A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: We are essentially walking talking billboards for what Christians look like. Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says we each have an important choice to make.

Some people bring joy wherever they go, some people bring joy whenever they go. Which person are you? Are you the person that lights up the room or turns off the lights? Are you the person that brings everything down or are you the person that builds others up?

Dave: Disagreement and conflict is almost inevitable in human relationships. When that happens, some people put up their fists, others call up their lawyers, others look up the proverb that says a soft answer turns away wrath.

In the big picture, those moments can either undergird our efforts to share Christ or undermine them. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us deal with everyone in a spirit of grace and humility. We're in Acts chapter 15.

Greg Laurie: So I heard about three biker dudes that pulled up to a roadside cafe one day, and they walked in, and here's a smallish man sitting on his stool having a meal, and they looked at this guy, started laughing, hassling him. One of them took his meal away from him, another pushed him off his stool, and the man just went over and paid for his bill, quietly walked out, got into his semi.

He's a trucker, okay. And one of the bikers says to the waitress, "He's not much of a man, is he?" She said, "Well, I guess not." She's looking out the window and watching the trucker drive away. She says, "I guess he's not much of a trucker either because he just ran over three Harleys."

Maybe that's not the best way to resolve conflict. But we all deal with conflict each and every day, right? There's just no way around it. I don't know how you were raised, but in my home, as you know, there was a lot of domestic violence. My mom would get drunk and get in fights with her husbands and her boyfriends. And I don't just mean yelling, I mean throwing things, hitting.

I would sometimes get up in the morning, things were smashed all over the floor, dents in the wall. It was a horrible environment to be brought up in. And I think at a very early age as a little boy, I started to develop a desire to be a peacemaker. I wanted to resolve conflict. I didn't want to see people fighting and have conflict.

Another thing I sort of retreated into was my own little world of art and cartoons where I could kind of have another place to live instead of the crazy world I was living in. And I developed a rather warped sense of humor. My observations, because you think, well, Greg, sometimes you're very sarcastic and your humor is a little odd.

You don't know what I hold back. You don't know what comes into my mind. I have five things that go: veto, veto, veto, veto, I'll let that one through. That's how it works, okay. And even that is a defense mechanism that I developed. But I bring all of this up because I became a Christian. And I thought, okay, now, no more conflict.

No more disagreements. We're all going to just get together and sing "Kumbaya" in perpetuity. Well, I came to discover that is not the case. Because conflicts and arguments will happen, even among Christians. You know, there are some people that create conflict unnecessarily. Conflict follows them wherever they go.

It's always some kind of drama, right? You invite them over, there's going to be something that happens. And sometimes you don't want to invite those people over because in a way they're kind of like troublemakers. I make up imaginary characters: Bobby Buzzkill, Debbie Downer. I'm going to add a new one to that: Bobby Buzzkill, Debbie Downer, and Tina Troll.

Oh, yeah, oh, yes. And sorry to make her female, but this is the person that always counterpoints everything even when you don't need to. And I find most of the trolls, though they're on Instagram and Facebook, many of these trolls are on Twitter, right? So you'll post a picture with some friends, "Had a great meal tonight."

And the troll will come back and say, "It must be nice to eat when people around the world are starving." Yeah, it is, and I'm sorry about that, but it was a nice meal. Or here's a picture with my family, and then the troll comes back and says, "Not everyone has a family. Try to be more sensitive. Do better." Oh, brother, really?

And then you do another post, "Beautiful photo of a sunset, check it out." And they come now with Bible verses. First John 2:15 says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." You know, really? That's so out of context. You post a picture, "Had a great laugh with some people."

Oh, you know, "Let your laughter be turned to sorrow and your joy into mourning." Well, these are verses in the Bible, but people are misusing them. And there are some people that use the Bible to beat people down rather than build them up. And there are people out there that will mistreat you, they'll slander you, they'll hurt you.

So what do we do with these people? Well, one thing you can do on social media is block them. And I love to block people. I love it. Now, if you say something I don't agree with, I might delete your comment. But if you attack, I'll block you. And I wish I could do it in real life. Of course, you can't do that.

