Do No Harm

Follow me, follow me. We’re going to hear from him now in his word and the takeaway from that is will you follow me into your Monday and into your work week and into your schooling and into your neighborhood and wherever you might go will you follow me and live out what you’re about to hear from me. That’s kind of the Christian journey. You hear from God, he says will you follow me and then you repeat. You hear from God again and he sends you and me out and we have a chance to follow him again.

So God were people that want to do that. We’re also people that are bound by our own sinfulness. Our inadequacies that mean I really it’s rare that a Sunday happens where I don’t leave here just pumped to pursue you with all my heart and to go with you into the world and reach people that are on your heart. But I don’t know along the way sometimes I stumble and I forget what I’m all about and I lose my focus and then Sunday happens again. So I pray for every one of us right now.

Would you pray for yourself as I do that? God you would you would speak to my heart and then I would listen carefully to hear you say now. Follow me. Let’s go together and do our best. Lord and we’ll count on you to make up for our our shortcomings.

We love you Jesus. We do. Amen. Amen. Have a seat everyone if you would.

Well you’re getting your Bible handy. I want to want to read something to you that I received early this morning from my aunt Patty. My uncle Bob went to be with Jesus when we were in Israel so very recently a little over a month ago and Debbie and I got a chance to get away and for a couple of days and be with a Patty my purpose was to comfort her to be a voice of comfort and that’s not how it turned out. It turns out that she comforted me and and she wrote me this morning and said someone sent me a picture today of a little dog running like his life dependent on it. The caption read run run like someone opened the gate.

I’m not sure what that looks like but I’m I’m pulling my shoulders back and getting ready for church. God is not vanished. He is here with his loving grace praying for you Stevie boo praying for you Stevie boo as you preach it to them. So when I hear stuff like that I’m inspired freshly it’s she she speaks with the voice of Jesus many many ways of my life and the Lord uses her and uncle Bob in lots of ways like that. So today we’re going to talk about something that is at first and maybe on the surface to some of us might feel a little bit like a variation to the theme we’re in a series called community what we’re here for right.

We’re not done with the series we have about four more messages that are being built around this series. Each time we’re talking about a component according to the Bible that if we practice that component it will build community. Okay that’s the idea here. But today we’re going just one Sunday the opposite direction because we need to talk about things that will break community. In other words if we want to build community that’s a great thing and every one of us kind of like the sound of building something that’s good.

Today’s going to be about things that can actually go the opposite direction and build terrible outcomes. No community at all. Long ago in ancient Greece a man named Hippocrates emerged on the medical scene. This was BC a long long time ago. Doctor Hippocrates would become known as the father of western medicine.

You know his name. He went on to establish the Hippocrates school of medicine. And it really shaped the thinking of medicine for to the president really. So for 2,300 years medical students have taken at the end of their study in preparation for practice the Hippocratic oath which is actually part of the oath that inspired my message today. And it says basically first do know harm.

So doctors are trained in all sorts of intervention methods and they’re trained in those methods against the backdrop that says don’t mess it up. Don’t make things worse than they were for your patient when your patient showed up right. So first do know harm. Thus my title do know harm. Now I got to thinking about in more modern times a current derivation of that slogan appeared actually on the scene to a high tech startup company in 2004 in our country.

You may have heard of Google. Well their original code of conduct actually includes these words. Do know evil. Or don’t do evil. Today the tone of same company but it’s been morphed and grown and all.

It’s now part of the alphabet company whatever and their their meaning is still the same but they put a positive sound to it decidedly more positive and Google culture today now says with a smile do the right thing. You go from do know harm don’t be evil to do the right thing. That’s my hope today in this message is that you’re gonna hear some things to stay away from and the inference the implication everything all along the way will be so then don’t do that do this. Don’t do the wrong thing. Don’t cause harm and I’m sort of summarizing what I’ve learned in my study.

Don’t cause harm to the community of believers. Don’t do things that harm in fact do the right thing. Do the thing that builds that contributes that makes for good community. So community is what we’re here for and healthy community is sort of the adjective that I would add to that. There’s a lot of clubs.

