Fellowship and Romans 14

Introduction

And that was an excellent psalm. That introduces the series and the theme that we’ve had for the last three Sunday evenings. This may be, as I can remember, the only series I’ve ever preached here. I’m not one of those series kinds of preachers, but this matter of brotherhood is a topic that is found all over the Bible and particularly in the New Testament. And to do it justice, I wanted to cover it as thoroughly as I knew how. How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity, those that possess that common love that we have just sung about. We began by looking at 1 John chapter 4, 20 and 21. How significant is this issue? Well, our claim to love God is affected by whether or not we choose to love our brother, whom we can see.

If we cannot love our brother whom we see with our eyes, how can we possibly love God whom we cannot see? Let brotherly love continue. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 1. That’s where we began. Last week we looked at shunning evil words, and we will conclude next Lord’s Day with the topic of restoring an erring brother. Tonight is for me, at least, the most difficult of the four to preach. Not because I think the subject is all that difficult, but because of the number of things I’m going to have to say in regard to this subject, and you’re going to have to help me out and pay attention because I’m going to go through some things really rapidly. We’re going to talk about fellowship tonight. When I go to Graceway Media looking for backgrounds for my slides, several of you have asked me what’s different about the slides over the last six months.

That’s called a subscription to the best service around for preachers, and to find graphics that fit the messages that I want to preach. And so I type in the word fellowship. And I get 4th of July picnic scenes, Christmas parties, men’s basketball, and all sorts of other Easter egg hunts. I mean, it’s all sorts of things like that. And that’s the kind of thing that people today associate with the word fellowship. And that’s just not the idea at all. It’s the idea of a spiritual sharing of brethren. It’s about a commonality and union of people who participate together in the things of the gospel. It can involve monetary sharing to another preacher and thus participating or fellowshipping him in his work. But most often it has to do with this local fellowship or local banding of believers together.

1. The Basis for Fellowship

And some of the more difficult decisions we face on a local church level are sometimes who do fellowship and who not fellowship. Now, you and I don’t face that personally because a lot of times the elders deal with that for us. And those are difficult things that they’re called to do. What is the basis for fellowship? Our sharing together. I think the best verse I could go to for me is Philippians 1 and verse 27, when Paul says to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. That to me sums up what fellowship is really all about.

People who are conducting themselves worthy of the gospel of Christ, who are standing firm together in one mind and one spirit, and they strive in the things of the gospel together. And what I would say about that, first of all, is that determinations in this area don’t come from some list of church rules that we have. You know, the Church of Christ rule book or the Decor Prairie rule book. None of that exists. If it did, I wouldn’t be a part of it. The rule book is God’s word. And so we make these determinations on the basis of biblical teaching alone. And each case and each person wanting to be a part of our fellowship, that person is judged on the merits of his own situation and circumstances.

And the claims that he makes. And there’s an example in the New Testament of fellowship that was temporarily denied a saint in Acts chapter 9 until more information was received in regard to Saul of Tarsus, who would become the Apostle Paul. At first, the brethren in Jerusalem did not want to associate with one who had created such havoc in the church, but finally, fellowship with him was made possible, at least on a limited basis. More on that in a moment. There’s some questions that must be raised in regard to the basis for fellowship. And let me give you four things here. Number one, do we believe this person to be a Christian? Do we believe this person to be in Christ? To be one like Acts chapter 2, who was added to the Lord.

But do we believe this person is living now as a Christian? Living that resurrected life to which we have been called, genuinely pursuing holiness or the righteousness of the New Testament. And thirdly, we believe this person is going to thus faithfully contribute to our work together. And we might want to inquire about any unresolved problems in regard to where they stand, what they believe or their association with other others of the Lord’s people in other places from which they came. Issues of fellowship do not mainly involve how we regard brethren in other places.