So we're going to have to learn how to resolve conflict. Let me add these words: to the best of our ability. The Bible says as much as it is possible, live at peace with all men. Aren't you glad the Bible says as much as it's possible? Because with some people, you can't live at peace with them.

But at least you want to make the effort. So let's explore that together because that's the subject before us in Acts 15: Conflict. The book of Acts, as I told you at the outset, is a very honest look at church history. If one of the people in the story does something wonderful, it's recorded.

If they mess up, that too is recorded. We see the heroes of the Bible in Acts and all the books of scripture, warts and all. The great British legend Oliver Cromwell wanted to have his portrait painted. And this particular painter was known for removing any blemishes and making the painting look better than the person looked in real life.

So Cromwell instructed the painter, "Go ahead and paint me warts and all." And the painter did. And in the Bible, we have the heroes warts and all. We see them as they really are. So what is the backdrop of this story? We have some troublemakers that have entered the scene. They're believers in Jesus.

They're Jewish, and they have a Jewish background, and they felt that one had to be circumcised before they could become a Christian. This is basically a rite of the Jewish religion. It was never required of anyone but a Jew, but they're saying you have to be circumcised. So, number one, this hurts. If you don't know what I'm talking about, talk to your parent or someone else.

We'll explain it. Circumcision hurts. Number two, they were placing an unnecessary barrier on these new believers. So Paul and Barnabas are now a missionary team, and they're not happy about it. Remember, I told you Barnabas's name means encouragement or the son of encouragement. It wasn't his given name, it was effectively his nickname.

He was literally Mr. Encouragement. So if Mr. Encouragement wasn't encouraged, something was wrong. There was a saying in that day that went along the lines of "If Barney isn't happy, ain't nobody happy." Now, that wasn't really a saying, but there is a saying of "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," right?

Barnabas was not pleased with this, Paul was not pleased with this, and they thought we need to go back to the leaders in Jerusalem and get this resolved. So now they're going to make the journey back to Jerusalem because these Judaizers, these legalists, were saying James authorized what we're saying.

And as it turns out, James had not authorized it at all. So they wanted to go and get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Now, James is the brother of Jesus. We could say half-brother because obviously Jesus was supernaturally conceived in the womb of Mary, but James was a son of Mary and Joseph. He grew up with Jesus.

And by the way, if you grew up with Jesus, that'd be hard not to drop that into every conversation. You know, "I remember when Jesus and I were just boys, this happened," or "I remember Mary, our mother, made us dinner the other day and what a meal it was." You know, but he didn't do that. He didn't play the "I'm the brother of Jesus" card.

But he was a man known for his great wisdom, and he pretty much was the leader of the church at this point along with Peter. So they need to go and speak with James now and get his input because of these legalists. And you know, there are people like this that we know, and you can probably think of them.

And I don't know if the people who are these people know they're these people. But let me just give you a clue. If no one ever wants to hang around you, you might be one of these people. Consider it this way: some people bring joy wherever they go, some people bring joy whenever they go.

Which person are you? Are you the person that lights up the room or turns off the lights? Are you the person that brings everything down or are you the person that builds others up?

Dave: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Well, Pastor Greg, it's such an encouragement to us here at A New Beginning when listeners tell us how this broadcast has impacted their lives. In fact, some people even call us and leave a recording of how the program has affected them.

Greg Laurie: Yeah, I can't tell you, Dave, how many times I've met people just out and about who will tell me. I may be in an airport or walking through a market or whatever, and they'll say, "Are you Greg Laurie?" I'll say yes, and then they'll slap me. That happens most of the time, and I don't like that.

No, they don't. But no, generally, people are so nice and they say, "I have to tell you a story. Do you have a moment?" Yes, I do. And they'll tell me of how they came to Christ hearing our radio broadcast. That's such a blessing to me. And I want other people to hear those stories.

So here's my question to you: have you made a commitment to Jesus Christ listening to A New Beginning? And maybe you came to Christ at one of our Harvest Crusades or watching something we did online or whatever it is, but if you came to Christ through our media ministry, I'd love to hear your story.

I want you to tell me what happened to you, and we just might use it and put it on air, and a lot of people will be blessed to hear what God has done in your life. So there's a number you can call. It's a designated number to share your story. And Dave, what is that number?

