The Untapped Power of We – Part 4

Review

• 1 Corinthians 1:10–13 (NKJV): ¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Unity requires Christ-mindedness.

We become the same when we adopt Christ’s mind together.

The Blessings of Unity

There are blessings that we receive that are specific to unity centered in Christ.

• Psalm 133:1–3 (ESV): ¹ Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! ² It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! ³ It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
  • • Acts 2:1–2 (NKJV): ¹ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. . .
    • Acts 2:4 (NKJV): ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
    • Acts 4:24 (NKJV): ²⁴ So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord. . .
    • Acts 4:31 (NKJV): ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
    • Acts 4:32 (ESV): ³² Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. . .
    • Acts 4:34 (ESV): ³⁴ There was not a needy person among them. . .
    • Acts 12:5 (ESV): ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
    • Acts 12:12 (ESV): ¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

The Humanity Factor

• 1 Corinthians 2:14–16 (ESV): ¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
• 1 Corinthians 3: 3 (ESV): ³ for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

Key Facts About Multiracial Churches

• Fact # 1: Multiracial churches make up 16% of all congregations in the U.S.
• Fact # 2: People of Color make up 16% of the people who lead multiracial churches in the U.S.
• Fact # 3: Of all U.S. churches, only 2.5% of them are multiracial and led by a pastor of color.
• Fact # 4: “Multiracial churches generally either start off racially diverse or move from predominantly white to racially diverse. Rarely do churches move from predominantly Black or Asian or Hispanic to racially diverse. This puts pastors of color at a distinct disadvantage in the multiracial church world.” (Estranged Pioneers: Race, Faith and Leadership in a Diverse World, Edwards and Kim, p. 41)

Overcoming Objections to the Having Conversations about Race

As believers, isn’t it petty and immature to quibble over racial matters?

• You don’t want to be paranoid about the racial question, but you also don’t want to be naive about the racial question.

Aren’t discussions of race divisive?

• • Anything that affects the relationship has to be discussed.
  • Not talking about something can be just as divisive as not talking about something.

I’m a person of color, but I just see myself as a believer, an American, a human. I don’t focus on race and my life is great.

• Regardless of how people should act (morally), you have to deal with the practical reality of how people actually act.

Racism is sin problem, not a skin problem, right?

• You have to deal with both the sin and the skin.

Matters linked to Race (not an exhaustive list)

• Physicality
• Culture
• Values
• Language
• Accent
• Vocal inflections
• Beliefs
• History
• Citizenship
• Nationality
• Ancestry
• Generation
• Politics
• Class
• Gender

Why are we doing this?

The best way to address this question is to go to Scripture and to look at the example of examples: Our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

• Mark 3:13, 20-21 (ESV): ¹And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. . . .²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. ²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
• Mark 3:31–35 (ESV): ³¹ And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Global Ministry of Israel

Israel’s mission had always been a global one: Jesus was merely fulfilling it.

• Genesis 12:3 (ESV): ³ . . . in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
• Isaiah 56:7 (ESV): ⁷ . . .for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
• Isaiah 49:6 (ESV): ⁶. . . I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Is Anyone Considering What God Wants?

Peter had to answer this question:

• Acts 11:2–17 (ESV): ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, ³ “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴ But Peter began and explained it to them in order: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; ¹⁴ he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

The Burden Comes with a Blessing

Consider Paul who endured so much:

• 2 Corinthians 11:23–29 (ESV): ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

It was so challenging that he asked God to take it away:

• 2 Corinthians 12:8–10 (ESV): ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Top 10 All-Time Stupid Quotes

(The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covy. New York: Fireside. pp.11-12)

10. “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.”– Kenneth Olsen, President and Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, In 1977

9. “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” — Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French Military Strategist and Future World War I Commander, In 1911

8. “[Man will never reach the moon] regardless of all future scientific advances.” — Dr. Lee De Forest, Inventor of the Audion Tube and Father of Radio on February 25, 1967

7. “[Television] won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” — Darryl F. Zanduck, Head of 20^th Century-Fox, In 1946

6. “We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out.” — Decca Records Rejecting The Beatles , In 1962

5. “For the Majority of people, the use of taboacco has a beneficial effect.” — Dr. Ian G. Mac Donald, Los Angeles Surgeon, As Quoted in Newsweek, November 18, 1969

4. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union Internal Memo, In 1876

3. “The earth is the center of the universe.” –Ptolemy, The Great Egyptian Astronomer, In the Second Century

2. “Nothing of importance happened today.” — Written by King George III of England on July 4, 1776

1. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” — Charles H Duell U.S. Commissioner of Patents, IN 1899