Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to the last week of our teaching series called It Matters. In this series, we’ve been exploring the tiny little New Testament book of Jude.

Then last week, Jude told us just how much our sex lives matter. If you weren’t here, you need to check out the message on our website. We had a little fun, but we also experienced the blunt, in-your-face truth of God regarding our sexuality. Our culture has a very cavalier attitude about sex, but God taught us that having a sex life that honors him really does matter.

This week, we’re wrapping up our time with Jude by listening as he teaches us that our attitude matters. Let’s pray and then we’re going to experience the Word of God about our attitude.

In his book, Jude tells us that some very evil people had infiltrated the early church. They were teaching things that were contrary to the Word of God. They were behaving in ways that didn’t honor God. A lot of the book of Jude is spent telling us what these people were like.

In verse 11, here’s what Jude says about them. “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.” (Jude 11, NIV)

Jude compares these people to three infamous characters from the Old Testament. Every one of these comparisons brings us closer to God’s truth this morning. So let’s work through them.

Jude says that, “they have taken the way of Cain.”

The story of Cain is found in Genesis 4. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman that God created.

Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. Both of them brought an offering to God from their work. Cain brought some of the produce from his fields, but Abel brought some of the very best lambs from his flock. God accepted Abel’s offering, but he rejected Cain’s.

Cain didn’t take that too well. Instead of repenting and committing to do better, the Bible tells us that he became angry and bitter. He tricked his brother into going out into the field with him. And there in that field, Cain murdered his brother Abel.

Most of us hear that story and, at first glance, it’s difficult to find a connecting point. Most of us are not murderers, so the story of Cain doesn’t seem to hold much for us. But we can’t just look at how the story ended. It ended with murder. But how did it begin?

The story of Cain began with an attitude of bitterness.

God accepted his brother’s offering, while rejecting his own. And it burned inside Cain. It infuriated him. And he used that anger to fuel the bitter fire that was burning inside him.

Here’s a truth that I’ve learned the hard way over the years I’ve been in ministry…some of the most bitter people in the world can be found in the church. I’ve met more resentful, hurtful, brittle, harsh, nasty, bitter people inside the church than I have anywhere else. And that’s not a coincidence at all. It is a very effective tool that Satan uses to divide churches and get them off mission.

If we’re more focused on the bitterness we feel toward each other, we’re less focused on reaching people who need Jesus. We’re more focused on taking someone down instead of building up someone’s faith.

Conflict in the church is inevitable. We live and serve very closely with one another. Close contact brings conflict. There’s really no avoiding it. There’s nothing we can do about the presence of conflict. But there is something we can do about our reaction to conflict.

Perry Noble preaches at NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Listen to what he wrote about a college football game he attended last year.

“I was at the Clemson/FSU game…and when it was close to halftime I began making my way to try to find some food. [The stands were] REALLY crowded and, inevitably, I bumped into a rather large man in an orange Clemson shirt and said, “Hey man, sorry about that,” smiled, and just kept walking.

All of a sudden I heard, “Call me SIR when you speak to me.”

I turned around and he was looking dead at me. I looked at Jason, my friend who was with me, and asked, “Is he talking to us?”

Before I could tell what was going on, he said something else and then Jason yelled “quit drinking” back at him, which I am not sure was the best thing to do because at that point he began walking towards me with a look on his face that said, “I am going to kill this guy!”

I had to make a decision…was I going to throw down with this man? I thought, “I ain’t as good as I once was….but I’m as good once as I ever was.” But then this thought hit me, “Perry–he’s wearing ORANGE, he’s a Clemson fan–you guys are pulling for the same team–WALK AWAY!”

Why would we want to fight with someone when we’re both pulling for the same team? I don’t know, but it happens every week in churches all over the planet. Christians have allowed bitterness and hate toward other Christians to build up inside them, and it spills out in conflicts, divisions, and arguments.

In the story of Cain, don’t miss the fact that Cain’s bitterness was not directed toward some stranger on the street. It was aimed at his brother.

The Bible is very clear that if we are in Christ, then we’re part of God’s family. Any other believer is your brother or your sister in Christ. We’re on the same team. We’re part of the same family. And we don’t have time to fight and bicker with each other. Bitterness is incredibly damaging to a church and it is a spiritual death sentence in our lives.

In Ephesians 4, the Bible says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30-32, NIV)

The Bible doesn’t mince words here. When it comes to anger and bitterness, the Bible says, “Get rid of it.” It does not belong in your life if you claim to follow Jesus. A hint of it can take you down. Get rid of it. It needs to be replaced with kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.

It’s very possible that there is someone in this room that you need to talk to today. You’ve been holding a grudge. You’ve been harboring bitterness and resentment toward them in your heart. Maybe they know about it. Maybe they don’t. But you know about it. And it’s time to deal with it.