I may deem them as far as I have the ability to know to be a sound group of the Lord’s people, that they are these things. But there’s a lot I don’t know about the work there, a lot of sermons that I don’t hear, and I only know them in a very limited kind of way, and I don’t participate with them. At least not very often. Somebody will ask the question Are you in fellowship with Dee Bowman? And my answer to that is I am not in fellowship with Dee Oman very often. He lives in Pasadena and I live here, but Lord willing, I hope to share some fellowship with Dee and the other saints at Southside this week as the Southside lectures unfold. But it is a very limited kind of fellowship.

I have a more extensive and ongoing weekly fellowship with you. That’s who my fellowship is with, and only in a limited way with brothers and other places. Even going further, somebody said, Could you fellowship Homer Haley? You know, Homer Haley taught some things about marriage, divorce, and remarriage that I don’t agree with, that he would say that when a person is baptized into Christ, that no matter how many marriages he’s had, all those have been washed away by the blood of Christ, and you can stay in the marriage that you’re in. I don’t think that’s scriptural. I don’t think that’s right. That’s what he taught. He wrote a book on the matter.

2. Fellowship Limits

No, he’s dead. I can’t have fellowship with Brother Haley. And yeah, I had some problems while he was still alive, though I never came into contact with him. I had some problems with things, but he taught and believed. And so this has to do with our participation with people and the things of the gospel. Extending, for example, in Galatians 2 9, the right hand of fellowship, as they did on that occasion, Paul speaks of Peter and John and the pillars of the church, but they were in agreement with one another, participating in the same things as God’s people. So, first of all, I want to talk about fellowship limits. We can’t just fellowship anything and everyone.

But a point that needs to be made. That immoral fornicator, and I knew that was wrong. It’s 1 Corinthians 5 13. Shame on that one for getting in there. 1 Corinthians 5 13, remove the wicked man from among yourselves. That is fellowship suffered. That person who was committing immorality in the church at Corinth, they were given a command to deliver him over to Satan in the name of the Lord Jesus. So obviously a wicked person must be removed. 2 Corinthians 6 says, we’re to have no fellowship with unlawfulness or the works of darkness. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? He says in verse 16, in verse 14, he says, do not be bound together. That’s the idea of fellowship.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers. For what partnership hath righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Come out from their midst and be separate, he would go on to say. And in 2 John 9, whoever goes onward and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. And if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house. Do not give him a greeting. Withhold fellowship. For the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds. Now, we may not know everything about a particular brother. We only know limited information about each other, though we might know each other pretty well.

Because who knows the thoughts of a man save the spirit of the man that is within him? We only know what has been revealed to us about a person and must make determinations upon that basis. Now, does that mean that we will all believe everything alike? I think certain passages like Hebrews 5 and 14 would suggest we will come to different conclusions about certain things based upon our spiritual maturity. Solid food is for the mature, because their senses are trained. They can thus discern good and evil. And so you have some immature that have not trained their senses as well, and they may not come to the same determinations that we have, and thus we need to work together, strive together for the faith of the gospel, bring them to spiritual maturity, no longer be children tossed to and fro, he says with every wind of doctrine.

3. Romans 14: Pursuing Peaceful Relationships

And so the goal laid before us is this. Philippians 1, verse 27, 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. Speak the same things, be of the same mind, and the same judgment. Now, that brings me to this chapter that often gets talked about in relation to the subject of fellowship, Romans 14. And Graceway Media did have one slide designated for Romans 14, and it was called Pursuing Peaceful Relationships. And I do think that’s a lot about what Romans 14 is about. But what are we to make of this chapter in the Bible? And it’s actually not chapter 14 only, it actually extends on in chapter 15, as we’ll see in a moment. Whatever we make of Romans 14, as we talk about what it says and the misapplication that some people make of this text, whatever this says, Romans 14, it must be integrated into the rest of the New Testament and what it teaches.

It’s got to fit the whole of instruction that we read in the Bible. It must agree with the rest of Scripture. And one of the problems that people have had in this text is they’ve come to conclusions that cause one to be at odds with other passages of Scripture. Whatever we think about Romans 14, it’s going to jive with the rest of the New Testament, and we know that before we ever read a verse of Romans 14. There is no conflict, for example, between Romans 14 and the passage we read in 2 John 9 through 11. Or what we will read, even in the context of the book of Romans, in chapter 16, just a few paragraphs later, really, when he says, I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learn.

