Dealing with Disagreements

My daughter wanted us to start off today with a highly controversial question after which we may have to provide transportation because families may not want to go home in the car together…

Her question today – Is the hotdog a sandwich?

Now that is clearly a ridiculous question to begin a sermon with because I now risk that you will be unable to concentrate on the meat of the message because you will be spending the next 40 minutes preparing your defense of a sandwich or something else…

However, the point I want us to focus on to start is that disagreement is something that we should expect and we need to choose how we will respond.

Similar to my last sermon, I want us to understand that there are plenty of hot topic issues today where we could choose to dive down the rabbit hole and not emerge until after lunch leaving our children’s ministry workers stranded.

At the same time, we will touch on a number of these issues, not for the purpose of telling you what to think, but as a matter of applying what God’s Word tells us about the process to walk that will help us when we are dealing in criticism and disagreements.

Three weeks ago when we began our series on Handling Criticism, I spoke about handling the divisive person. That afternoon, I read a news article that showed an example of handling divisiveness in the face of a significant disagreement, not between persons, but within an organization.

With changes being made in the larger United Methodist church regarding LGBTQ inclusivity, a number of churches in Northern Georgia disagreed on the issues. Then rather than allowing the issues to turn into a hot mess that would tear apart the church in full view of the watching world, as an organization, they chose to deal with the disagreement in a civil manner. With an understanding that unanimity was not expected, a process was put in place to allow the two sides to divide in a manner that did not destroy, and 70 churches were given permission to disaffiliate from the denomination.

My purpose in sharing this with you is not to take sides with one set of churches or another, as I hope you know that we would come down on the side of God’s Word, we’ll talk more about that, but my purpose is to illustrate that when we are dealing with disagreements, there is a way to resolve issues without going to war.

This summer, we are walking through a 12-week series on Handling Criticism as part of our annual theme of Growing in Gospel Gratitude.

It would be easy to say think that we chose this series a few weeks ago because we are watching the news and seeing how many articles simply seek to criticize what the author disagrees with or to say that we chose it because we watched people arguing over masks and vaccines during the pandemic, but the truth is that this series and these specific topics were all chosen as part of our planning which includes the annual preaching schedule, so this series and these topics are not in response to current events, but rather they are a part of helping our church family to Grow in Gospel Gratitude. When our hearts are critical and focused on disagreement, it is hard to be thankful - it is challenging to be grateful for the gospel. We will spend much of our time right there today to help us as we learn about Dealing with Disagreement.

Based on the schedule, so that we can hear from a multitude of Pastors, we began our series with Handling the Divisive person to understand how we are called to respond when faced with a person or group seeking to divide, to keep our eyes open for deceptive teaching or actions and choose to come under God’s Authority and respond in love. Certainly, seemed clear when it was the other person who was sinning, and we just need to seek to please God.

In a couple of weeks, we will be addressing when our own hearts become sinfully critical and today, we are going to look at times when we have to acknowledge that not all disagreements are driven by sin. This does not mean that the scenario opens the door for us to chase our feelings and do whatever we please, but we want to look at the anchor we are called to hold onto so that when we do face disagreements, we can do so under the freedom that we are granted in Christ and not allow the situation to change that…we want to remember

Gal 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Today we are going to study 1 Corinthians 15 to find the anchor that helps us in dealing with disagreements, but before we go to His Word, we need to see the context otherwise we will question why we would choose today’s passage.

Paul wrote the first letter to the Corinthians for the very reason that there were disagreements in the church that were causing problems.

1 Cor 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you.

Paul comes right out of the gate saying that this letter is written because you are dealing with disagreements in the church. He wrote to them to deal with factions that were following certain leaders rather than choosing right teaching. He exhorts the Corinthians because of the problems created because they want to love the world and themselves more than God, they were bickering over issues on marriage, Christian liberty and even over how spiritual gifts were being used in the church. And after dealing with individual issues, Paul begins to close his letter by bring their thoughts back to the anchor that should shape our hearts and minds when we are dealing with disagreements, but rather than me tell you about it – let’s go to God’s Word together that we might anchor our souls…

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 – you will find that on page 138 in the back section of the bible in your chair

When we look for the meaning in Scripture, it is important to understand how the original reader would have understood what we are reading, so please keep in mind that the Corinthians were not reading this in isolation, but were now reading this as Paul had been calling them to deal with their disagreements…

READ 1 Cor 15:1-6

Now you might be thinking…Paul did not even address disagreements in that passage, I want you to remember the context and as we unpack these verses, we will see

2 Keys to a Gospel-based Response to disagreement

I have been using the illustration of an anchor to help place a picture in your thoughts of something that can hold us firm and prevent us from drifting when there are other forces trying to move us.