Do you have to automatically be their best friend? No. You don’t have to invite them over to your house on Friday night. That’s not even close to realistic.

But can you go on resenting them? Can you go on running them down within your circle of friends? Can you go on harboring bitterness and anger toward them? No you cannot. If you’re a Christ-follower, then that’s not even an option for you.

Look at what the Bible says in these verses from Ephesians. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.” Instead, “get rid of all bitterness, anger, etc.”

When we have anger, resentment, and bitterness toward another believer, it grieves the Holy Spirit. It breaks God’s heart to see a bitter attitude among his kids.

If you have a resentful, hateful, bitter attitude toward someone in this church, you’d better do something to fix it. You’d better get off your rear and do something to get it resolved. God has specifically told us in the Bible that this breaks his heart, and we’re not about to put up with something that breaks the heart of our God here at Amelia.

The Bible tells us to get rid of all bitterness. If you’re living in opposition to that Biblical command, don’t be surprised if a church leader calls you on it. We’ll love you. We’ll pray with you. We’ll do what we can to help you. But what we won’t do is ignore your sinful bitter attitude.

Now let’s go back to Jude and see what else he has to say about our attitude. He warned us about a bitter attitude through the story of Cain.

Now, Jude writes, “they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error.” (Jude 11, NIV)

The story of Balaam is not as well-known as the story of Cain. The story is found in the Old Testament book of Numbers.

Balaam was widely known as a prophet among the nation of Israel. A neighboring king named Balak saw an opportunity in Balaam. He invited Balaam to come to him and put a curse on the Israelites. Balak believed that if Balaam pronounced a curse on Israel, than his people, the Midianites, would be able to invade and destroy Israel. Balak offered Balaam a huge reward for this curse. But Balaam refused to curse God’s people because the Lord appeared to him and forbid him from doing it.

But later, Balaam went in the other direction. It seems like Balaam reconsidered the reward he turned down. In an attempt to regain his standing with the Midianites, he devised a plan for the Midianites to lead Israel away from God and into sexual sin and idol worship.

Revelation 2 recalls this event. It says that it was, “Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.” (Revelation 2:14, NIV)

Now, how does this all tie together? Balak offered Balaam a reward for putting a curse on Israel. God wouldn’t allow it. Now Balaam devises a plan. “If I get the Israelites to fall into sin, then God will curse them…and I’ll get my reward after all.”

The plan backfired because Balaam overlooked one thing…God’s grace toward his people. Instead of cursing them, God forgave their wickedness. And instead of becoming a rich man, Balaam died in disgrace.

It’s a story that has a ton of twists and turns, but at its core, the story of Balaam is based in an attitude of greed. He was willing to sell out his beliefs and convictions for a profit. And he was willing to hurt his own people to get what he wanted. If he led them into sin and they were punished by God while he was rewarded by Balak, then it was all good. His greedy attitude saw people as nothing more than a means to get what he wanted.

And it’s this attitude that Jude warns us about. Jude was warning his readers about these people who had slithered into the church. They saw the church as a means to get what they wanted, be it money, position, or prestige.

And this is a real danger in the contemporary church. It’s so easy to see the church as something that exists to please and benefit me. And so it’s really easy to say and do things with a greedy, selfish motivation. It’s really easy to stop loving people and start manipulating people.

But it’s usually such a subtle progression in this direction that we don’t even recognize that it’s happening. So we need to step back and do a little self-evaluation. Here are a few questions to consider…

1. How do I react when I don’t get my way at church?
2. Am I accepting of something at church that is effective even if I don’t personally like it? Or do I reject it automatically based on the simple fact that I don’t like it?
3. Am I willing to serve in ways where nobody will ever know what I’m doing? Or do I have to be recognized and applauded for what I do?
4. Do I always see change in the church as a threat to my comfort?
5. Do I base my opinion of the church on how much I “get out of it?” Or am I looking for ways to give back?

Asking questions like that is a good way to gauge the current condition of our heart. It’s easy to begin viewing the church, not as a place to serve, but as a place to be served. We can see the church as a place to meet my needs instead of a place for lost people to meet Jesus. It can become a place to make me feel good instead of making me more like Jesus.

That consumeristic approach toward church is based in an attitude of greed. Contrast that with this. The Bible says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)

Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see a selfish, greedy attitude anywhere in these verses. Just like bitterness, when greed worms its way into the church, it wreaks havoc. Because we all become focused on having it our way, which breeds conflict.

The question we have to ask is, “Is our church accomplishing its mission? Are people being won to Christ? Are people having their faith strengthened and deepened?”

