Our Life is a Sign! (part 2)
II Corinthians 12:11-21
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It’s more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It’s more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...We are in charge of our Attitudes.”
We are talking about how our life is a sign.
A sign to the people around us, that tells them what kind of person we really are.
Last week we talked about how our lack of appreciation for people,
for our brothers and sisters in Christ and the work they do for the Lord,
paints a sign across our life that reads “Carnal Christian.”
We also saw that our continued suspicion of people’s motives in the church
and our skepticism of what they are trying to accomplish
also paints a sign across our life that reads “Carnal, Fleshly, Worldly, Christian.”
You see, people read our attitude.
And when they see a person that calls him or herself a “Christian”
and yet they see in that person a lack of
appreciation, suspicion, skepticism, and cynicism,
they have a very hard time seeing what is different about that person
and anyone else in the world.
Our attitude is critical to our Christian life.
It’s critical to what people read when they look at our life.
It’s critical as to whether we are going to be leading people to Christ
or push them away from Him and His Church.
As we continue to look at what the sign of our life says this evening,
we are going to be taking an even closer look at our attitude.
III. A Sour Disposition that Divides the Church!
When you become a Christian, it’s suppose to make you sweeter in spirit.
I wish more Christians understood that.
Paul said, I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder (II Cor. 12:20).
These eight unholy attitudes are signs of carnality and worldliness.
And left unchecked, they are devastating to the harmony of the church
and to the ability of the church to lead the lost to Christ.
The first is QUARRELING:
One commentator translates it, “There may be ‘fussing.’”
There are people who are always fussing about little things.
There are no towels in the bathroom;
one of the light bulbs is burned out;
the grass is a little to tall; and it goes on and on.
I am convinced that there are people that spend the majority of their time
looking for things to fuss about.
Things to quarrel with someone about.
And you know what,
the old devil will make sure that there are plenty of little things to be found,
if we want to find them.
However, I have never heard of anyone that was won to Christ
because the people in the church were fussing with each other.
If we are going to be effective in winning people to Christ,
we have to change our attitude.
The second attitude that Paul mentions is JEALOUSY:
Jealousy is the spirit that begrudges another person, the possession of anything
that is denied to oneself.
I feel that in the church the biggest problem with jealousy is in the area of recognition.
One person is given a pat on the back,
one person is given special attention for something they have done,
and someone else feels left out.
They become jealous of the attention, they begin to ask,
“Why! What makes them so special? Why should they be recognized and not me? After all, I put out just as much effort, and probably more, than they do. Why doesn’t anyone recognize my efforts?”
Well, as we said last week, we do need to be appreciative of those around us.
We should be telling people, and showing people, our appreciation for what they do.
But, if for some reason we are overlooked.
If for some reason another person is singled out for special recognition.
Then instead of becoming jealous or envious of that person,
we need to do what Paul says in Romans 12:15, we need to
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
After all, are main concern must not be the applause of men but of God.
And we can be sure that if we are serving Him, He will one day recognize our efforts.
The third attitude that Paul mentions is ANGER:
The Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is self-control.
A sign of carnality or worldliness is a lack of self-control.
A carnal person can be sweet and nice when everything is going his or her way.
But, when he gets a bad call in a ball game,
when someone cheats him out of a few dollars,
when someone criticizes his or her children,
when someone comes up with an idea that they feel is better then his or hers,
there’s a personality transformation that takes place and that person comes unglued.
They get red in the face,
the voice gets louder,
they begin to say things they usually regret later
and there is usually no reasoning with the person at that time.
One guy said, “I lose my tempter on occasion, but it’s all over in a minute.”
So’s a tornado!
But someone still has to clean up afterward.
A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control (Proverbs 29:11).
Jesus said that the people of this world, will recognize us as Christians,
by our love, not by our anger.
Then there are FACTIONS:
Paul says there are all kinds of factions in the world.
You’re either in the labor camp or in the management camp.
You’re either liberal or conservative,
You’re either Republican or Democrat.
People bring that same spirit into the church.
They’re always seeking to find out what or whose side you are on.
Are you for or against raising hands or clapping hands in the church?
Are you for gospel music or contemporary music in the church?
There are those who are always trying to pit people against one another.
Who are always trying to stir up trouble, by seeking to get people to take sides.
Usually on issues that don’t really matter.
