Embracing Community: Trust, Unity, and Spiritual Growth

"I had a friend over at my house he's a pastor um from here in southern California and he was at my house just I don't remember a year or two five years ago and we're sitting there just hanging out talking about life talking about stuff I'm dealing with and he asked me a question out of nowhere he goes hey do you play basketball I go yeah a little bit and he goes when you play basketball you don't like to pass do you I just started laughing I'm like why would you say that but yeah no I don't like to I would rather shoot the ball I mean I figure if I'm like a 80 shooter why pass it to a guy who was worse and I go how did you know that he goes I can just tell I can just tell you don't trust people you don't want to pass the ball to anyone like you know and and and he was just revealing things to me where I'm going man I can't believe you could see all of that because it's so true I don't like to depend on other people I'm very American that way I want to know that I've got everything taken care of I'm independent I'll take care of this thing I don't like to depend on other people because I don't trust other people I've been lied to a lot I've lied to people I've deceived them and so I figure you know what they're probably doing it to me and how do you really trust when I've worked alongside of staff people on churches that are just absolutely lying to me and you find out about it years later like you're kidding me that whole time you were in that affair all time this was going on and I had no clue and so the longer you go on in life the longer you just go man forget it forget it because I can't tell who's telling me the truth anymore so I'm not going to pass the ball I'm going to keep the ball to myself at least I know when I'm lying at least I I know the truth about me and and I hate certain passages in scripture maybe the one I hate the most is Joshua chapter seven Joshua chapter seven I hate passages like this that's a story of Aiken from the story of Aiken where Aiken steals you know these idol things and and hides it from everyone else but it says Israel's about to go to war and what happens is because this one guy stole these things and hid it God decides that he's going to punish it says the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel and I read that I go why one guy did this and then it goes on to say that in verse 5 that the men I ai they killed 36 of their men I'm going God 36 men died because of one guy's sin that's so not fair I mean if I were God which I'm not if I were God I would have just had ache and die wouldn't you or torture you just something and then the story goes and they went back to his tent and found all these idols and it's like aha we got him God punished him but no Aiken was fine he made it through the battle 36 other men died that bothers me didn't that bother you yeah and okay maybe you go well maybe we don't know about those 36 maybe those 36 were cheating on their taxes you know and they we don't know it was not in there okay it just seems like 36 people because of one guys and that's why I don't like being part of a team it's like you can mess me up and if you don't hate that you definitely hate the end of the story because once they find out Aiken's the one that did it they they take him out and they stone him that part's fine the part I don't like and you don't like is they took his wife and kids also and stoned them and burned them what kind of story is that that's my kids man so my sin is going to affect my kids my sin is going to affect anyone I attach myself to that's why I don't like this idea of being dependent on other people I like passages the ones that I I've always resonated with are like in first kings first kings 22 where it says there were these 400 prophets and all 400 prophets were all lying but there was one guy micaiah and mackay goes I don't care what every other prophet is saying all 400 of them are lying here's the truth and he was the one guy to stand for truth and so I would read passages like that and go I'm going to be micaiah so forget all you liars it's me you know I'm going to do it I'm going to stand for this thing and I've had this mindset I'm just confessing to you where I'm going you know what I'm not I'm not gonna I'm not gonna partner with anyone I'm not gonna hold hands with anyone no because you might be lying and I don't wanna associate myself with the 400 liars I'm gonna be like mikaya and I've had this attitude like you know what God you and me you and me I don't care I don't care about apu you guys are all liars you know it's just this whole God you and me because I don't want to be I don't want to be mistaken I don't want to be fooled I don't want to be lied and I lied to I don't want to join myself with an aiken that's going to pull me into trouble and so for most of my Christian life I've taken this attitude where I go okay God you and me you said John 15 if if I abide in you you abide at me I'm going to bear much fruit so that's all I need God you and me against the world you and me against the world you said if I abide in you then I'm going to bear a lot of fruit the problem with that is if you read that passage in John 15 in verse 10 he says something very difficult in John 15 verse 10 he says if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love these things I've spoken to you that your joy that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full but then he says this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you so he's saying okay you can abide in me if you abide in me I abide in you you're going to bear all this fruit you want to know how to abide in me keep my