If the answer is yes, and it’s an easy yes here at Amelia, then the rest of it is just details. But did you ever hear the saying, “The devil is the in the details?” He is. He’ll try to take the details and blow them up into big, huge issues? If he gets the church to focus on these issues, then he knows that the church can’t focus on its mission.

Here is the Apostle Paul’s picture of the church later in Philippians 2. “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…” (Philippians 2:14-16a, NIV)

Isn’t that a much more attractive picture than people being greedy and selfishly thinking that the church exists just for them? There is unity when there is humility. No one always gets their way in the church. No one loves every single thing about their church. But unity is found when we humbly look past those details so we can focus on our mission.

Let’s go back to Jude 11 again. Now, Jude tells us that these people who had invaded the church, “have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” (Jude 11, NIV)

The story of Korah is another not-so-well-known story from the Old Testament. The story is found in Numbers 16. Korah, and his buddies Dathan and Abiram, tried to stir up a revolt against Moses and Aaron, who were the leaders of Israel.

The story of Korah is based in an attitude of rebellion. Korah and his cronies were rebelling against the authority that God had established.

God didn’t waste any time. He dealt very severely with these guys who were trying to overthrow the men he had placed in authority.

The Bible says, “Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me.

But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."

As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah's men and all their possessions.

They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.” (Numbers 16:28-33, NIV)

You think God was serious about this? God takes it very seriously when people reject the authorities that he has put in place.

Jude uses this example to describe what was happening in the early church. People were coming into the church and, like Korah, they were rejecting the leadership. Korah rejected Moses, the leader of the Israelites. These people were rejecting the leadership in the church. God took both very seriously.

How you treat the leadership in the church matters. How you talk about the leadership in the church matters.

Listen to what God said in Hebrews 13. “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17, NIV)

God’s call for the church is submission and obedience to its leaders. But there are still people who have the attitude of Korah. They try to stir people up against the church’s leadership. They try to undermine them. They speak critically about them. They do whatever they can to prevent the church from unifying behind them.

If I just described you, this verse from Hebrews is a loud and clear call for you to stop, and to stop now. What you are doing is sinful. God dealt very severely with Korah’s rebellion, and Jude warns us that our punishment will be just as bad if we rebel against the leadership of the Lord’s church.

I’m not saying our leadership at ACC is perfect. We make mistakes. And you can approach the leadership when you have a legitimate issue and we’ll listen. But if you’re resentful, critical, and rebellious against the leadership, the Word of God is calling for you to stop.

Your attitude toward the church’s leadership matters a lot to God. And he will reward or punish you accordingly. That’s what the Bible says.

Now, as we think about these three examples from Jude, there is one common thread: attitude. An attitude of bitterness like Cain, an attitude of greed like Balaam, or an attitude of rebellion like Korah. It’s all about our attitude.

When I came to Amelia back in 2006, my very first sermon series was called Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude. It’s as true today as it was then. The attitude of people in the church will directly impact what kind of altitude the church can achieve.

And that’s why we discriminate. Maybe this sounds bad in our politically correct culture, but I’m telling you right now that the Amelia Church of Christ discriminates. Now, we don’t discriminate based on race. We don’t care what color your skin is. We don’t discriminate based on gender. Man, woman…doesn’t matter. We don’t discriminate based on age. We’ll love you and you can serve regardless of how young or old you are. It just doesn’t matter to us.

We don’t discriminate based on race or gender or age. But we do discriminate based on attitude. Your accent will not make you a foreigner around here, but your attitude will.

Your attitude alone can disqualify you from serving or leading in different capacities here at Amelia. Negativity is not valued here. Bitter, selfish, and rebellious attitudes do not fly here. We do discriminate based on attitude, and we have a wealth of Scripture backing us up.

The Bible says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5, NIV)

I know it’s a corny old phrase, but for a lot of us, it’s time for an attitude adjustment. It’s time to quit making excuses for our junk attitude. I’ve heard people with a bad attitude blame it on their personality. It’s just how I am.

Or their upbringing. This is how I was raised.

Or their age. I’m a teenager, so I can have a junk attitude. I’m old, so I’m allowed to be cantankerous and difficult.

No, you’re just making excuses so you can continue in your sin.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Everyday you make a decision about the kind of attitude you’ll have. That’s right, it’s a decision you make. Some of you need to go to people who have been hurt by your junk attitude and ask their forgiveness. Others of you need to fall down before God and repent for how your attitude has damaged your witness for Christ or the reputation of your church.

George Eliot said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” It’s true. It’s not too late to change your attitude. It’s not too late to recapture an attitude that brings glory and honor to Christ. The message of the cross is that it’s never too late. There is always a second chance. Your attitude matters, and you can seek God’s power to change your attitude today.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: attitude, authority, Balaam, bitterness, Cain, greed, It Matters, Jude, Korah, rebellion, selfishness