Godly Vision

Every relationship in your life will at some point be defined by your capacity to work through disputes with each other. Whether you're talking about your marriage or your HOA, conflict resolution will be central to holding your community together. The Bible is full of helpful examples that can have great positive impact if we'd only pay attention. Stories like the faith of David when he slew Goliath. Even though we're never likely to actually meet a Philistine giant, studying this story will give us insight into what faith lived out looks like. There are also stories that will teach us what not to do. It is one of these stories that I want us to meditate on today. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were both leaders ordained by God who came to have irreconcilable differences. As leaders, they were able to point out the wickedness in each of the others’ lives. However, the capacity to identify what was wrong in each other did nothing to right the wrongs in their own lives. They both had supporters that saw things from their point of view, and they both had genuine grievances that needed to be addressed. Rather than walking in repentance and humility toward God, they leaned into their anger towards each other, and the two of them were able, with righteous indignation, to destroy everything Solomon and David had built. Rehoboam was Solomon's son, David’s grandson, and born into the dynasty that God said would rule his people forever (1 Chronicles 17). Jeroboam was identified early on by Solomon as a valorous man and a good leader. God sent a prophet to Jeroboam and told him that because of Solomon’s sin, God would give Jeroboam the 10 northern tribes to rule over. So, both men had legitimate claim as rulers ordained by God. Upon Solomon's death and the occasion of Rehoboam’s coronation, Jeroboam challenged him to lower the taxes or else. Rather than acquiesce to a reasonable request, Rehoboam decided to double down, raise taxes and put Jeroboam in his place. In response, rather than working with a stubborn leader, Jeroboam split the Kingdom and rebelled against Solomon’s son. However, this schism left him with a problem: The temple, the place where God had directed his people to come to for worship was firmly in Rehoboam's territory. Rather than fear God and be obedient to him regardless of the political consequences, Jeroboam created a workaround by establishing new places from which to worship God. This created yet another challenge: There was no temple in these new places, so he built golden calves as an object of veneration for the people to use in their worship of God. This was the second act of direct disobedience to the law of God to appease a political problem. But that's not all: The Levites were unwilling to go along with this new religious order, so he established a new priesthood that was directly violating the law of God. What started as a civil disagreement, ended with him abdicating the faith of the very God that ordained him to be king in the first place. From those first three decisions came 500 years of calamity, visited on the people of the 10 northern tribes. Don't be a Jeroboam or a Rehoboam. Community starts with two people living in fellowship. The smallest microcosm of community is a husband and wife, and a family will never stop being the heart of any community. But it is not enough to live in proximity to one another as a couple or a kingdom. There must be a shared vision that the community agrees is the purpose that they are striving toward. That shared purpose offers cohesion to the citizens of the community when there would otherwise be independent, mutually exclusive goals. If a husband and wife both want to sleep in on Saturday morning, but the baby is up and it needs to be changed, the goal of family supersedes the goal to sleep for both mama and daddy. It isn't truly selflessness that motivates them but an adherence to a higher calling. Namely, raising healthy children. If two Deacons or Bishops in the church find themselves at odds with one another over what color to paint the church and each has a coalition of people that agrees with their particular point of view, the bond that will hold the community together is not simply having a good attitude, but rather, a vision that is greater than the building in which they meet. If a husband and wife are at odds with one another over finances, where to live or who gets what chores, the thing that will hold the marriage together is not having one person constantly lose, but rather, a purpose that is greater than any individual or collective choices made inside the marriage. Proverbs 29:18 states, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” However, not every vision or purpose is created equal, and unity for the sake of unity is not righteousness. When Moses went on the mountain to receive the law of God, the people were left without a vision. Prior to Moses's departure, their purpose was to leave Egypt. They did that, so what was next? Aaron, seeing their lack of cohesion, took a poll and came to a consensus of what they desired- sin. Aaron gave them what they wanted and they had unity, way too much unity! When given a kingdom, Saul’s purpose was to maintain his role as king. When he was anointed, David's purpose was obedience to his creator. Saul's vision divided his own family; David's vision united a Kingdom; you must pick the right vision! It is possible to have a community whose purpose is to stay as a community. To keep everything the same, and to keep the children from leaving, this is destined for failure. Unity is not a vision to be aspired to in and of itself; it is a necessary tool in the pursuit of something greater than self- the Kingdom of God. Not everyone is a king, but everyone is a leader in their own right. Your choices will affect everyone around you for good or ill. God gave Abraham a vision; he said you will be the father of a great nation. Abraham spent his life preparing for that eventuality even though he didn't have a single son. Abraham believed God and that faith affected everyone around him. Even his wife faltered in her faith and laughed when she was told that she would be the mother of the promised son. In that moment, Abraham’s unwavering faith carried the day. Paul acknowledges that when he got to Corinth, it was in weakness and fear with much trembling. But when he came to town, he ran into Aquila and Priscilla, who had the same job and ministered to Paul both in Corinth and for the rest of his ministry. We need community, so that when we have that moment of weakness, a brother or a sister in Christ is there to hold us up in our hour of need. But hold us up for what? We need to be leaders that are intentional about adopting God's goals for our life and then pursuing them together. We need to recognize that our community, whether that is marriage, church or something broader, will not be enhanced by us pointing out the faults of the people around us. We need to catch God’s vision of what our own lives should look like. The scripture is plain when it comes to what your life should look like as a wife, or as a husband, or as a single woman or man (1 Cor. 7). If we, as individuals, fix our eyes on Christ’s purpose for our life, and then encourage those around us to do the same, we will have a wonderful community of like-minded believers! Like Jeroboam, it's easy to be critical and to point out the flaws of the people around you. But purpose in your heart not to find the flaws but the godly qualities that are present in your community and strengthen those things that remain.

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. 3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Romans 15:1-7