Paul is doing the same thing here in bringing the Corinthians’ thoughts back to the core of his teaching from when Paul established the church in Corinth, and he calls them to

I. Hold Fast to the Gospel

1 Cor 15:1-2a Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast to the word which I preach to you.

Paul is not telling them to follow their hearts or to trust in themselves. Rather he is bringing them back to their identity in Christ and to the one whom they have chosen to follow…it is just like how he began the letter by saying,

1 Cor 1:4-6 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you.

So we can see by the start of the letter and in our anchor point here in Chapter 15 that when we are in Christ, that which we hold to, that which we believe is not something we came up with…and it is important that we

Acknowledge that it is not your own (15:1)

1 Cor 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, but it is not a message that was developed later by looking back on Jesus’s life and ministry and deciding there was some good stuff we ought to remember. Jesus’s very life was the good news lived out and shared by Peter and James because they were eyewitnesses to Jesus. Even Paul cannot claim that his preaching of the gospel is his own…

Gal 1:15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.

Just as Paul received the gospel, so have we received the gospel from him such that we can claim the gospel for ourselves, but we cannot claim that it is our own.

Why is this important and why do we begin here today?

Consider, when you communicate with someone else, even a text or e-mail, who gets to determine the meaning of the message? Does the reader or hearer set the meaning? They might believe they know the meaning, but is it possible that they are wrong? Yes, because only the author, the original communicator gets to set the meaning of the message and as such if we are going to hold fast to the gospel, the true gospel, we must acknowledge that it is not our own, we do not get to set the meaning or determine what is important in the message.

At the same time that we acknowledge that meaning rests with the author, we can also acknowledge that for many reasons, more than just unclear communications, the meaning can be misunderstood, reinterpreted, and even changed by a reader or hearer causing us to look at the same issues and disagree. Yes, even here, we should expect that

Disagreement will accompany the gospel (15:2b)

1 Cor 15:2b If you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

In this statement, Paul is telling us that there will be those who disagree even over the gospel, and it will have implications…unless you have believed in vain,

John MacArthur’s commentary helped me clarify this to ensure that I did not misunderstand…He describes it this way…

“Paul's qualifying phrase- if you hold fast the word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain- does not teach the true believers are in danger of losing their salvation, but it is a warning against non-saving faith. So a clearer rendering would be, ‘… If you hold fast what I preach to you, unless your faith is worthless or unless you believed without effect.’” [MacArthur, 1Corinthians, pg. 399]

When our understanding of the gospel and salvation are based on an incomplete understanding or a false teaching of the gospel, disagreement will come and not just in talking about salvation, but it will impact how we think about many other issues.

This is why it is so important that we view the gospel in the correct light, In Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy, he repeats his call for us to hold fast, actually expanding the calling while reinforcing the why and the how because.

Truth is a treasure to protect (2 Tim 1:14)

2 Tim 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

Not only are we to hold fast to the gospel, but we are also called to guard it so that its meaning is not changed, minimized, or replaced as may come when others disagree with us.

Do you see the gospel as the most valuable thing that you have? Do you consider the gospel as a Treasure to protect? To protect in our own hearts so that we cannot be drawn astray and to protect in the church so that the testimony of Jesus Christ is glorified…

As Paul describes the gospel as a treasure, it fills that picture is every way.

A treasure is far more valuable when we consider its cost, and to our heavenly Father, it cost Him His most valuable thing – For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son. Not only did God give His Son, but He had to turn away from Him at great pain to Himself.

And when we consider the value of a treasure, we calculate the cost to ourselves and how we came to receive the treasure. In this case, our cost is nothing – for the free gift of God is eternal life.

What else makes something a treasure? The most valuable treasures are unique. There is only one Hope Diamond or think of the original Mona Lisa or a Honus Wagner rookie Baseball Card. Even a copy or a replica could never match the value of the original treasures.

The Gospel is unique – As we said at VBS, there is only one road to heaven – The gospel teaches there is only one way based on the work of Jesus Christ alone, we cannot add any value to the treasure and like treasures that are locked in vaults or watched by teams of security, the treasure of the gospel needs to be guarded as well

So that

Those who believe can stand on truth

1 Cor 15:1b …the gospel which I preached to you, which you also you received, in which you also use stand…

That is the beauty of the gospel, the treasure which we are to guard, that it will also guard us as well.

When we stand for the gospel, we can expect disagreements, in fact we can expect attacks upon us as we stand guard.

The world is seeking to steal the gospel, change it, and shape it to fit a message that those who believe in vain want us to follow. We must stand guard and we can give thanks that the gospel then enables us to stand firm when facing disagreements.

First, we can stand firm, because we do not need to rely on our own strength to stand guard…it is…

1. Based on God’s Work

Right before telling us to guard the treasure, Paul shares that

2 Tim 1:12 For this reason, I also suffer these things but I am not ashamed; For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

In receiving the gospel, we who are called to guard the treasure of the gospel have given our own lives to the gospel knowing that we can trust in Him with our eternal lives.