After all, what does it matter if a person raises their hands
in praise to the Lord and another doesn’t?
What does it matter whether we sing the old hymns, gospel music or contemporary music
in the church, as long as it’s appropriate and gives praise to God?
We must remember that Jesus said that it’s not our division that will bring people to Christ,
it’s our unity.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21).
Then
Paul mentions SLANDER AND GOSSIP:
Slander is easier to cope with than gossip.
Because slander is in the open while gossip is in secret.
Gossip sabotages the other person.
J. Vernon McGee said, “You can get people to believe anything if you just whisper.”
We live in a world in which people are ready and willing to believe anything about another person.
We have papers and magazines that are devoted to nothing but gossip.
And people can’t wait to get the next issue.
It’s an absolute shame that gossip is just as prevalent in the church as it is in the world!
(Eph 4:29) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
In other words, if you can’t say something good about a person, don’t say anything at all!
And if you do have to say something negative about another person,
you need to make sure that what you are saying is the truth.
The Bible says, that we are to accuse on one, unless there are at least two or three witnesses.
There are plenty of lies floating around in our world today about people.
How can we expect to bring people into the Church of Jesus Christ,
if it too is filled with the lies of the gossip?
There’s also ARROGANCE:
Conceit is admirable in today’s world.
People boast about themselves,
athletes brag on themselves,
politicians promote themselves,
businessmen put out glowing resumes about themselves.
The world is concerned about titles and status.
But the Christian is not supposed to be arrogant, but humble and gentle in spirit.
Jesus told the people not to act like the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
They loved the honors of this world, to be treated with great respect and be called “Rabbi.”
Jesus said, The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself with be exalted (Matt. 23:11-12).
The world is indeed arrogant.
The world is full of people who say “what ever you can do I can do better!”
But, unfortunately, so is the church.
How many times has someone done something and then you hear another person say,
“Well, if I had done it, I would have done it this way!” or
“If I had done it, I sure would have done a better job than that!”
You know what, people don’t like to be around arrogant people.
They don’t like to be around those who can do things better than anyone else.
Who are always putting down what other people do.
It’s the gentle humble spirit that draws people to us and to Christ.
The last attitude that Paul mentions is DISORDER:
That’s the word for anarchy or tumult.
It speaks of the person that is always seeking to do his or her own thing.
Of the person who shows no respect of their leadership.
Who refuses to follow their leaders.
This is the person who says,
“No one is going to tell me where to sit!”
“No one is going to tell me what I’m suppose to sing!”
“No one is going to tell me where to park!”
“No one is going to tell me what missions my money to going to go too!”
It’s a matter of pride.
The church, and the Christian home, ought to be places of cooperation with church leaders
in a spirit of peace and tranquility.
Conclusion:
Do you see what Paul is getting at here?
It seems that there are some “Christians” that never seem to understand
that when we accept Christ and are buried with Him in Christian baptism,
that we are changed, we are made brand new.
And that must include our attitude!
Now that doesn’t mean that the instant that we are baptized into Christ
that our attitude is totally and completely changed.
That we immediately become just like Jesus.
No!
But that is when it begins.
And as we continue to grow in Christ, our attitude must grow, to become more like that of Christ.
Within just a few moments of conception
that new human being begins to grow
as those two cells begin to divide into four and then eight
and then on into billions upon billions of cells.
That person grows to the point that it can live outside its mothers womb.
And he or she continues to grow.
Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.
The physical growth usually stops sometime in the teen years.
But that person continues to grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually
for the rest of his or her life.
We are constantly in the process of becoming, in the process of changing.
For none of us are the same person we were just a few short years ago.
Yes, part of the change is physical, but not all.
Our attitudes about many things in life continue to change as we grow older.
Something we had a great passion for just a few short years ago,
we may have very little concern about how.
And that is Paul’s point.
We must be in a constant state of change.
We must be seeking to be more and more like Jesus everyday.
We must allow Jesus to work in our lives so that together, with His help,
we can change our attitude, so that our attitude becomes more and more like His.
For that is the only way that we can change our sign.
The sign people read when they look upon our life.
Yes, with Jesus help we can take charge of our attitude,
we can do away with
quarreling,
jealousy,
anger,
factions,
slander and
gossip,
we can put aside
pride and disorder.
With Jesus help we can change our sign from
“Just another hypocrite” to
“Jesus Christ lives Here!”