commandments you keep my commandments and you'll abide in me he goes hey you want to know what my commandment is love one another just as I've loved you it destroys this whole well I love Jesus I just hate the church mentality God says that doesn't work he says you abide in me when you love one another when you attach yourself to other people and God's really been convicting me of this lately because is it right to have this attitude of no I'm going to stand for truth yes it is there you see that in scripture right I mean I'm sure this school is teaching you and they're raising you up to be young men and women that go you know what we're not going to just go with the flow of what everyone says I mean the wide road is actually leading to destruction according to Jesus and there's a narrow road that leads to life and few will find it and it's difficult and so we want to stand against the grain and not just go somewhere because everyone's doing it and so there's this prophetic side to us where we go no this is what the Lord says and so though none go with me still I will follow right we were taught that as kids it's it's a biblical mindset but it's not complete we must have that but there's also this attachment that God wants with the church and after Jesus said that in John 15 during that time he closes that little gathering with the disciples he closes it in prayer and you guys know that prayer in John chapter 17. in John 17 he's praying for unity and he says some phrases that have really been challenging to me just in the last few weeks in John 17 in verse 21 I want you to notice a couple of words there's a couple of phrases in here that have really stretched my faith in John 17 verse 21 Jesus prayer is this that they these are his followers that they may all be one and here's the two words I want you to catch just as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me just as that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I and you okay like I'm cool if we just say hey guys we're all believers let's hold hands you know like let's put aside our differences we good with everyone okay I'll get on my plane we're all good okay yeah we're the body of Christ but what he prays for is not just get along with one another this I I haven't thought about my whole life I've never noticed this that his prayer was that you would love me and I would love you and that we would be one just as the father is in the sun and the sun isn't so the father and son do you think they're pretty tight and then he says to the church to the followers that go that's what I want with you I want your relationship to be this oneness that's just as the father is with the son have you ever thought about that have you ever thought about wanting to be in a body of believers being in the church and going lord I want to be as close to that lady over there that man over there as Jesus is to you I want to be one with them the way you and the father are you and the son are one have you ever prayed that have you ever thought that if you're even shot for that I'm reading this going man this is miserable for a guy like me that doesn't want to trust anyone doesn't want to attach himself to anyone doesn't want another person letting him letting him down and I don't want to hurt another person that's why even when I designed church when we gathered you know when I started a church about half an hour from here 20 years ago my whole goal was to create a space where people can walk in do their business with God and then get out because that's what I wanted I didn't need any more friends okay I don't want to walk in and be a part of a body I don't want anyone hugging me just let me get in abide in Christ and get out that was my mindset because I didn't understand the scriptures I didn't understand what he wanted and he says you want to abide in me love one another and Jesus his prayers that we would be one just as the father is one look I I what am I I'm not saying hey you guys should go to church first of all that's not even like a biblical sentence go to church do you understand that's a weird phrase biblically you know it's weird every Sunday for those who who go to church and you leave and someone calls you and says hey how was church that's a weird question they didn't they never asked you think Paul ever asked Timothy hey how was church because in our mindset church is this service that we have where a guy talks for 30 40 minutes an hour and then they sing for 30 minutes and you go out and church was how did the guy do on his sermon how was that so we've reduced this word church to this 90 minute service and Paul never asked me to hey how was church and to me oh my barnabas went a little long martha's saying ananias died during offering that's crazy it wasn't scary that they didn't think of it in that way they didn't think oh I'm gonna go to church and attend a service for 90 minutes no it was about this group of people who took this literally and says okay man we're a family now man we're going to be one like the father is one with the son that's why in acts 2 acts 4 x 5 it says man people didn't have needs they were all one and if someone was in need it's like okay let me go sell something I'll sell you know horses whatever they I'll give you whatever I have because we're one here that was the church so I'm not saying go to church this Sunday I'm saying you know what God wants is for you to be so deeply attached to a network of people under godly leadership to where you're seeking oneness like the father has with the son and what he says the other phrase in John 17 verse verse 21 that's really challenging me okay so first he says that they may all be one just