There’s a lot of groups. I belong to a health club which is fairly obvious and I you know I you know I know a few people there. In fact I was blessed one of them stopped me you know after I’d been gone in Israel for a couple of weeks and he says hey where you been you know and I said well you know I’ve been to Israel and he kind of looks at me. I said you know we toured the land of Jesus where Jesus lived and walked and the story of the Bible played out. He’s just tell me more and I’m telling him a little bit and then and then he says you know I see if you ever been there and he goes yeah like 25 times.

I’m like okay but he worked for Intel that was his excuse. So so how do we build community? Let’s start there. It of course is going to take time especially healthy community. Can I say to you who are brand new today?

Don’t give up on us. Don’t leave here today and go they’re not they’re not friendly. Okay you know why? Because some are going to leave here today and go to the most incredibly friendly place I’ve ever been. So just assume it didn’t work for you today if that’s your story when you leave and try us again next week.

In fact if you want to be bold just reach out to me Steve at GracePointFamily.com and say it didn’t work for me because I will I will buy you a latte next week. I almost offered your burger Glenn but that’s going to be gone today so anyway I’ll buy you a latte. So healthy community is going to take time right? I like the way John Ortberg listened to his words he describes the effort in a kind of a humorously titled book to build healthy community takes time he says in his book titled everybody’s normal till you get to know them.

Okay everybody break the awkward look at your neighbor right now. Just okay everybody’s normal till you get to know them. All right. So here’s what caught my eye when I was reading his book he’s describing something that can actually harm community listen to this the requirement for true intimacy is chunks of unhurried time. If you think you can fit deep community in the cracks of an overloaded schedule think again.

Why is people do not try the microwave friendship parenting or marriage? You can’t do community in a hurry. End quote. It’s true. It’s true.

It’ll take time. So you know I’ve been married 36 years and it’s true of a seasoned marriage or friendship you can’t hurry community. But I was thinking why not? Why can’t it just be plug and play and we’re good we’re there. We hurry everything else don’t we?

Seems to turn out okay. I mean I need an oil change right? I can hurry and go to Jiffy Lube if you don’t know Brian Whigs and go there. But you go to Jiffy Lube and you get it you know in a half hour unless there’s two cars in line then you’re there half the day but anyway. Or the drive through at McDonald’s you know I know the results but still it’s it’s fast and you think why can’t things happen in a hurry and I was thinking about what would be my answer.

My answer is that bigger things are riding on community that an oil change or a burger. And biggest of all is God’s transforming work. You ready for the right to down if you need to. God what’s the biggest thing that takes time? God’s transforming work to make me more like his son and less like me.

Less like myself. I want to show you how it’s described just quickly in the Bible several. For God knew his people in advance and he chose them to become how? Like his son. I mean if you played with a clay in an art class in high school or something like that okay.

And you’re working with the clay sometimes it’s spinning and if you’re a boy you’re just having a blast it’s flying and it’s good but you’re working with this clay to make it something right. Think of God working clay only you’re the clay. And he doesn’t just have it in his mind he actually has a picture of what he wants you to become as a result of his work on you the clay. So you become like his son. So his son would be the first born among many to finish verse 29 of Romans eight.

What’s God up to? To make me like his son. That’ll take time. Here’s a second verse that kind of punctuates the same principle Philippians one six. I’m certain that God who began his good work in you.

That’s the day you went like this. Lord Jesus I need you forgive me. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. And come in to my life. I don’t know how this is all going to turn out.

I don’t need to know. I’m just starting right now and I’m deciding to follow you. That’s what he means in Philippians one six. God who began the good work within you will do what? Continue that good work.

Stay on the job site is the way I like to put it. He will stay on the job site of your life until it’s finally finished. What’s finally finished? The good work. Of making you more like his son and less like yourself.

Okay and when will that happen? The verse ends on the day that Jesus comes back. The day that you no longer see through a mirror dimly but now you see face to face. One more. It kind of gets into the the gears of this process.

God’s doing the work is kind of the gist of 1 Thessalonians 5 23 24. Now I made a God of peace meaning there’s going to be a spray when he’s working. But God is the God of peace who makes you holy in every way. May your whole spirit soul and body be kept blameless until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Till the day that Jesus Christ comes again.

