Tension

[00:00:00] I'd like to share just a couple of comments about the lesson today. I really appreciated the way Danny handled our lesson. He related it to where we live, what we do. And I had to think, how do we deal with pain, with difficulties? Do we have a way of drowning it out? [00:00:33] No, we don't use alcohol. But do we have some other way of drowning it out? And I think that's an important thing for us to think about. There's a thought that goes along with that, that we didn't necessarily bring in our lesson today. But it's something that I think will help us to deal with a lot of things that we face in life. Does it satisfy? The thing that I do to deal with my pain, to deal with the situations in life, does it satisfy? [00:01:13] Or is it something that the more of it I have, the more I have to have? It's a driving force. It just takes over in my life. I think that's something that's important for us to consider. Alright, this morning I want us to look at a message that's been on my heart for a little while. I want us to understand tension this morning. [00:01:47] And I've got two things here that are object lessons. I don't know if you recognize that. That's the Mackinac Bridge. And those big cables there have enough steel wire in them to reach more than around the world. 42,000 feet. Just in the main big cables of that bridge. That's a lot of steel. [00:02:20] I'd like to ask you, which one of those cables would you like to see missing when you're going across the bridge? Any volunteers? How much strain do you think that those cables handle? I don't know what that middle span of that bridge weighs and I don't know what it weighs when there's all kinds of cars and trucks going across there [00:02:52] but one thing about tension that you have to understand is that those wires there, those cables there have to have more tension than the load that they're carrying, right? Anytime the load exceeds the tension that they have, it's history. It's done for. A trampoline works on the basis of tension. [00:03:26] Our grandkids love to jump on the trampoline. If I take this trampoline, this one folds like that, If I would ask you, if I had just this much of it, and I asked you to jump on here, what would that do? Would you bounce? Why not? The springs? The springs are here, right? The platform's here. Everything's here you need for a trampoline, almost. But you don't have the tension, do you? [00:03:59] It takes that tension of all those springs working together there to be able to deal with the situation. Now, when we think about tension, what's the first thing that you think about when you think about tension? Discomfort. And when you think about the church, what's one of the main things that you'd think about when you think about tension? [00:04:35] See if you think like I do. What's one of the main activities of the church that you would think of that would relate to tension? Okay, disagreement. I'm thinking about an activity that we do in the church that often becomes a source of tension. Business meeting. We've been doing pretty good here for a while, so better not say too much. [00:05:12] I've got some definitions. The tension is the act or process of stretching something tight. We realize that. But here's something else. A balanced relationship between strongly opposing elements. Now when you look at this bridge, you're looking at opposing elements, right? Why? Because there's forces that are pulling in different directions. [00:05:49] Now, if you cut this cable on this side, you could still drive in the middle, right? Why not? You have to have that opposite tension there to give strength, right? And so all of these parts of the bridge are necessary, they're all effective when they're working together in tension. [00:06:20] Does that make sense? There's that tension there, that pull, where they're all pulling equally and doing the part that they're designed to do. That's the only way that you're going to get across that water without a boat, right? And that tension there is what makes it happen. So I want us to think about that this morning as we think about how tension works. [00:06:53] Now, let's ask ourselves some questions. Is tension good or bad? Depends what kind of tension, right? Depends how it's used. So is tension good or bad? Is tension healthy? Do you know that the cells in your body have tension in them? And your body itself actually has tension? [00:07:24] It's important. An important fact of our life. Is there tension? And when I say this, I'm thinking in a positive sense. Is there tension in the body of Christ? Is it something that belongs there? Are we working to get rid of tension? Tension. Is that our goal? To be rid of tension? Or does tension have a right place in the body? Should there be tension in our congregation? Should there be some aspect of people pulling in opposite directions to a degree, in a proper place? [00:08:14] And then, does tension always destroy a body? When we think about tension, is it something that we've got to be rid of because it destroys? Or is it something that can actually strengthen and build beyond what we ever thought possible? Now, if you had come to the Straits of Mackinac and you looked at that expanse of water there [00:08:46] this is now so we have a little bit of an advantage but imagine that you had been back then and you had tried to imagine how you could get across to the other side without a boat what would have been your most likely thought first thought of how to do that Okay, an airplane. [00:09:20] Well, that wasn't quite what I was thinking of. Without going above the water or up in the air or whatever. Swim, okay. But if you're trying to make a way so people can get across there easily and regularly. Okay. But, that's too big of a span for a bridge So it might be easier to fill it in, right? Find the narrowest place and try to build it [00:09:52] There's places where they've done that They've built these causeways, these long ribbons of land And then they put a little bridge out in the middle to get through Let the water get through, and so on But I think it's important for us to think about these things Do you know the Bible talks a lot about tension? I'd like us to think first of all about tension in the body. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 4 through 6, this is what he says. Now there are, and I want you to think about tension in these verses. [00:10:30] Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Now, what do you see in these verses that's talking about tension? And it's interesting, I never noticed before. [00:11:03] But when I was looking here, in the next verses and the next chapters, Paul talks about these different tensions. Now, first of all, he says there's going to be differences of gifts. Now, if he gives Ray the gift of healing, and he gives Howard the gift of knowledge, are these two going to be able to pull in their own direction and still give strength to the body? [00:11:42] Or are we going to simply allow one of them to try to hold the strength of the body? It'd be like taking the trampoline and just having springs on one side, right? So he talks about this quite a bit. Who designed the tension in the body? I'm talking about the body of Christ. Who designed the tension in the body? God did, right? [00:12:14] He's the one that gave the gifts. He gave differing gifts to each of us. And this is something that I began to understand a lot better when Gary taught us about the gifts. So a lot of things started making sense to me when he started sharing about the gifts and how different gifts have strengths and weaknesses and how when we use the different gifts together, they're able to make something functional. They're able to make something useful. [00:12:46] and if you look at the church at Corinth, one of the things that happened there was that they started trying to build on one or two gifts and their church started falling apart. They didn't have the tension, the complete tension there that God had planned for them to have. So I want us to think about this whole thing of tension in the body. First of all, let's think about tension in the gifts. Let's go down into verse 8 then. [00:13:19] 1 Corinthians chapter 12 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, To another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues [00:13:52] But all these worketh that one in the self, same spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will For as the body is one, hath many members, and all the members of that body being many are one body, so also is Christ See what he's saying there? He's talking about the gifts God's given the gifts and when I read that verse I can't help but think of this trampoline Here's the body Now God has given a strength on this side for miracles [00:14:25] He's given a strength on this side for knowledge He's given a strength on this side And He gives all of these strengths to the body of Christ So that the body can function properly So that the body is built up, so that the church is edified, so that the kingdom of God grows. And I'd like us to really think about this. Are gifts best utilized in a lack of tension or in a tension? [00:15:01] In a situation of tension. Now understand, I'm not talking, when I'm talking about tension here, It does not have to be a negative thing. It doesn't have to be a big argument and a big fight, that kind of tension. I'm talking about a useful tension. Because all of us have the tendency to pull in the direction of our gift, don't we? You know, if we tend to be a prophet, we have a difficult time understanding the person with mercy. [00:15:39] Which one do we want to do without in the church? Either one? No. A church that's full of prophets is a church that doesn't have any compassion. A church that's full of mercy tends to neglect truth So you have those two gifts They're at opposite ends in one way Prophecy and mercy, they're at opposite ends But they're gifts of the Spirit of God [00:16:11] And as they pull together They make something useful just like the bridge You have them anchored in something solid In the truth of God's Word on both ends They're stretching through the congregation and they're giving strength. So Paul is saying, look, there's a tension in gifts that needs to be present in the body of Christ. If the body is to fulfill its work, if it's to do what God intended it to do. [00:16:48] One of the things we tend to do is we try to get everybody to be like us. We want them to respond the same way we respond. We want them to think the same way we think. We want them to work in the church the same way we do. And if we were effective in doing that, we would actually destroy the church, wouldn't we? We actually would. So it's important for us, and this is what, and I see this as interesting because he takes verse 4, there are diversities of gifts, and then he describes that there in the verses we just read. [00:17:29] Now, let's go on. There's tensions in administrations. In chapter 12, verse 2, he says, I'm sorry, 13. I wrote the wrong reference down there. It's not 12.2. It's on down in verse 12. As the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that body... Nope, that's still the wrong one. [00:18:04] No. That's which verse? There we go, yeah, 28. I'm