That’s like 2 John 9. And then what does he say to do? Turn away from that. Now he’s not saying that in Romans 14 in regard to the brothers that may be at odds there. But here he says, this kind of person you need to turn away from, because such men are slaves, not of the Lord Jesus Christ. That goes back to our opening points. Slaves not of our Lord Jesus Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. So, whatever Romans 14 is saying, it works with Romans 16. 17 and 18. And I might also add, what is ruled out. Romans 14 isn’t saying these things are okay. In Ephesians 5 and verse 11.

Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. So Romans 14 isn’t talking about embracing, let’s all get along, let’s all be at peace. Let’s all get along and embrace everything. Everything’s wonderful and great and gooey. And we’re just going to ignore the unfruitful works of darkness. You’re not going to get that in Ephesians 5.11. Not getting that in Romans 16. You’re not getting that in 2 John 9 through 11. In fact, when salvation was threatened, Paul dealt with that pretty severely. He will bear his judgment, whoever he is. He says, of those troubling the Galatians. Who has hindered you? You were running well. This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. He says in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 9.

He didn’t wait or pause for that for one second. He dealt with that. And very sternly. The situation of Romans 14 is not anything like the situation among the churches of Galatia. There are no false teachers or false teaching identified in Romans 14. There are two categories the brethren, the strong and the weak, and the strong are not encouraged to convert the weak, or to change their minds necessarily. And obviously the salvation of the weak people is not in danger. As we’ll see, and that’s evidenced in Romans 15 and verse 7. And so that’s what I want you to know right before we ever even go to the text of Romans 14. And as we analyze the text itself, what I want you to notice is what it’s about is each person’s faith before God.

The faith and convictions you have, the faith and convictions someone else has that may differ, and yet in those certain limited circumstances, we can continue to embrace one another in fellowship. Now that’s what Romans 14 is about. Now, let’s go over and now read it. Romans 14. Remember, this is in a book that’s about justification by faith. And now the outgrowths of our justification unto the unfeigned love of the brethren. 1 Peter 1 and verse 22. So brother relationship result from our justification in Christ. Now, accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One man has faith that he may eat all things. He can go to a buffet and he can sample everything. One man has faith that he can eat everything.

But the one who is weak eats vegetables only. And the reason why he’s weak, you’ll remember that Jesus declared all foods clean. In Mark chapter 7. But because of personal conviction, because of perhaps eating meats sacrificed to idols, if you were a Jew, you might never get over the idea of eating pork. And so this fellow believes in eating vegetables only. Okay, that’s okay. He’s not sin in eating vegetables only, even though God gives him a liberty to eat meats or to eat all things. Let not him who eats regard with contempt. That silly brother who won’t go to the buffet. Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does not eat. And let not him who does not eat judge him who eats.

For God has accepted. Now, that’s the really key to Romans 14. Whatever we’re talking about in terms of differences, God has accepted him. Either side. Who are you to judge the servant of another? That’s not saying there’s never any area to make a judgment. We can talk about James 4 and verse 11 about unlawful judging of our brothers. That’s a serious matter. And it’s it’s talked about here. Who are you to judge the servant of another? But we do have to make determination. We still have to remove the wicked man from among ourselves. We can’t have participation with the unfruitful deeds of darkness. You’ve got to make some judgments about that. But this is talking about a different kind of thing. To his own master he stands or falls.

And stand ye will. For the Lord is able to make him stand. One man regards one day above another regards every day alike. Special days that they have they have some kind of attachment to, perhaps, Jewish special days, even though the law of Moses became more national custom than it than it was spiritually based. Another man regards every day alike. Let each man, whatever we’re talking about here, let each man be fully convinced in his own right. You determine what you can and cannot do. He who observes the day observes it for the Lord. He who eats does so for the Lord. For he gives thanks to God, and he who eats not for the Lord he does not eat and gives thanks to God.

