So I am Praying about what message to bring when I preach at our midweek service while home on semester break, I have heard through family that there was some kind of trouble brewing in the Church, and the Holy Spirit was leading me to speak on “The Spirit of Unity”.

This message would be as unforgettable as the first sermon I ever preached, but for different reasons.

The Scripture  I used as my premise was I Cor. Chapter 12. many gifts but one body. I knew there was some division and disagreement within the Church  and this seemed an appropriate message to encourage folks to calm down and consider one another. In hind sight I might have better addressed the problem from Galatians 5: 19-21…

“19. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20. idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissention, division,21. envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” 

I grew up fundamental Baptist. I am not ashamed of that. Our Churches are famous for a firm grounding in the Word of God. I can remember my Pastor saying on many occasions to look it up and study it for yourself, don’t just take my word for it. He was “teaching us how to fish.”

I still consider myself a fundamental Baptist in what I believe the Bible teaches. My core values have not changed, but as I have experienced the Word in action where it meets life, I have become less concerned about denominational boundaries and more interested in how to relate Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

Back in the time this story originates from, fundamentalists were very concerned about the length of Hair on men and hem line on women. If memory serves spirituality was measured by  the % of certain rules followed. In my humble opinion, we were more concerned about outward actions than condition of the heart, ready to judge and condemn as liberal or worldly those who failed to meet our standard. I will not judge anyone’s position in Christ, but we had at the very least, a tendency to be like the pharisees in the abundance of our judgement along with a true lack of love for those we saw as “taken in sin”.

Galatians 5:4;

If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ!You have fallen away from Grace.

There were those in Corinth who were trying to convince the gentile believers to be circumcised to complete their salvation. Paul is very clear that there is no mix of grace with works that will achieve salvation, only grace through faith in Christ alone.

We were not trying to add works to complete our own salvation, but we continuously judged others by their actions or inactions and in my opinion skirted the edge of falling into the mentality described in Verse 4.  Thankfully I see a more tolerant attitude toward people who are hurting or have fallen, not compromising on sin, but learning how to love the sinner back into a right relationship with Christ.

There was a business meeting scheduled for after the services that night. I preached the message I believe God put on my heart. After the Service one of the men of the Church came up to me and said ” you young guy’s go off to College, come back here and think you know everything don’t you? ” I was stunned, and did not respond. I later realized I had hit a nerve with some of the men in the Church.

The meeting began, and several of the men, most in leadership positions, began attacking my pastor and his wife. I will not share much of this because it is negative and of the devil, and I won’t spread the poison of it even now some 38 years later. That night , in front of teenagers, young new believers, their children, people were hateful, quarreling,outbursts of anger,selfish expressions for their own ambition, dissention, division,back biting, envy, and all sorts of manifestation of the natural man and little or no expression of any fruit of the Spirit.

The Ripple Effect,works as well for spreading poor character and behaviour as it does for good. The effects these actions would have on our youth, on young Christians on the testimony of the Church, on our credibility to share Christ in our community, has rippled out over the last 20 to 30 years in ways we will never fully know. Without God’s intervention it would continue into the next generation and beyond, and may very well do just that in some instances.

The three men who were the primary instigators of this dissention and divisive behaviour that eventually split the Church, were all dead within one year of this meeting. You can call it a coincidence if you want to. I don’t claim to have a hotline to the Throne of God but you have to question why two of these men would die of heart failure and one bleed to death from a GI bleed, drowning in his own blood. I believe we are to love and forgive those who do wrong to  us and the ones we love, but there are some seeds that when sown can cause us to reap destruction. Thankfully that is God’s department not mine,and I leave that to Him..

I would encourage you to be intentional about how you create the ripples that spread out from your life. Taking the attitude of a servant leader and creating ripples that educate, empower and encourage. Ripples that seek justice, love mercy and promote humility in our walk with Jesus Christ. Be vigilant and sensitive to the potential hurt and damage you can do while being oblivious to it. Ignorance is no excuse. walk with someone who has insight where you tend to be blind and trust them to speak truth into your life when you are out of line.

I pray that this story has caused you to consider the consequences of your actions and interactions, that we represent an ongoing promotion of building others up in love to serve the Lord. May God bless you all in your endeavor be the man or woman God has called you to be.