sorry, I forgot to get the 8 on there. God has set some in the church. First, apostles. Secondarily, prophets. Thirdly, teachers. [00:18:36] After that, miracles, gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have the gifts of healing? He combines gifts in there a little bit, but I want us to particularly notice the administrations that he talks about there in that verse. God has set some in the church, apostles, prophets, teachers, and so on. That's talking about administrations. And he said, remember, in verse 5 and 6 there, he said, there's differences, there's diversities of administrations. [00:19:13] There's different things that God has caused, or has brought in there. And those are important. They need to work together. You know, one of the things that happens so often in church leadership is leaders begin to come in conflict. They don't understand this principle that there's tension. As leaders, we have to agree together in the direction we're going. We don't have to necessarily agree on style. [00:19:46] We don't have to necessarily agree on how each situation should be handled particularly. But we have to agree together to work together and go forward in the name of Christ. So there's differences of administrations here. There's a tension here. There's things that pull, and that's one of the things that I appreciate about the plural ministry. We have a tension between us that's healthy, that's important in the life of the church. [00:20:20] Why does our government have three distinct branches? What was the purpose of those branches? checks and balances, attention, right? It's so that things don't go all one way. It's so that the executive branch, the president, isn't able to just go out and do what he wants to do. Or the congress can't just go what they do what they want to do. [00:20:52] Or the judicial branch of government can't just control everything. They are supposed to all pull together. And when those three branches are each doing their part, there's a tension there that makes the government work well. When one, why Mary Keeley, you're going to create a little tension here. It's okay, Mary. [00:21:22] When you have all of those branches of government working together, it works well. And you know what? In administration in the church, if the missions committee decides they've got a direction, they're going somewhere, and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks or does, we're in trouble. But if maybe there's different committees that have different ideas about things, And as we bring our tension together in that, it brings strength into the administration of the church. [00:22:03] Some of the weakest organizations and some of the weakest churches are those where one person is the administrator. They have total control, total responsibility over the administration Because they don't have that stretching They don't have that tension there to keep them in balance And keep them effective and useful Now, let's look at operations [00:22:34] In chapter 14, verse 6, he says this Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? So likewise ye, goes on down there in verse 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood [00:23:06] How shall it be known what is spoken? For ye speak into the air And then verse 12 Even so, for as much as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church Here's the operations. Here's how this fleshes out. There's gifts, diversities of gifts that God has given to each one of us. We don't have such a difficult time recognizing that. We do have a difficult time a lot of times keeping those gifts in tension for the blessing of the body and the growth of the body. [00:23:45] There's differences of administration. But again, there's the tension to keep that within the body And now we look at the operations He says, look, what is the purpose? How does this operate? If I have the gift of tongues And I've decided that it's important that I exercise my gift It's important for the church to know I have this gift It's important for my gift to be useful What am I going to do with it? And that's where he comes into this thing of operations. [00:24:18] Look, he says, you have the gift of tongues, but unless you speak in things easy to be understood, how are people going to know what's spoken? See the tension there? You see the gift is there, but it has to have an effective operation. It has to be something useful for the whole body. And I think that's important for us to stop and think about in each of our capacities. [00:24:49] Is what I'm doing blessing the body? Is it encouraging the body? Is it giving strength to the body? Sure, I need to pull in the direction that God has gifted me and that he's caused me to operate. I need to pull in that direction, but it's not a tug-of-war where one side is going to win or the other. It's a building of a bridge where all of the tension has a purpose and a usefulness. [00:25:23] What's the key for you and I operating in maximum effectiveness for God? God, what's the key to us operating in maximum effectiveness? I say it's tension. I think it's important for us, and I'll talk about this a little bit more in the next one. Tension in truth. [00:25:55] In 1 John 2, verse 27, John writes, The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. He's talking about truth, the importance of truth. But I want to remind you of something. No truth stands alone. Now, let me illustrate it this way. [00:26:28] Is it true that Jesus is God? Sure, it's true. Is it true that Jesus is human, is man? Absolutely. And John, if you read 1 John there, he says plainly, If anybody does not confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, a human being, come in the flesh, he's Antichrist. [00:27:04] He's denied the basis of everything that we build on. But, you have two truths. They come together in Jesus Christ, but they're opposite. How can God be human, Jesus be human, and divine at the same time? They're opposite. You see, there has to be that tension there in those truths. If I take one of those by themselves, I destroy the tension, I destroy the truth, and I destroy my salvation. [00:27:36] If I take one of them only, one of them alone. But when I take the two of them together and use the tension as a strength, then I understand. Then I'm able to grow and I'm able to be what God wants me to be. Let me ask you another one. Is it true that God is a God of mercy? Absolutely He is. None of us would be here today if He wasn't. [00:28:07] Is it also true that God's a God of judgment? How can those two truths both be right? In human thought, they stand in opposition to each other, don't they? But you see, they bring attention to truth that gives us strength. And so when you start thinking about God, in one sense, God is like this trampoline. There's all these truths of God that if you try to take, if you take one of those springs alone, it's worthless as far as a trampoline. [00:28:47] But when you put them all together and you have them all pulling in their own direction, the proper amount in each direction, then you have a balance and you have the strength that you need. And I see a sense there where truth is like that in relation to God. Now, I'm not talking about relativism. I'm not saying that truth is relative, that it changes. Remember I said there's two truths. There are actual, factual, real truths, not relative. Absolute truth. [00:29:22] But in our human mind they stand in conflict. But when we begin to understand the tension between them, then we understand something. I'd like to challenge you in this. Some people want to only read and study something that totally agrees with what they think. What happens with a person that does that? They start to get a little lopsided, don't they? [00:29:58] It's like trying to jump on half of a trampoline, or maybe less. I think it's okay. Personally, I like to read some things that I don't agree with. Things that challenge my thinking. And I'm not saying that we need to just go out and swallow everything that's out there because we've got to stay by the word of God. That's our guiding light. That's our firm basis. That is the pillar and ground of the truth Paul talks about. [00:30:30] So we need to stand by that. But I want us to think about how important it is for truth to have tension and for us to be stirred. Maybe we as a congregation are pulling too much in a certain direction. Maybe there's some truth there that we're not allowing to give us strength. We're not allowing to tension us properly [00:31:03] Think about it, ask the Lord Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't, I don't know But last of all I want us to think about the tension regulator What is there that keeps that tension in the proper perspective? It's right here in the middle of what Paul is talking about and the different gifts, the different operations, the different administrations [00:31:34] all of that right in the middle he puts Corinthians 13, the love chapter Charity never faileth I just read a story about a man who lives in the mountains and he built, he put a cable across 450 feet from one mountain to the other. He anchored them really good in the rock and he built this little bicycle thing that he sits on and pedals and he puts his daughter on the front [00:32:06] and they ride on that cable across and back. And, you know, just incredible view and incredible experience. But he's got a tension checker that he uses every time before he goes on that He tests the tension of that, that it will exceed what he needs And it'll be okay Well, love is like that tension checker [00:32:37] It makes sure that the tension is proper It makes sure that the tension is working for the good of the body. John says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Loving one another is the tension regulator. [00:33:12] that brings our gifts, our administrations, our operations into a proper tension so that the church is built, we're encouraged and strengthened, and the lost are drawn to Jesus Christ. Let's stand together for prayer. Father, we thank you [00:33:47] We thank you for this truth We thank you Lord for the wisdom of scripture The wisdom that you've shown us in life That you've helped us to understand Lord, I pray that you work by your spirit To bring this truth into each of our hearts According to the areas of need Help us, Lord, to see clearly how the working together of the gifts and the administrations and the operations of the body [00:34:21] can be effective in building a strong structure that stands the tests of time, that gives opportunity to many that wouldn't have opportunity otherwise, just like a bridge. Lord, I just pray that you help us to be that bridge as a body, that the tension of our body might be a strength that would be able to bridge the gap between our world around us and you, O God. [00:35:03] Help us to be able to do that through Jesus Christ. We just pray for those that aren't with us today. We pray for those that are sick, that you just be near to them and touch them and heal them. We pray, Lord, that you bless our time of fellowship, bless the food as we eat together. Lord, the singing as well, that it could be a time of blessing for those that hear and also for those that sing. We just pray it in your precious name. Amen.