Adam Hince

The musings of Syndal Baptist Church's Gen Y and Beyond Pastor

“One”

Posted on | January 11, 2010 | 2 Comments

Something very powerful happens when a group of people come together as one. Most of the time – we only truly experience this when we face a crisis, when we grieve the loss of someone or when we share a stressful experience. Its as if we need to be pushed into being “one”…despite the fact that once we experience it we realise its an amazing experience!

 “Oneness” can also be described as “UNITY”. One dictionary defines this as “a bringing together of people who would otherwise be separate, into a single body”. My experience has been that the experts are right – the most intense experiences of “oneness” that I have had, have been in the context of stress, crisis or grief.

 The bible teaches about unity in a different way… it’s presented as a vision, a goal – something for people to crave, seek and strive for. Its not meant to be an accident, nor is something that just “happens” – rather it is an aspiration and objective that is for everyone to pursue.

 On Sunday night at Syndal Baptist Church – I shared from Philippians chapter 2, which teaches about unity. Its an uncomfortable part of the bible, that is meant to provoke a response from people.

 The core lesson we looked at was this :: “Humility is the key to Unity”.

 Its true that sometimes we gather around a cause, a vision or a task and we experience that “oneness” that real unity is about. But I would argue that the kind of community that Jesus invites people to be a part of is not just a series of one-off experiences or crisis driven moments… His invitation is to experience Unity for the long haul.

 If you read Philippians 2 – you’ll see just what humility really looks like. You’ll see that it’s a choice, that is costs, and that it is rewarded. I’ll expand on those in coming days. The real challenge I faced in preparing to share about it, and the challenge that I left with people who were listening was this….   “How humble am I??”

 In a competitive, status driven world… am I truly willing to choose to adopt a lower position? Am I willing to consistently place the interests of others above myself? Am I secure enough in who I am to not worry about how others might perceive me and simply be “me”?

 Mark Driscoll preached on this theme and this text. You can listen to his message HERE . Driscoll is a preacher I listen to often – I don’t agree with all that he says – but that doesn’t mean I don’t learn from him. This message is particularly good, and if you were at the 6pm service at Syndal Baptist Church last night – I recommend having a listen if you have time.

 In that message, Driscoll shared a kind of “Humility Test” that I adapted a bit.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about it… do you think its right? Do you think its missing anything?

 A “humility test” …

 Humble people are more interested in others, than they are themselves…

 Humble people ask questions … they seek feedback (good and bad), they seek information and they seek truth. They listen, and they learn.

 Humble people are honest … they repent quickly and thoroughly, they are genuine in their own love and care for people, and they know that even though they are “known” they are loved. They don’t waste time pretending to be something they are not.

 Humble people are genuinely happy when others succeed … Its more important to them that others do well than it is for them to be better than everyone.

 Humble people laugh at themselves … they realise they have and will fail, that they have and will develop flaws and that mistakes will happen.

 Humble people trust their saviour … they put their lives into His hands – sometimes not easily – and quietly trust Him to have His way.

 

What do you think?

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Comments

2 Responses to ““One””

  1. Andrew
    January 11th, 2010 @ 10:56 am

    I know that humility is something that I struggle with every day. Pride comes from making an idol of ourselves and was the downfall of our first parents. We all like to believe the lie that “we can be like God”.

    I am very thankful that even though this is a huge struggle I have, I have a group of people around me who do help to keep me accountable and who set a great example for me to follow.

    I don’t think that today’s young people are any worse than previous generations but rather that it manifests more obviously. I hope and pray that we might truely be humbled by God so that we might draw together as the body of Christ!

  2. Susannah
    January 28th, 2010 @ 11:11 am

    It’s true that humility is putting others interest above your own. That does not mean putting yourself down

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