We can know that we have eternal life and we can know that nothing of this world can separate us from Him. God’s Work in our salvation is also His work to guard us such that we who believe can stand on God’s Truth

And as we stand guard, eve as we deal with disagreements, we can also trust that he will enable to accomplish what is needed

1. Based on our Spirit-empowered work

2 Tim 1:14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in you…

In giving us the gospel, Jesus needed to leave us for a time, but He promised the one who would teach us and guide us as the Helper, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are not alone to stand guard and we are not unequipped. Consider the Armor of God we are provided through the gospel, truth, righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit that is the word of God.

When we are dealing with disagreements of many kinds, we hold fast with a gospel-based response because the gospel is a treasure given to us by God which also enables us to stand firm for it is the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Before we continue on to the second key to a gospel-based response to disagreements, it is important that we pause, just as Paul did in this passage and clearly describe what the gospel is and what it is not.

We have to guard the gospel from being misunderstood, changed or replaced. We have to guard the gospel with the same seriousness that God places on the truth…for Romans 1:18 says

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

If the gospel is the power of God for salvation – the world wants to take that power for themselves to reshape the road to heaven in their own image.

For some say the Way is to just be good enough. If the scales of justice tip in my favor in the last days, if my good outweighs my bad, surely God will welcome me into heaven.

Others may tell us that we need to count our religious activities, am I spiritual enough? What if Mom and dad took me to Sunday School each week, I completed all the grades of catechism, and now as an Adult…Do I go to church every Sunday? – Surely with all of this, I can collect enough points for attending church, kind of like a hotel rewards program, then that will punch my ticket into heaven.

Still, others will take another road – The Bible says God loves us, He loves us all and so surely He would never condemn one of his children to eternal punishment.

But we have to guard not only the entry road but the treasure that is the knowledge of the True God of Heaven. We can’t change who God is to make it easier to get into heaven and we can’t change the Way.

Because along with the good news, we have to acknowledge the Bad news.

I am a good person – No, God’s Word tells me the truth. I am a sinner. My sin comes anytime I think speak or do anything that is displeasing to God. And compared to a Holy God, the difference between me and Him is immeasurable. He is perfect, He is holy and He cannot be in the presence of sin, which is all that I can bring to Him.

So I need to do more…but that’s the problem, the penalty of sin is death. My debt before God is beyond my ability to repay. On my own – there is no solution to my greatest problem

But God, being perfect in everything, made a way for my salvation

By Sending Jesus, he humbled himself to take the form of man and he lived a sinless life, even though tempted in every way that I am tempted. Then in accordance with God’s Will, Jesus was handed over those He came to save, he was handed over though he was innocent, and crucified on a criminal’s cross to pay the price for sins of the world.

1 Cor 15:3b Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

God in his perfect justice demands that there be a price to pay for our sins, but God in his perfect love paid the price that we would be unable to pay and he did so in the only way possible to satisfy our heavenly Father through the obedience of the Son, humble obedience to the point of death, death on a cross.

And proving that the Father was satisfied, and Christ is more powerful even than death, God raised Him on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

So the treasure we guard is not the tomb of a dead god, but the Truth of the Victory of our risen Savior.

For those who have already chosen to follow Jesus Christ - That is a gospel worth guarding.

If you are here today, and have not chosen to place your faith in Jesus Christ, to receive the free gift of grace and eternal life in Him – may I ask…what is stopping you?

Is there something about the gospel that you just want to see differently, because it makes it easier to believe? Please, don’t listen to me…hear the very words of God and know that we cannot get to heaven any other way – only by faith the with work of Jesus Christ.

God loves you so deeply, that he does not want you to walk out those doors without asking any questions that are on your heart. If I have spoken a gospel in a way different than you understand – your only response needs to be to check me against God’s Word, if you need help with that, please allow Pastor David or I walk with you to explore what your Heavenly Father has for you…

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Coming back to our keys to a gospel-based response to disagreements, as we hold fast to the gospel, when we face disagreements, we must choose to look at the issue being discussed, debated, or argued in the light of the gospel and

II. Assess what is of first importance

1 Cor 15:3a For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received…[the gospel].

I began this morning with the ridiculous, and I do hope the gospel has captured you away from your defense of hot do vs. sandwich debate, but we do need to consider that

Not all disagreements have the same impact

Not all discussions, not all debates and not all arguments are of the same level of importance. I am going to throw a number of topics on the table, not for the purpose of arguing for the answers but to see how, in the light of the gospel, that they have differing impacts.

Let’s start in the church:

When we update Faith East…what color carpet?

Should we do a Trunk or Treat Ministry?

During the Pandemic – Masks Yes or No?

Community Centers or Worship Halls?