For not one of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord. Or if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

So then each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore. But rather determine this. Not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in and of itself. But to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Well, nothing’s unclean. The Lord has made that clear, but if it’s unclean to you, then it’s unclean. Stay away from it. We may make determinations about things that we cannot do that might actually not be transgression. But in our hearts we cannot do them. Our faith will not let us do them, and that’s okay. He says, It’s unclean to him.

For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Don’t want your food. He can’t deal with it. He’s weak. Don’t make him sit at your table. Don’t make him violate your conscience, as he’s going to say. Because that’s sin. Don’t hurt him with your food. Don’t hit him with your steak, is the idea. He only eats vegetables. Therefore, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. And don’t let him take away your liberty is the idea. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

So then, let us pursue the things which make for peace. That’s what this chapter is about. And the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. We’re getting at odds over our brother in regard to what we can and cannot eat in days that we can and cannot observe. We’re tearing down the work of God. We’re getting divided and sideways over this. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything which your brother stumbles. The important thing here is not to be a stumbling block to your brother. The faith which you have as your own conviction before God.

That doesn’t mean, you know, I can just believe whatever I believe, whatever I want to believe. Any subject, any topic, and believe whatever I want to believe. Well, you can. But that doesn’t mean that all the beliefs are right. But there are some beliefs that can vary for person to person within certain limits. And we each have our own faith is the idea. The faith which you have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not consent, condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats. Because his eating is not from faith. And well, whatever is not from faith is sin. Now, this, we’re going to look at this few verses in chapter 15, because he says, Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses.

4. Within Certain Limits, Convictions May Differ

Bear with one another. We see in other passages, bear one another’s burdens. Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not just please ourselves. Be concerned about your brother’s situation. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to his edification. To what end? And these verses are important, but I want to go down and read verses six and seven. That with one accord, you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then this. Wherefore accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Now I want to make some very quick observations here, quite a few of them, so stay with me. I think we’ve seen from the passages we’ve looked at that some attitudes and actions are unquestionably wrong.

And right for that matter. But in some areas, within certain limits, the consciences, convictions, and the faith of people may differ. Somebody says, well, why didn’t God just spell everything out? Make everything clear so that we would all agree on everything. Okay. Some things in the New Testament, God deals with only on the basis of principle. For example, everything that’s lascivious is sinful. Well, what in every circumstance constitutes lasciviousness? Brethren, because of differing maturity and understanding, we’ll always come to the same agreement about that. I hope to talk about modesty next week. That’s another one of those principles of the New Testament. We are to adorn ourselves modestly. And some people are going to edge right up to the line. Isn’t this modest? And there’s all sorts of areas of modesty.

Not just how much is revealed, but what is appropriate for a situation. And God didn’t just spell out every hymn line down to the millimeter. Some things he dealt with the basis of principle. And we have to judge the activities of our time. You know, movie going was not big in the first century. Nobody had to wrestle over the question, should I go see the man of steel? They didn’t have many theaters. Most of you I know like to go to movies from time to time. And yet we all know some movies have obviously objectionable material. How much is too much? One cuss word. You know, everybody, every Christian doesn’t make the determination to say. Based on the rating of the movie or how much objectionable material is in it.

Each person has faith before God in terms of what they can and cannot do. But we know this. Lasciviousness is wrong. Approving of evil is wrong. There’s certain principles by which we have to judge our participation in any activity. But God can’t say, listen, they’re going to be watching movies in the 21st century, so here’s my instruction about that. Movies, what in the world is that? Television, what’s that? First century churches wouldn’t know anything about that. Smoking marijuana, what’s that? There’s no specific injunction against smoking marijuana in the New Testament. But I want to tell you start applying the principle to the New Testament. I’m pretty certain God doesn’t approve of that. And so everything’s not just spelled out. So well, why? Why does God leave these areas of judgment?