And God will make this happen because he’s the one who called you and is faithful to carry it out. That’s what God is talking about too. And it will take time. So clearly God has a purpose for our lives to transform us as I’m saying on the introduction here to be like his son. That will take time and it will require tools.

Okay I was thinking about my the tools that I remember and even presently God uses in my life. Would you write these tools down? They may be you might have more tools. I don’t know. So I’ll just give you the three.

The first is based on James 1 2 through 4. Consider it pure joy brothers and sisters when you encounter various trials. Just shout out a synonym right now while you’re thinking with me. What’s trouble? Disneyland.

Did anybody say Disneyland? Didn’t think so. Unless you’re stuck in the line and then it’s a trial right. So did you get what I’m saying? We all kind of know what we mean by trials.

Consider it pure joy. He says when you encounter various trials. He says trials of many kind and new international because why how can you consider it a joy? That’s a reach because you realize something’s going on in the process of facing trials and troubles. God’s working something knowing that the testing of your faith is producing something.

In this case endurance or endurance. So he uses pain in trials. That’s the first point here. The first tool he uses in my life and by the way he still does pain in trials. Here’s the second one.

He uses his word. You knew I would say this but it’s very true because all of this book all of God’s word is inspired by him, breathed by him for the purpose of building me. That’s what the rest of the verse is saying profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction. I like to break things down. That’s a board on the side of the head.

That’s correction. It’s a belt when I grew up and said okay son you’re going to pay. It’s stop doing that, start doing that. It’s a whole bunch of methods. It’s teaching, rebuking, correcting, training and righteousness so that.

That’s a purpose clause. So that all those things are happening through God’s word so that you might what? Be thoroughly equipped for every good deed. So God uses pain in trial. He also uses his word and thirdly this message is about the third method people.

He uses people. His people. We know Proverbs 27-17. It’s a good one. It means as Don rubs against Steve and Steve rubs against Don my friend.

He’s going to be better for it and so am I. As iron sharpens iron so does one sharpen another in the what? In the community. There’s two people involved in that verse at least. Proverbs 27-17.

And then one of my favorite first Thessalonians 514 admonish the unruly. Unruly is a person. Encourage the faint hearted another person. Help the weak. A third person.

They actually might all be the same person at different times in their life, right? How many have been unruly at times? How many have been faint hearted? And how many have just been plain weak at times? See what I mean?

And it calls for a different response. And the effect of being in each other’s life along the way is to benefit one another. And it’s a tool that God uses. I don’t know if you thought about it, but let me list them again. Pain and trials.

His word. And people. His people. I think of two of those are things I have to reach for. I have to reach for the second and third one.

I have to reach for his word. And I do that every day. I did that on an airplane last night. And it was late and dark in the cabin, but I had my brightest light on my phone. That probably wasn’t very Christian, right?

But I know others were watching that and I thought, okay, I’m going to let them read if they choose to. That’s cool too. I have to reach for God’s word. It’s not just going to happen to me like, okay, Lord, I’m here. Okay, that feels better.

And now let’s roll, right? You got to read it. You got to reach for it. You also have to reach for community. Okay, Terry, I got to come your way to be in community with you.

Okay, I’m not coming your way right now. Don’t take that personal. Okay, you got it, right? So, but I got to come back. So you have to reach for two of them, right?

You have to reach for his word. You have to reach for people. Don’t reach for the third. It was the first in my list. Trials and troubles, they will reach for you, okay?

You get what I mean? God’s going to use those. I knew a guy one time that said, you know, I just started praying and passing for troubles. I’m like, what kind of idiot would ever pray for troubles? That just makes no sense at all.

Pray for God’s help in troubles. But you don’t need to reach for more. Anyway, enough of that. So, let me summarize what I’ve been saying so far. With sort of expected insight, of course, C.S.

Lewis in one sentence. Summarizes this message. Wiped out, some of you have that look of, okay, then we’re about to wrap things up, aren’t we, right? There’s more. He says, Christ works on us.