Marriage, Divorce and Re-marriage?

Certainly, a disagreement over the color of the carpet cannot be compared to decisions about marriage and divorce, but where does the Trunk or Treat fall – Is it a ministry or just a candy grab? How are we called to love our neighbors and what doors does this open to gospel?

What about issues outside the church –

LGBTQ Issues

Social Justice Issues

Abortion

We must consider the impacts of what we are believing in every one of these discussions, debates, and disagreements such that we can assess what is of first importance and

Respond based on gospel impact – Theological Triage

When we find ourselves facing a disagreement, how we respond and how will we determine the position to stand upon? It must be weighed against their impacts on the gospel…the unchanging truth of God’s Word

It is not unheard of that a church business meeting could turn into a knock-down-drag-out argument between two groups that want different colors for the new carpet – What is the gospel impact? Certainly, carpet color is not going to impact who gets saved in the church? But maybe it does impact how we are loving our brother and sister in Christ. Do I have to get my way? Am I entitled to choose the color? Or am I willing to love my neighbor by trusting the decision to the person who has the responsibility?

But what about a disagreement over Baptism? Is it required for salvation? Now we are talking about a different discussion

Paul described the gospel preached as of first importance. What would that say about other topics, other doctrines, and practices in the church? Well, it implies that there are other things of importance, but lesser importance.

Al Mohler summarized this for the doctrines of the church in a simple diagram…

This is sometimes called Theological Triage – just as ER nurses and doctors have to decide which patients to treat first, Theological Triage helps us to see what areas that we must guards as the treasure entrusted to us…

For example – if I am speaking with someone who says that they believe in Jesus but that because He was God, he couldn’t also be fully man…to walk this path is to deny Christ, the sufficiency and efficacy of His sacrifice this changing the gospel.

If this is my disagreement, I have no choice but to stand apart from this person and hold fast to the gospel – ultimately, because they are believing a different gospel, I cannot affirm their theology and cannot affirm their salvation for they have believed in vain.

What about Infant Baptism, for example in the Presbyterian church, and Baptism by Immersion as we practice here at Faith. I must assess the things of first importance – does their belief in baptism change the way that we view salvation by grace alone through faith alone? Change the way I view God or the Scriptures? No. Then…though I would not choose to pastor a church along side them, or I would not choose to become a member of that specific church, I am able to walk side by side with them in gospel ministry.

In Summary, when we look at the disagreements we face, as we choose how to respond including how we will respond to the other person…we want to choose our response based on the what it means for what we know to be true in the gospel and then we can choose to

Respond with a gospel witness

Not only do we consider our position in a disagreement based on gospel impact, we are also called to consider the gospel impact on how we will respond to another person.

In a disagreement – when the other person digs their heels passionately in defense of what they want, sometimes that passion becomes something else, it may become frustration, anger or bitterness toward you because in the disagreement, they are not getting what they want, in the way they want it and they have become willing to sin to get it. Sometimes that results in evil pouring out upon you…

What will you have as your guiding point, your anchor that helps you to respond in a way that is pleasing to God…

Hold fast to that which was delivered to you as first importance…

….Christ died for our Sins…

When you remember that Christ died for our sins, how will that change the way in which you see the other person?

• Now I can see what we have in common before I focus on where we disagree. I am a Sinner in need of a Savior – so are they.

• Christ forgave me while I was still his enemy – now he calls me friend – but even if they are still an enemy of Christ – He calls me to love my enemy…

• Even if they have sinned against me – because Christ has forgiven me, more than I can even imagine, He calls me to forgive this person regardless of what they have done to me.

• With Christ’s sacrifice in mind, I can choose to love the other person even when we disagree.

….He was raised on the third Day…

• Christ’s victory over death gives me the eternal hope for what is to come

• I do not need to focus solely on today

• I do not have to be victorious in every disagreement – because He ash already been victorious at the cross

And what if in all of this – The disagreement keeps attacking me and even attacks the truth

…According to the Scriptures…

• Even if their logic appears sound, we have the source of truth in God’s Word.

• The world will reject the truth and try to convince you to follow your ever-changing feelings

• But the gospel was revealed to us in His Word and we are called to come under the authority of God’s Word. Let is be the North Star, the fixed reference point to guide you each day

• And even where there is doubt because we do not know all the answers, we can have confidence because of the witnesses that have gone before us.

….He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than 500…

• No matter how convincing the argument from those who disagree with us. We can hold onto the gospel, for it is unquestionably the most verifiable event in history.

• It is not just a story in the Bible. The gospel is true and the gospel changes everyone who believes

In dealing with disagreements, the essential truths of the gospel set us free and bring us victory even when a disagreement is unresolved.

Hold Fast to the gospel truth so that we may stand firm and choose your response based on the things of first importance such that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ guide and change your life.