Paul says to them and to us: “be of the same mind in the Lord.” In other words, Christians ought not to let their preferences divide them. As one wise man once said: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, love.”
But practically speaking, how can we develop a like mind with other Christians? I believe we can do it by following the example of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul said back in Philippians 2:5-11,
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
If we follow Jesus’ example of humility, we will die daily to self and our selfish preferences and put the interests of others in the church before our own. And this will lead to being of the same mind; it will lead to unity; and it will lead to joy.
We can also ask the Lord to give us the gift of unity, the gift of agreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe unity is a gift of God’s grace. If we are lacking unity, maybe it is because we haven’t asked God for it. Paul says in Romans 15:5...
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The second major encouragement that Paul gives us in Philippians 4:2-3 is: to help our fellow Christians to agree with each other in the Lord.
Paul addresses another individual in the church at Philippi whose name may have been Syzygus, which means “yoke-fellow”. Paul tells Syzygus to help Euodia and Syntyche to come to agreement with each other. Literally, Paul tells him to “take these women together”. In the same way, I believe the Lord wants us to help others in the Body of Christ to “come together”.
Up to this point in my message you may have been thinking: “What does this message have to do with me? I’m not in disagreement with anyone at church.” Though that may be true right now, there may be others in the congregation who are having a hard time getting along together. I think the Lord wants us all to be reconcilers wherever we see disunity and disagreement.
It has been said that all of us go through life carrying two buckets in our hands. One bucket has gasoline in it and the other has water. When we see conflict brewing, do we throw gasoline or water on the fire? I think the Lord wants us to be the kind of people that throw water instead of gasoline, the kind of people who douse conflict in the church.
Over the course of some forty years in ministry it has been my experience that most people prefer to avoid conflict, shove disagreements under the rug, or talk about their disagreements to others, rather than confront the person they have the disagreement with. But this is not the method Jesus proposes.
The first church I served out of seminary had about 1100 people in attendance on Sunday mornings. I was the youth ministry intern. As such, I ended up using the church kitchen a lot. There was a volunteer in the church in charge of the kitchen, and we ran into conflict with one another. All these years later, I don’t remember exactly what the conflict was, but I do remember that I did not like dealing with the woman whom I affectionately called “the kitchen Nazi”. Of course, I never called her that to her face. But one day the office manager at the church heard me saying some unkind words about the kitchen coordinator. Bob quoted a Bible reference to me: Matthew 18. In response I said something like: “What?” And Bob repeated, “Matthew 18. Read it and follow it.” So, I did.
In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus says…
If your brother or sister sins. go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
After reading that passage, I decided to stop shooting my mouth off about “the kitchen Nazi” and if I had a problem with her, I approached her directly. I realize that disagreements are not necessarily the same as “sin”. But I think the principles that Jesus lays out in this passage give us some principles to follow in seeking reconciliation, even in the case of disagreements.
Of course, what Paul is talking about are disagreements that cause a break in fellowship, like that break that occurred between Euodia and Syntyche. I’m sure all of us have experienced disagreements that are so minor they do not cause a break in fellowship. But when we feel ourselves trying to avoid a fellow Christian and when we realize that the reason is because of some disagreement, that’s when we need to do something about it.
If we don’t deal with the problem ourselves, we may need others to step in and help us. That’s why Paul says what he does to Syzygus. Paul gives a similar encouragement in Galatians 6:1-2…
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Returning to Philippians 4:2-3, it is interesting to note that four times in these verses Paul uses the little Greek preposition “sun” which means “together”. One thing is clear, the Lord wants us to work together as a church. We should strive together like fellow athletes on the same team.
The story is told of a man who went to an asylum for the criminally insane. He was a bit surprised to find that there were only three guards to take care of one hundred inmates. He said to one of the guards, “Aren’t you afraid that the inmates will unite, overcome you, and escape?” The guard said, “Lunatics never unite.”[3]
Maybe that is why the Church, big “C”, is so divided sometimes. But the closer we draw to Jesus, the more mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy we will be, and thus the more united as well. We need to agree with others in the Lord.
It is a great encouragement to me to read that the Church in Philippi had problems, that everybody didn’t get along perfectly all the time. If I only read about perfect churches in the Bible I would get discouraged, because the church today is obviously not perfect. I have never been part of a perfect church, and I am not a perfect Christian. Wherever I look I see defects. We all have defects. We are all wounded people. But here is the good news… we can all become wounded healers by the power of the Holy Spirit.
During a week of Vacation Bible School in another church, a class was interrupted on Wednesday, an hour before dismissal, when a new student was brought in. The little boy had one arm missing, and since the class was almost over, the teacher had no opportunity to learn any of the details about this boy. The teacher was very nervous and afraid that one of the other children would comment on the boy’s handicap and embarrass him. There was no opportunity to caution the other children, so the teacher proceeded as carefully as possible. As the class time came was ending, the teacher began to relax. She asked the class to join her in their usual closing ceremony. “Let’s make our churches,” she said. “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, open the doors and see…” The awful truth of the teacher’s actions suddenly hit her. The very thing she had feared that the children would do, she had done. But as the teacher stood there speechless, the little girl sitting next to the boy with no arm, reached over with her left hand and placed it up to his right hand and said, “Davey, let’s make the church together.”
What a picture of what the church is all about! We are all spiritually handicapped. And it is ultimately Jesus who heals us by his perfect life, his death for our sins, and his resurrection from the dead. Part of Jesus’ treatment program includes placing us in the church with other spiritually handicapped people. He wants us as wounded and broken people to work together to bring about his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus wants us to take our one good hand and put it together with someone else’s good hand and make the church together…
Comments