Because wrestling with our faith is a good thing. What does God want me to do? How can I make decisions that are safe and unquestionably right? That’s the kind of thinking he wants to bring us to. I don’t want to put my soul in jeopardy over anything, any practice, any relationship. And having those kinds of questions and entertaining what the scriptures say and diligently studying the scripture, all of those things are profitable for us. Paul makes it clear. Well, I’m going to talk about several things before I get to that point. Did the practice of eating meats and observing days violate God’s will? No. But what about your influence? What about the reaction of your brother? That’s what you need to be concerned about. It’s also interesting to note in Romans 14 that the weak brother is the one that had the scoop.

Now he has firm convictions. I can’t do that, but if he says, no, you can’t do that, and restricts God’s liberty for me, that’s wrong for him to do so. He’s weak. The strong brother is the one who understood that all things are clean. But Jesus declared all foods clean. The weak brother, sometimes we in some of these circumstances that come up, the weak brother, the one with the spruitful ones, they’re the one that’s strong. But that’s actually the weak person in Romans 14. And so the question is are there any issues today that are exactly parallel to Romans 14? I’m sure there are.

But what are they? In Romans 14, in these matters, no one sinned necessarily because they believe differently. Sin was involved if they caused their brother to stumble or if you violated your conscience. But there was no sin in regard to the things they believed that were different in these matters. And so what issue might we say today is a Romans 14 issue, and I often hear brethren who preach about this subject say, oh, the war question. And the cover. And the war question is really bigger than can you fight for the government and take a life? But can you serve in the police? And kill on behalf of your civil government, your local government. Can you take a life as a police officer? Or be the one who takes the life of one who is being put to death for crimes committed.

And so the idea of taking the life of the war question is much bigger than that. The covering has to do with the teaching of 1 Corinthians 11. Should a woman be covered when she worships? And it’s easy for me to just come along and say, oh, it’s Romans 14 issue. Because whether or not you decide to kill in war or serve as a police officer and kill someone in the line of duty, whether you can do that or not, I can go either way. I can let you do that. And I don’t believe a woman sins who worships God without covering her head. And so that’s a Romans 14 issue. But I’ll tell you if you’re on the other side of that. There are some circumstances fighting under certain in certain nations, for example.

Could you fight in all good conscience for some nations with the motives that they have?

What if we determined the motives of our own government were about expansion and economic reasons? Rather than self-defense and protecting people here and abroad, if that’s really the goal. You know, you might need to conscientiously object. I don’t know, but there are some people who think that if you take someone else’s life as a police officer in the armed services, that you’re killing them. It’s murder. Some people are what we call pacifists. Is that the weak brother of Romans 14? I don’t know that I can say for sure. Or the brother who thinks the woman ought to be covered when she worships. And so because he thinks she ought to be covered if she’s not covered, that she’s in rebellion. She’s not showing submission to God, submission to her husband.

Or other men. To them, it’s not a whatever. It’s a serious matter. Well, here’s the thing. Here’s what I know Romans 14 is about. It’s about an issue where to his own master he stands are false.

Now that would make it easier. And in regard to some of these things, brethren disagree about, we don’t have Paul to come along and say, now God has declared all foods clean. Killing someone by serving in the armed services, the military, not a violation of God’s will, do not murder. We don’t have Paul here to clear that up, and because I said all governments are different to begin with. And a person’s going to have to decide what they can and cannot do. Well, it doesn’t matter of the covering. It was only cultural. It was first century because women wore coverings because of that, what that symbolized. People don’t do that in your society, it’s no big deal. Paul isn’t here to say that. And to clear that up for us.

5. What Kind of Differences Can We Tolerate?

And so what I would recommend on questions was, I don’t know whether the Romans 14 issues or not. I would say focus on the texts applicable to those issues. Wrestle with 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and come to the determination. Wrestle with passages that talk about murder, our responsibilities to civil government and serving in the civil government, and make your decision based upon your faith. Well, maybe you can make a list, Tony, of all the issues that are Romans 14 issues. Not sure I even want to attempt to do that. But here’s the issue. What kind of differences can we tolerate? And I, and we must make these determinations the best that we can on the basis of the things revealed. It does not, however, allow brethren to remain in fellowship indefinitely.