Dave: Yes, 866-871-1144. You can call anytime. Again, 866-871-1144. Tell us how the Lord has used this ministry to bring you to the Lord. From our study of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15, Pastor Greg is pointing out how to show grace and mercy in dealing with others, especially in moments of conflict.

Pastor Greg has titled it "How to Resolve Conflict". It's all part of having love one for another.

Greg Laurie: So they go back to Jerusalem, and this is what happened as they meet with the apostles, starting in verse four, Acts chapter 15. Let's read it together. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. "When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders."

"And they repeated everything that God had done through them. But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted that Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses. So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue."

The apostles gave a ruling. So basically, they said, okay, we're not going to require circumcision. And all the Gentiles collectively said, "Whew!" But now they go on to give a ruling of verse 19. "So my judgment is," and this is James speaking, "My judgment is we should not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God."

"Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols and sexual immorality, and from eating the meat of strangled animals and from consuming blood." We'll stop there. So one of these conclusions dealt with morality, the other two dealt with sensitivity. Let's start with the no-brainer, the one that dealt with morality.

Tell these Gentile believers who've come to Christ the following: they should not commit fornication. That's what the King James Bible says. New Living Translation: they should not engage in sexual immorality. This comes from a single root word, *porneia*. We translate this word today to pornographic, pornography, etc.

And it is a word that speaks of all sexual activity outside of God's proper order. And what is that? The only place where sexual activity can take place legitimately in the eyes of God is between a man and a woman in a marriage relationship, period. That's it. There are no exceptions.

Extramarital sex is forbidden in scripture. Premarital sex is forbidden in scripture. People say I want to know the will of God. God says very clearly in First Thessalonians 4:3, "Here's God's will: be holy and stay away from all sexual sin." So I don't know what's happening in your life and if you've wondered about this, but this is clearly taught in scripture.

But now we come to an issue of sensitivity where they say tell them to not eat food that was offered to idols. Now, this is hard for us to understand today, so let me give you a little history. Back in this day, there were pagan temples everywhere, temples built for all these gods that the people worshiped.

These are the Gentiles. And they would offer meat or animal sacrifices to these idols. So you could get a killer deal on this meat. You could go in and buy it at a greatly reduced price. It was a lot cheaper than the kosher meat down at the market sold by the Jewish merchants.

And so the Gentiles are like, "Hey, we know these idols are false. We don't believe in these idols. Why pay retail when you can get it wholesale? Let's go and buy this meat." But this offended the Jewish believers because it was offered to idols. And so here's what Paul is saying: look, even if this doesn't mean a lot to you, it means something to your Jewish brothers and sisters.

So for their sake, don't eat it and stumble them spiritually. So takeaway truth for us: we should not put up a wall where God has opened a door. We should be a bridge, not a barrier, to people coming to Christ. We should be a stepping stone, not a stumbling block.

It should never be difficult for someone to come to church, say, for the first time. And clearly, they may not be a believer, and that's obvious for a number of reasons. But whatever it is, they come in. They should always feel welcomed into the church. You know, a couple may come in and they're living together and they come to church.

Or someone may come in and they're gay. Or someone may come in under the—they're a drug addict or whatever it is, or they dress in a way that makes some people uncomfortable, and you'll say, "Well, why are they in church? They're sitting next to me in church. I don't think this is a good thing."

That would be like going to a hospital and saying, "Why are there so many sick people here?" Because it's a hospital, and they're there to get better. And I'm glad they're in the hospital, and I'm glad non-believers come into our church because we want them to come. As I've said before, the church is not a museum for saints, it's a hospital for sinners.

Now, having said that, I would also add this: they don't need to clean up their life and come to Christ, they need to come to Christ and he will clean their life up. Jesus said, "He that would come to me, I would in no way cast them out." Jesus cleans his fish after he catches them.

But having said that, now, once they've come, once they've heard the gospel, and if they've made a profession of faith, the person who is gay needs to repent and no longer live that way. The couple that are living together need to move out and consider if they should get married at all but not continue living in that way.