as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be in us and then here's the phrase so that so that the world may believe that you have sent me so that the world may believe that you sent me so Jesus is praying and saying God I'm praying that they would be one like as tight as you and I are so that the world will believe that I was sent from you this is the way that the world's going to believe that Jesus is the son of God look you guys are all in college that doesn't make any sense that doesn't make sense why would our unity prove to the world that Jesus is the son of God why would our oneness be the proof the apologetic I mean is an apologetics when you prove facts and you show them archaeologically historically prophetically look this came true look I researched this historically this is true this is true now you should believe and Jesus says no your oneness is going to cause that I mean that's a challenging thought those of you who are thinking man I want to reach the world I want to have these outreaches that change the world I want to reach hundreds thousands of people and Jesus says well you want to do that then become one become one with the church just as the father and son are one so that the world will believe that Jesus was sent crazy crazy passages you guys ever um never read the bible and uh I hope you read the bible but do you ever uh do you ever read the bible and and think to yourself man I wish I could have been there at that moment just just let me see one of those things you ever read along go gosh I wish I was there one of the passages I I read and I go oh I wish I was I would have been so cool to see is second chronicles chapter seven second chronicles chapter 7 is when they finished building the temple okay solomon just got done building the temple and he's praying this prayer they're about to dedicate it and look what what it says as soon as solomon finished his prayer fire came down from heaven consumed the burnt offering the sacrifices the glory of the lord filled the temple and the priests couldn't enter the house of the lord because the glory of the lord filled the lord's house when all the people of israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the lord on the temple they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the lord saying for he is good his steadfast love endures forever okay wouldn't it have been cool okay let's I mean just just take this gymnasium okay imagine all of us have been working on building this okay for for months okay we've been working working working and imagine someone puts the last uh roof thing on and uh whatever is up there and uh and and we all step away and let's say let's say chapel's not in here today you know because we just completed and we're all outside okay and uh and you know john wallace gets up and and uh prays a prayer that's his name right yeah okay some of you guys were looking at me like there's no guy from braveheart so so let's uh let's say someone puts that last thing john wallace gets up and we're all imagine just try just I know that far-fetched imagine we're outside and john just says god fill this place and we're standing outside we're having outdoor chapel and we see fire come out of heaven okay and just land in the middle oh and I forgot we had like a piece of meat in the middle and uh and we see like fire come down from heaven and consume a cougar you know uh you know just something like we're like whoa whoa and then the glory of the lord filled this place and we're all outside I just saw a fire come out of heaven man don't you you read those passages and go man I just want to see that that because there's moments when heaven and earth intersect right there's those times where you're like man I want to see that like it's just the supernatural no one's going to be able to explain that and there's the glory of the lord fills the place and gonna I'm not going in there everywhere all the faculty are I'm not stepping foot in there and we all just fall on our faces and go wow best chapel ever you know like man there's only one of these next week it's just this whole idea that wow that would have been so awesome to see to be there at the temple okay you guys a lot of you know your theology where is the temple now where is the temple it's not in jerusalem yeah everyone's going like this and and there's truth to that I'm a temple I'm a temple of the holy spirit the bible is clear about that most of the time though when it says you're the temple of god the word for you is plural and the word for temple is singular there are times when it talks to us individually as temples of the holy spirit that's why he says don't you dare have sex outside of marriage don't you dare join yourself with a prostitute you're a member of christ you're gonna take the member of christ and join christ with a prostitute don't you know you're a temple of the holy spirit like I I for me to to force god who dwells in me into some sort of sexual relationship that he wants no part of you're taking god with you and so yes he talks about us being individual temples of the holy spirit but most of the time when he talks about that the holy spirit like in first corinthians 3 16 when he's talking about the temple he says do you not know do you and that word you is really you plural you know from y'all do y'all not know y'all all y'all are god's singular temple and that god's spirit dwells in y'all okay so the picture of the temple is not just oh francis is the temple of the holy spirit yes amen and amen but there's a bigger picture he says no all of you together are supposed to form one singular temple and the holy spirit shows up in fact in uh ii peter no first peter first peter 