Michael Koelling: Zero Tolerance

3 John vs. 11 “Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.”

A lot of times we as the church have this predetermined idea of people and how they should act and live.

1. Those without Christ, "the lost" live like sinners.

a. Lost people have no care or concern for the things of God!

John 3:19 “And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”

i. They don’t care about living right, living godly, reading their bible, or praying.

ii. Do we? How effectively do we do this? How successfully do we model this?

iii. We are always condemning people and judging people for their speech, lives, and actions. We are quick to see and speak in opposition to their faults and failures.

iv. My question is ‘are we concerning our spirits with our lives?’ Are we consulting our God about our actions? Are we as consumed with others problems, actions, speech, attitudes, and lives and disregarding our own?

b. Lost people talk wrong, live wrong and are going to the wrong destination; a place that wasn’t even created for them to go!

i. So again, are we talking different, living different, and treating others different than lost people do?

ii. Are we going to a heavenly destination created for us by God?

1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

The bible asks us a very pointed question when it says, 1 John 4:20 “If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.”

We have to be so careful that our pride doesn’t get the best of us like it did the devil. If we become prideful we become sinful and we begin to judge, reject, and hold grudges on others instead of loving, accepting, and forgiving which are all acts and gifts of God.

We have to have a “Zero Tolerance” for judging, rejecting, and grudging against others in our lives.

Luke 6:32 "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!

c. God convicted me about this type of behavior.

i. Lost people need God’s love-not our judgment.

ii. Lost people need God’s acceptance-not our rejection.

iii. Lost people need God’s forgiveness-not our grudges. (chips on our shoulders)

We have to give lost people a first-class image of God because “we-are-His-Light.”

2. Those with Christ in their lives, "saved people" need to stop living on the edge of these two worlds.

a. Evil vs. Good

b. Worldly vs. Christ like

c. Cursed vs. Blessed

d. Being Served vs. Serving

There is a definitive difference between these two procedures.

Mark 12:30 “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'* No other commandment is greater than these."

This scripture should awaken us, inspire us, and direct us to live Christ like=Christian.

e. Our lives are to act as a pathway to Jesus Christ Himself.

i. They should not be sidetracked by our language

ii. Our actions

iii. Or our lack of love…

iv. Compassion

v. Concern

vi. Servitude

vii. Faithfulness

viii. Or spirituality!

John the Baptist prepared the way; John 1:19-34

When our lives were changed by Christ this makes us announce to the world that, “He is the Son of God.”

f. Connect and correct one another!

g. Grow up when you get corrected! Don’t pout, don’t cry, and don’t walk away from ministry or get mad at God. Grow up!

We need to have a “Zero Tolerance” for trying to live on the edge of the two worlds. “A double minded man is unstable in all His ways.”

3. Lost people need to hear a message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. While saved people need to be speaking, preaching, and living a message of love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

John 14:21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

God, I ask you to reveal yourself to me.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.”