The person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol should be and can be delivered by Jesus Christ. So the change has to happen. But I think sometimes we get the cart before the horse. Well, let's get them all cleaned up first and then they can come to church. No, let's get them to church. Let them hear the word of God.

But it all starts here: let them come into a relationship with Jesus. You know, before I was a Christian, I used drugs. I've told you that, that shouldn't come as a revelation to you. And I didn't know it was wrong, I just did what everyone I knew was doing at that time.

And after I believed in Jesus, he spoke to my heart and made it clear to me that was not the lifestyle I was to live anymore. But what drew me in was not somebody berating me and telling me how wrong I was and my lifestyle was. It was Jesus. I was drawn to Jesus Christ who loved me and accepted me and forgave me.

And I thought, I want to follow him. Now my obedience comes as a result of that love, right? We love him because he first loved us, the Bible says. Jesus says, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments." So let's not get this in reverse and miss what this Bible that we're holding is saying to us.

We should not do anything that would keep people from hearing the gospel. So let's bring this to the present day. Let's say that I'm a meat eater and you're a vegetarian. And by the way, I am a meat eater. I'm happy to be a meat eater. My wife took me out to a vegetarian restaurant the other day and didn't tell me until after the meal was done I was in a vegetarian restaurant.

Because she knew I wouldn't go with her if she told me ahead of time. So I had the meal, it was very good. She said, "How did you like it?" I said, "It's great." She said, "There was no meat in it." No, there was. "No, it's a vegetarian restaurant." You know, I didn't really like it that much. That's a true story.

So let's say you and I go out to a meal, you're a vegetarian or a vegan. And there's differences. I had to actually look this up. Now, a vegan is on a different diet that excludes all meat and animal products, including meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy, and eggs. That's a pretty limited diet.

Then there's a vegetarian that can eat eggs and cheese but not meat, poultry, and seafood. Then there's a pescatarian. You know what that is? A pescatarian is someone who eats fish but no other meat products. Then there's a Presbyterian pescatarian, and they can only eat fish in church.

I don't know if you—I made that part up. The pescatarian part is true. So let's say we're sitting down for a meal and I'm eating my, you know, filet and you're having your broccoli. And you're offended. You're offended. "You know, I wish you wouldn't eat that, that offends me."

I can forgo my steak so I don't offend you. Let's apply it a different way. Let's say we go to a restaurant and we order some pasta and you order a glass of wine. You say, "I love wine with my Italian food." What if I say, "But I was an alcoholic, and if I have one sip of wine, I could fall off the wagon."

"It's hard for me to sit here while you're drinking." "Well, that's your problem, man." No, we're a family. And out of consideration for that person, you would say, "Well, I'll forgo that. I won't do that because I don't want to do something that would cause you to stumble." Romans 14:19 says, "Aim for harmony in the church and try to build one another up."

Dave: Good encouragement today from Pastor Greg Laurie. "Aim for harmony in the church and try to build one another up." And there's more to come from this lesson here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg has titled it "How to Resolve Conflict". It's all part of having love one for another.

Of course, the ultimate example of love for another is when Jesus died for our sins. He gave up his life for you and for me. Salvation is a gift. Have you accepted that gift? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who hasn't yet accepted the Lord's gift?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, "I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead and I want him to come into my life."

So here's my question to you: have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and he's knocking. And he's saying, "If you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in."

Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die, you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud, you can pray it in the quietness of your own heart, but pray this prayer to God.

Say, "Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, but I know that you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name, amen."

Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says if we will confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Dave: Yeah, that's right. And listen, Pastor Greg would like to help you start off right living for the Lord. He'd like to send you his New Believer's Bible. It features hundreds of helps for new believers and it's written in an easy-to-understand translation.

So contact us for your free copy of the New Believer's Bible. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God". And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in kingdom business, isn't that right, Pastor Greg?

Greg Laurie: Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because you know the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives. Because when a person believes in Jesus according to scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God.

And then of course that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year thanks to the Lord, also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry enabling us to reach people wherever they are.

So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries.

Dave: Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today. It can make a real difference not just for today or this week, but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, more insight on harmony in the church as Pastor Greg gives us some practical insight on conflict resolution. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.