2 he says first peter 2 verses 4 and 5 he says as you come to him a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of god chosen and precious you yourselves are like living stones you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer sacrifices acceptable to god through jesus christ I love this picture because what he says is you guys are like a bunch of individual living stones and together you're making a spiritual house a temple like ephesians says and it's built on jesus who's the cornerstone and the apostles and the prophets who are the foundation and now I'm a stone that's such a crazy thought okay I brought a uh I brought a lego with me okay this is a lego and he isn't this awesome it's all right but this is what we do we stand oh this is what I've done it's like look at me look at me I'm awesome did you notice these little round you know uh things and uh and and you know this this this and look how white I am my edges are there if you look closely I'm actually different from ever no two legos are exactly the same there's little flaws in that one I'm a little bit different and this is what I've done a lot of my life it's like I don't want to be attached I want to be this stone I'm a living stone well you're not a living stone to stand by yourself you're supposed to attach yourself and build a temple see this this is not impressive this is impressive you know you know it's this whole idea of this is the point we look at this and go wow that's cool and and and too many of us are over here just go no no look at me look at me look at me and I've done this man I don't want to attach myself to that but I think about that picture of the temple man if you're a stone don't you want to be attached to the temple but you really want to be off on your own because all the temple stones got to look in and see the glory of god see this is what motivates us to join together it's like I want to see the glory and if I want to see the glory then I've got to attach myself to the temple I've got to be a part of this thing I can't stand off thereby there were rocks all over jerusalem there are rocks all over the place they didn't they weren't a part of the temple but here were these stones attached and I'm just learning this I'm going god I've been standing way over here trying to do things on my own trying to go no I'm not going to join you no you're not joining me you're not good enough and it's like what scripture is saying man if you do that you're not going to see the glory of god you've got to say no I'm just another stone I'm just another lego and I'm happy to be another lego if that means I get to join myself to jesus christ who's the cornerstone and I get to join myself with the apostles and the prophets they're the foundation so makai is in there it's like oh my you're there I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in with you jesus you're the cornerstone are you kidding me why would I be over there I want to be here with you and then all of us as living stones go man forget me I don't want to be this individual I don't want to be just by myself it's not just about my personal relationship with jesus christ the bible says he saved us to be one to be joined together and as badly as sometimes I just want to be alone I just decided man this next phase of my life I've got to join myself deeply become one with some brothers and sisters because I want to see the glory of god more than I want to be by myself and away from everyone I want the glory of god this is the one thing I want to see is the glory of god and I'm not going to see it over there I've got to join myself I don't know what that means for you I've got a bunch of brilliant minds in here and I will tell you this is not I'm not belittling or anything I'm some of you are more intelligent than your pastors maybe you have a higher iq than them I have people that I minister to they're just they're just flat out smarter than me and so I know it's difficult for them to come under leadership and trust well this is the structure that god's built we can't but we can't all just be these people who know it all this is what I've done I'm just confessing to you and saying don't follow the same path yes have this prophetic side that says I'm not going to just bow down to everything I'm not going to go with the flow with the rest of the world but also have this humble spirit that goes god I don't know man I'm going to let you lead I'm going to let you use the elders of the church and I'm just going to come under their leadership because they seem like godly people I'm reading the scriptures I'm looking at the qualifications they're qualified maybe I think I know more than them maybe I'm smarter than but the church is never going to work that way if everyone thinks they've got a better plan and everyone wants to be a decision maker and then no one wants to be a disciple maker and we're all sorry I want to make a decision I want to make it and meanwhile no one's being cared for no one's really brought up in the faith and rather than trying to be on a board man we should be getting on our knees and saying god I just man work through those guys work through this I just want to do my part and I want to attach myself and be one with this body because I just want to be with a group of people and I want to see the glory of god and so father I just pray right now for a spirit of humility on me and repentance and in this room god that we would be a part of churches real churches not going to church not going to service but attaching ourselves and being one with other believers so that the world would believe and so that we can experience your glory in jesus name we pray amen" [00:28:32]