Christ works on us in all sorts of things. He works on us in lots of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. He works to produce the outcome of me looking more like his son and less like me in lots of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other.

And it’s God does important work in our lives through community. And we’ve said already that community can’t be hurried. Then there’s a warning. I want to just spend the balance of a few minutes just clicking through. You’re ready for this.

Finish this sentence. Whenever two or more are gathered together, there I am in their midst, right? You know where that is? It’s in the Bible. It’s in the Bible.

Matthew 18, right? Two or more are gathered together. There I am in their midst. Here’s an alternate ending. Whenever two or more of us are gathered together, chances of relational injury increase.

Didn’t see that one, did you? I love the feel of that first, the actual biblical verse. But I was looking out at life, of looking out at my experience and at what I see happening in lives of people I love. And it struck me that whenever two or more of us are together, ask anybody married and they will say that’s true. You don’t have a conflict if you’re not married.

You don’t have a conflict with a spouse because you’re not married. Whenever two or more are gathered together, chances of relational injury increase. And that is true and it’s nearly certain when I say that that you’re playing through moments where you’ve been the recipient of or actually you’ve contributed to hurting someone else. Actually doing harm. All right, now we’re all uncomfortable.

Let’s find ways to avoid it. To mitigate this, I came up, actually the Bible did and I just sort of organized them. Seven destroyers of community. The biblical list and I’m just gonna click through them and show them real quick will be done. Maybe you’ve heard of the seven deadly sins, right?

Gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride. You don’t need to write them down. You practice them on a regular basis. No, it’s a kid. (congregation laughing) It is true.

I mean, come on. The church fathers understood something, but most of those sins, I observe they’re hurtful to self. They hurt me. I mean, when I lust, when I’m greedy, when I’m slothful, when I’m angry, when I’m envious, when I’m prideful. I take a hit.

That hurts me, but the seven destroyers of community that I wanna show you now, according to the Bible, are both harmful to me and to you. So they’re double bad. So think of this as a list of things not to do in the spirit of this message in community because they do harm to the body of Christ, okay? But here they go. The first one, do not be conceited.

Do not be conceited. We write that down in Romans 12, 16 tells us why. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud. So we’re conceited.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low positions. Do not be conceited. It’s an attitude of superiority. And it has the effect of repelling people that makes them not wanna sit next to you and makes them not wanna be in a life group with you or me. It makes them not wanna have coffee ’cause you’ll put off that attitude, that superiority thing.

It prevents people from connecting in community, this conceitedness. So I ask you, are you humble? Would you write that question down? I hope you’ll answer it today. Or is conceited a problem for you, all right?

Secondly, do not pass judgment on another, okay? Do not be conceited. Secondly, do not pass judgment on another ’cause when you do, community takes a hit. This is a fabulous verse and I put it to memory a long time ago because I thought, I’ve been guilty of that and I know people that have made me feel this and it starts with a question. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant or the servant of another?

For to his own master, he stands or falls and stand he will for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14, verse four. Talking to a group of ancient people who had the same tendency to pass judgment on another. He puts, others puts you and them in a master servant relationship. So watch my hands.

When I judge you somehow, and I’m not coming out going, I’m just thinking these things often. But when there’s judgment in my heart towards somebody else, it has the effect of putting me here as the master and them here as my servant. Problem is, neither of those places, neither of those labels are accurate. I am not their master and guess what? They’re not my servant.

Who in verse four, verse four of Romans 14 is the master. God, for to his or her own master, right? That’s what they, that’s what’s saying to their own master servant stand or fall. That’s God he’s referring to there. And by the way, stand he will is what he’s saying here.

He’s able to make him stand. I love that verse. The Bible says that they belong to a better master to put it bluntly than me. His name’s Jesus. Here’s a third destroyer of community.

Do not slander others. You knew we’d get to sins of the tongue, didn’t you? Do not slander others. James one says, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister judges them or judges them speaks against the law and judges it.

Saying something about someone to another person that is harmful, damaging to their character or reputation. I don’t even hardly need to finish my sentence. You know how wrecking that is, how destroying that is. It brings harm. So question, do you say harmful things about others?

