Yesterday, we explored how a church community is meant to be a gathering, sometimes even just for fun and fellowship.

You might think church has always meant a religious gathering of Christians on Sunday morning.  But in the Bible’s Greek language, church had another meaning before that.  The Greek word for church is ekklesia which literally means “an assembly” or “gathering of people”.  But not just for its own good.  It’s called out to be and do something specific.  This week’s passage says gathering together is not just for encouragement to love, but for encouragement to good works.

We are meant to be a preview of the world as God wants it to be.  We are meant to make people say wow.  Unlike the church I described yesterday, people are supposed to look at our community (even at its business meetings) and say, “Wow!  That’s how we are supposed to relate with each other, and our world, and God.  I can see it now!”  They are meant to see the Kingdom of God in us.

Aristides was a philosopher in Athens in the second century and he observed the first Christians, the early church, and this is what he recorded about them in 125 AD.

“They walk in humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them.  They love one another.  He that has distributes liberally to him that does not have. If they see a stranger they bring him under their own roof and rejoice over him as if he were their own brother.”

Aristides looked at that first church, that earliest gathering of Christians and he said WOW.

Have you ever looked at a team, group or organization and said, wow?  Why?  Think of the Snowbirds, or a great dance troupe.

Our church today meant to make people say wow…because of our generosity and love of one another, that spills over to the lives of others near us.

We’re intending to becoming this kind of church through our discussion groups first, and also when our discussion groups come together as one community for celebration.

Challenge: If you’re not already meeting with a group, please do.  What act of generosity and service can you do with your discussion group, or family, that will make others in your life say wow?  Think of one thing internal to your group that you do for each other, and one thing your group does for others.

Reminder: Last week we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - June 4, 2013

Tuesday - Study It - Judgement

Jesus said this about judgement: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 ESV) This is one of the best known, but most misunderstood and abused sayings of Jesus. Often people will quote this passage to suggest Jesus says no one should ever judge anyone else. It makes it seem like Jesus was saying to turn a blind eye to injustice, brokenness, hurt in our world. One take on why people quote this passage, is that when we see other people hurting, we often love ourselves too much to tell the truth…we want no pain for ourselves so we let others hurt, and use this as an excuse. Jesus is not saying there should be no courts of law, no one should help another person out of a bad situation they don’t recognize. How do we know? He judged. Right in this passage, he spoke about hypocrites. He expected his followers to judge, discern, too. In the Sermon on the Mount, he told them to be more righteous than Pharisees. Later, he speaks about false prophets. He wants his followers to see the difference - to judge. You can also see, right here in this passage, he commands his followers to engage in judgement: to be aware when there is a speck in someone’s eye. So what's the difference, between good judgement and bad judgement? Good judgement is to see truth, then speak the truth in love. A healthy critique based on standards we can both recognize and try to follow is okay. As Paul said in Romans 14:4: Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4 ESV) The problem is when people go looking to judge others by standards they don’t keep. This turns to harsh self-righteousness, as if we are becoming the master of others. We all do it – if someone criticizes us – we will immediately look for a way to criticize them. We'll see more tomorrow, but first, Question: What is difference between critique and judgement?

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