FELLOWSHIP FIGHTS
Luke 9:46-50 NET.
46 Now an argument started among the disciples as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But when Jesus discerned their innermost thoughts, he took a child, had him stand by his side, 48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.” 49 John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not a disciple along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Today’s passage begins by stating that an argument started among the disciples and that statement introduces today’s topic. Arguments keep starting among the disciples even after all these centuries. We were called together to follow Christ together, but things keep separating us and causing fights among the fellowship. Today’s passage identifies some of the things that tend to cause these fellowship fights. It is important for us to realize that Jesus not only knows about what causes fellowship fights, but he has also given us instruction that can help us prevent them. Let’s examine today’s text to see why fights happen among us, and what we can do about it.
First, fights develop among us because Pride turns fellowship into a hierarchy (46).
We read that the disciples were arguing among themselves because they wanted to establish who was the greatest. Why would the disciples choose to start fighting over that issue? It probably happened at that point because Jesus had recently taken three disciples onto a mountain, and they got to witness his transfiguration and hear the voice of God tell them to listen to him. When they came down from the mountain, the other disciples probably wondered why those three had been chosen to witness that miracle, and the rest had not been chosen. That question became an issue, and that issue became a controversy, and that controversy became an argument.
Jesus had wanted three disciples with him on the mountain because they needed to learn that God wanted all of them to focus on Christ. But the argument developed because the disciples took their eyes off Jesus and started asking who was greatest among themselves. History has shown that this same mistake happens repeatedly in the church. If two or three gather in Jesus’ name, before long they decide who is going to be their leader. They must set up a separate caste: a priest, an elder, a pastor.
It is human nature to organize and seek leadership. But it is also a problem in the church because who leads us is something that we are inclined to argue about. Jesus wanted to address that problem. He knew that whenever the issue of greatness enters the picture, pride comes with it. You cannot convince anyone that you are better than he is without boasting about yourself. The Bible tells us that God hates arrogant pride (Proverbs 8:13). It says that pride leads to disgrace (Proverbs 11:2). It leads to contention (Proverbs 13:10). It leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18). It brings people down (Proverbs 29:23).
Jesus taught his disciples to humble themselves on several occasions. Once, he noted a Pharisee’s prayer – full of self-congratulations. He compared that prayer with that of a tax collector, who “stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’” (Luke 18:14. Jesus said it was that humbled tax collector went down to his home justified – not the Pharisee. He said that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
On this occasion, Jesus used a mere child as an illustration. He had that child stand by his side in the position of honor. His point was that greatness in his kingdom is not measured the same way greatness in the world is. I wish that the church would get that point. But we are constantly forming hierarchies within our fellowships. The reformers criticized the Catholics for doing that, then they turned around and did the same thing. The Bible says that in Christ there “is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female — for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). He breaks down all the ethnic, socio-economic and gender distinctions. Everyone of us who is in Christ is like that little child – exalted to the right hand of the Savior by his grace alone. If we want to stop arguing in our fellowships, we need to humble ourselves.
Second, Jealousy turns fellowship into a competition (47-48).
Pride says I am greater than you, and you must acknowledge my greatness. Jealousy says you are greater than me and am determined to climb the ladder higher than you. It makes church fellowship a competition to see who can get higher up the food chain. Jesus recognized this tendency among his followers, so he showed them that Christian fellowship is not about that. He did it by showing them that child and telling them that their goal was to welcome him. That child was a nobody and that was the point. Church fellowship is not a competition in which we climb the ladder. It’s an opportunity to welcome all believers into the same body. We are all sheep in the same flock. We are all members of the same family. We don’t compete for our identity in Christ. We don’t earn it. We are chosen by grace.
To fully realize this fact is to stop trying to measure up to someone else’s status. It is to stop trying to gain a higher rank so that all the plebes under you will have to do what you want them to do. Jesus did not intend for Christian fellowship to be a competition. He gives us our one rank at the beginning of our Christian life, and we never outgrow that rank. Our salvation comes free and our status as children of God comes with it.
Another reason we should avoid jealousy and the competition mindset is that we don’t really know each other’s heart. We have had some heroes in our culture in the past few decades that have turned out to be less than admirable. People patterned themselves after those heroes and then were devastated when they discovered that their heroes had serious hidden flaws.
Finally, Intolerance turns fellowship into a cult (49-50).
In the last part of today’s text, the disciple John told Jesus that they had seen someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and the tried to stop him. This was a manifestation of the final stage of fellowship fighting. When you declare that someone is not a Christian because that person does not do things the same way you do, you have ceased to be Christian yourself. It is the cults who declare that every other person claiming to be a Christian is unsaved. That is intolerance, and Jesus warned his disciples not to be that way.
We have quite a few churches in the Delco area, and I have no doubt that that there are true believers in every one of them. No one must be just like us. We are not Christians because we follow a pattern. We are Christians because we follow Christ. He did not choose twelve disciples who we just like each other. The twelve were remarkably different from each other.
Saying that, however, we must admit that we do need some work in this area. There are probably some people in our community who feel out of place in our churches and sometimes that is caused by our tendency to make judgments based on external things. The Bible does not say you have to be perfect to join a church, but we sometimes give people that impression. One of the purposes of the church is for us to help one another grow in grace. But we have been guilty in the past of not inviting people to church because we would be embarrassed to be seen with them.
A real Christian fellowship invites all because all need Jesus. Anyone who has repented of their sins and seeks to follow Jesus is welcome here. Each of us has some areas in his life that need work. The Holy Spirit is working on us all. But the temptation to turn people away because their experience with Christ is not the same as ours needs to be avoided.
There are lots of things that are worth fighting for as Christians. The Lordship of Christ is one of them. The authority of God’s word is another. Salvation by grace is another. But fellowship fights tend to break out among us for far lesser reasons. We need to learn the wisdom to avoid fighting over differences that do not ultimately matter. We need to stop being jealous of one another and welcome each other as equals in the same family. We need to humble ourselves and stop letting pride destroy our witness.
jeffersonvann 