Can I give you a very important appeal right now? Don’t try to fix this on your own. If you’re in the habit of doing this, of harming the community this way, if you’re that person that you’re going right now, you know I do slander. I do sin with my tongue. Don’t try to fix it on your own.

Makes an emphatic point really about all sin, but since we’re focused on this one, it makes this point in Matthew 12. Jesus says, out of the mouth flows that words that come from where? The heart. You can’t tame the tongue without help on the heart. That’s what the Bible makes a point of.

Matthew chapter 12 verses 34 to 37, right? I don’t know if that’s in the bottom in your supplemental scriptures. So if you’re in the habit of slandering others, you’re like, man, I’m going to stop that. What a quick do in that. You will fail in your attempt without help.

You will. So will I. So I need help not to control or tame my tongue. Do you get in me? But I need help at the heart level.

There’s a reason I’m saying those things and there’s a place where those things things come from. That’s what Jesus was saying in Matthew 12. So ask for his help. Here’s fourth. Do not lie to each other.

Do not lie to each other. Colossians, I could pick a lot of places. Colossians 3 says, do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self. That person before you bound that bowed the knee was a liar among other things. That’s who I was.

Truth was convenient. But that’s all ended. When I met Jesus and bowed the knee and said, okay, I’ll follow you. He said, okay, we’re going to work on this lying issue. Okay.

Don’t lie to each other since you’ve taken off that old self speed with its practices and you put on a new self. And it’s the one I’m working on. It’s understood that lying harms. If I’m on the receiving end of a lie and I know somebody that said something that was not true of me, then something’s happening. You don’t notice it.

But inside there’s a breakdown occurring in a very, very, very fragile part of relationships. It’s called trust. Because I don’t want to trust you. I told you recently about being like a turtle in a shell. Because there were lies.

Was part of it. Spoken that made me go, I don’t trust that. I can’t be. And when there’s no trust or when trust is hurt, you have really no basis for a relationship. So you can see where it breaks down.

Trying to give you a little bit of the DNA of lying and why it’s so hurt. For. Can I say this too? If you’re not familiar with the scriptures, you need to know this connection. All right.

That’s breaking down the community. Harming the body of Christ is exactly what the devil wants to happen. Jesus ratted him out numerous times. And one of the times in John chapter eight, he calls him a liar and the father of all lies. The devil.

So again, we’re not playing for the right team when we’re lying about one another. See how it harms? Jesus in another place said, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That’s the devil. His purpose?

I want to wreck harmony and community everywhere I get the chance. See? And we’re saying, following the words of God, no, I’m not going to lie. I’m going to be honest and truthful. I’m going to do the Ephesians four kind of relational skills.

I’m going to speak the truth in love. Don’t be just a truth teller, dip it in love. See? Otherwise you can say, no, that dress looks stupid on you. Or you, I don’t like you.

That’s pretty off-putting, isn’t it? Instead you say, you know, I don’t know. You look a little perkier in a different color. You know, I’m struggling with this part of our relationship. And I gently tell the truth, but I tell it in love.

You’re with me on that. Do not lie to each other. So my question to you is, do you tell the truth on a regular, consistent basis? A couple more, a few more. Fifth, do not grumble about each other.

Oh, we can blow up past this one, right? That’s not a problem. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers or sisters, or you will be judged, the judge is standing at the door. It’s pretty straight up stuff. Grumbling is a serious situation.

It’s a serious sin with great consequences. Need proof of that? Find your way sometime today to 1 Corinthians 10, 10, which says they grumbled and some of them, many of them were destroyed by the destroyer. Who’s he referring to? He’s referring all the way back to the days right after Israel left Egypt, and they made their way east and crossed this sea, passed right through the Red Sea, and were participants in the greatest miracle that ever occurred, aside from Jesus resurrecting from the dead.

And within days, Exodus chapter 15, this is right after they crossed through and God delivered them. And they sang this beautiful song in Exodus 15 right after that. It says the people grumbled greatly. That’s what 1 Corinthians 10 is saying. Don’t grumble as some of them did and were destroyed.