We need to be forbearing and trying to come to unity, but not to be in fellowship indefinitely with those who disregard the teaching of Scripture and promote obvious errors that threaten souls. We saw that in those other passages. Romans 15 7. Accept one another does not apply to every brother with whom we disagree. And that’s how some people want to use these texts. It says, accept one another. Well, so you just accept anybody and everybody, no matter what they believe, no matter what they practice, no matter what they do. That’s not consistent with the rest of Scripture. That’s not what Romans 15 and verse 7 is saying. It’s talking about an issue where to his own master he stands or falls, where we can be each fully convinced in our own minds.

Maybe the war question is that in some circumstances. Maybe the covering issue is that. But we’ve got to make those determinations based upon our faith. Romans 15 7 doesn’t, you know, I believe that a person can be married and divorced as many times as they want and still be in fellowship with God and fellowship with the local church. If you believe that, I want to tell you, Romans 15 7 doesn’t want.

If you believe that. Romans 15 7 pertains to these kinds of issues that we’ve been talking about here in Romans 14. And off of this, Romans 14 is not a cure all for every difficult issue that arises with brethren. I have this different view of this text, and you have this different view of this text. Well, that’s Romans 14. We can just go our own separate ways, believe different things on everything. On everything. Again, I’m not so bold as to say I can make a list of all the things that we have to get ironed out and all the things that we can allow to be personal faith. I can’t make that list. But we have to determine our fellowship on the basis of these things.

Furthermore, we must not interpret in such a way that conflicts with other New Testament passages that establish the parameters and limits of fellowship, like Romans 16 and 2 John 9 through 11. So as we wrap this up, we must learn to tolerate each other when we should and fight error when we must. And this passage is certainly not saying unity and diversity. You know, you believe what you believe, and I’ll believe what I want to believe, and we’ll all just be happy and go to heaven together. We can believe things and practice things that will cause us to be lost. And people who are saying Romans 14 promotes unity and diversity, they usually have some agenda that they’re promoting. Some area of compromise. Romans 14 is no comfort for those looking for a loophole, a huge carpet under which we can sweep disagreements that we have with brethren that we like because we like them.

I like him. He believes something different than I do. What are we going to do with this? I still want to fellowship him. Let’s sweep it all over the rug, say it’s Romans 14. What if it’s a doctrine that causes souls to be lost, to stand in danger of the judgment? You can’t just say, that’s Romans 14 and sweep it under the carpet. If we can’t say, let each man be fully convinced in his own mind, then we’re going to have to take a stand. And Romans 14, I like this quote from Steve Duhers. Romans 14 gives no license to those who wish to call good evil and evil good. It is limited to matters of genuine doubt. Now, talk about some misuse and disapplication of Romans 14, but I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bathwater and what this is really talking about.

6. Romans 14 Is About How We Treat Each Other

It really has only little application to the decisions that we make on fellowship, but a lot more to do with how we treat each other. That’s what Romans 14 is about. If you don’t get anything else from this lesson, Romans 14 is about how we treat and regard each other. That’s the emphasis of this passage. Guidelines on how to regard a brother, how to cooperate with and love one another when we disagree. Yes, Romans 14 is talking about a specific set of things that involve each one having their faith before God. But even if we’re talking about something larger than that, this passage says a lot about how we need to regard brethren, period. And how we need to love them and serve them. And it discourages being consumed in needless controversies.

It’s unfortunate that brethren get sideways with one another over things ultimately that are not that significant. That’s a sad thing.

Conclusion

Look, we need to have the right attitudes toward each other. And let’s not tear down what God wants to build up. And so here are the things we’ve been talking about over the last few weeks, and you’ve listened patiently tonight. If you don’t get anything else out of this series, how you look at one another sitting in these pews tonight, how you regard each other is so very important to our spiritual vitality. And we’re going to be judged for how we look at each other, how we talk about each other, what we want ultimately for each other, and let that affect the way we talk to each other. And the way we deal with problems and difficulties when they arise.