Finding Common Ground in a Politicized Church

Hebrews 10:19-25

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

 Motivate in this sentence comes from the word paroxusmos in the Hebrew which means to provoke, incite or even to dispute in anger.  Some suggest it could be likened to aggravate or incite to riot.  It’s a powerful statement with an important point. 

Is it provoking us to argue political positions? 

Is it aggravating us to constantly bicker with science and theological differences?  

Is it even inciting us to riot in the public places?  

The answer is NO on all three accounts.  Instead, it is using such powerful language to challenge us to go deeper in our acts of love and good works.  

The Hebrew here for good is Kalos which means beautiful, good, valuable, virtuous.  

The Hebrew for works is ergon which means toil or to act

The truth is, when God is moving through His people in love and good works his people’s political differences fade to the background as the people become the solutions to a nation’s ills.  

The truth is, when God is moving through love and good works of his peoples He is made evident beyond any naturalistic or textbook argument and needs no other defense.  

The truth is,  when God is moving through love and good works of His peoples the public places won’t be able to keep quiet about it.  

We may not always agree on all things. We may not agree on the state of our union, or preferred styles of worship, or how to interpret controversial areas of scripture, but we can agree on this one thing—that we are called to love and good works and upon this common ground we can become the church God created us to be.  

Ephesians 2:10

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.