My challenge to you is ask somebody you trust, they’re not going to just pick on you. They’re not just going to sort of make you want to avoid them. But ask them, do I have a grumpy spirit? If you’re married, start there. Do I come across as someone that’s hard to please?

Why did I say that? I’m going to have to go home and ask that. Good one. I don’t want to be a griper. How often do you gripe about others?

It’s kind of the question I would ask. I think the Bible is asking us. A couple more community destroyers and we’ll be done. Number six, do not bite or devour each other. It’s kind of vivid, isn’t it?

It’s graphic. I saved this for last so you’ll go next door and bite and devour goodies in the bake sale today. But anyway, don’t bite or devour each other. If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you’ll be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5, 15.

Okay, here’s the word. How often are you critical of others? When we’re biting and devouring, notice both parties are heard. That’s why he says each other. Do not bite and both were practicing it and both were sharing the consequences of it.

How critical are you? Both parties are harmed when you are and when I am. Not far from grumbling either, by the way. Finally, do not provoke one another. Galatians 5, 26.

They did provoking and envying each other. Here’s how that works in relationship. When you ride somebody with constant correction, you’re kind of poking the bear. Your fathers are warned against exasperating children. Same word.

Do not exasperate. Do not needle them like this person in the seat in front of Debbie and I last night, needling an exhausted child. And I thought, you know, that child, the only reason that child’s not rising up is he’s too small to do so. But that doesn’t work. And it does.

It causes people to rise up and be angry. Does not achieve any good according to James 1. So the only way to consistently do no harm in the body of Christ is to keep in step with the spirit. I said earlier about sins of the tongue, you can’t fix that. Don’t try it on your own.

It’s true of all these sins. It really is. And the way to not commit them, to not practice things that cause harm, the way to not do that is to walk in the spirit. And so just before Galatians 5, 26, check out 24 and 25, those who belong to Christ Jesus have in fact crucified the flesh with its harmful, do no harm, passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit, let us keep in step with the spirit.

God is giving us, I think, a vision for a healthy community. That’s been my aim throughout this series. He lists things to do that will benefit the body. And today he insists on a list of things to not do. Don’t do these things because they harm the body.

You can tuck away your notes now and fold your Bible closed. Because I want to ask you an honest question. Maybe lights can come down and we’re going to sing a final song and be finished. We’re going to take up those prayer requests. Don’t forget those.

Offering plate will come by. It’s our chance to give our tithe and our gifts to God. But please listen to me now. As the worship team is resetting, I want you to think about times. And they might be so recent, you’re like, oh, pastor, quit looking at me.

I feel like this sermon is all about what I’ve been doing. But times where you have and some measure, maybe multiple ways, brought hurt to somebody in the body. It might be somebody in this room. You brought hurt. That’s being sinfully human.

The question I want to ask really is, did you make it right? Did you hurt him? And then did that somewhere along the way, hopefully right away, but along the way lead to a confession, an expression of sorrow, a repentance that says I did that and I’ve got no excuse. I’m sorry. Will you please forgive me?

I’m going to tell you, I’ve played this out in my mind. There’s anybody I’ve done that too. I’m going to find you. And I’m asking the Holy Spirit to lead me forward. I’m going to follow him.

I’m going to do that to whomever he brings to my mind. And I want you to do the same. So I want to call you to a moment of commitment right now. I actually want to ask you to stand in a moment. And by standing, you’re going to be making a statement in standing.

It’s a statement that says, I commit with the Holy Spirit’s help to do no harm to the body of Christ. I commit and I’m going to need help to carry it out. So with the Holy Spirit’s help, I commit to doing no harm to anybody in the body of Christ. If you’re wanting to make that public a commitment like that, I’m not going to hand a microphone to you. I simply want you to stand with me at this time.

I commit to doing no harm to the body of Christ. I am so glad the room’s full of people standing. Will you pray these words audible enough for your ears to hear them? Father, I see how precious your community is. And you’ve given us much to do to cultivate that community.

But you’ve given me plenty to think about, of the ways I can harm the community. So God, I stand before you now, pledging with the Holy Spirit’s help to do no harm. Let’s sing together as we finish our worship time together.

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 6,015 words.