Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Someone has said the greatest social disease
in America today is loneliness. We all long to
be deeply connected. And I want you to know that
God has a plan for developing genuine, beautiful,
intimate relationships. And he wants you to experience
that kind of connection with others. Today, we're
going to talk about how you can experience authentic
community right now, right where you live. Stay
with us. Why do so many sincere, Bible -reading,
God -loving Christians still feel spiritually
stuck? Well, today on Living on the Edge, Chip
Ingram tackles that very question, revealing
the surprising answer, community. It's not about
trying harder or doing more. According to Scripture,
transformation requires a very specific environment,
and most of us have never truly experienced it.
In today's message from his series, God's Dream
for Your Life, Chip takes us into Romans chapter
12 to show us what authentic community really
looks like and how to get it. Chip titled today's
message, How to Experience Authentic Community.
Did you ever wonder why so many Christians get
spiritually stuck? I mean, the Bible is very,
very clear. It says, if any man, if any woman
is in Christ, the old things pass away, behold,
All things become new. And yet, you know, you
meet people, and I mean sincere, good. I don't
mean slackers. I mean people that really love
God. They've seen transformation in some very
significant areas, and they're even in the Bible
on a regular basis, and they really want to grow,
and yet they hit a ceiling, and then they just
feel stuck. But as you see on your notes, Part
of the answer is that the greatest seed in the
greatest soil cannot grow in the wrong environment.
Notice in your notes, a little biblical background
here, the command of Jesus requires very specific
ecosystem or environment. The very last night
on the earth, he'd washed their feet and then
he turned to them and he looked them eye to eye
and he said, I want you, this is the new commandment,
to love each other in the same way I've loved
you. sacrificially, authentically, lay down your
life for one another, but it requires an environment.
Here's what I want you to get. The specific environment
or ecosystem in which the seed of God's word
in your heart that's honest and good and wants
to grow is authentic community. It's authentic
community. Notice the form that it takes is a
small group. I mean, the group could be three
people, four people, ten people. But that's just
the form. That's the container. Never, ever confuse
just being in a small group with authentic community.
I've been in small groups that there's no authentic
community. Haven't you? Authentic community is
deeper. Authentic community is this environment
where people lay down their lives for one another.
Authentic community is where you take a group
of people and they say, you know what? We're
going to change the world and we're around Jesus.
Authentic community is living under persecution
and hearing God's word and going from house to
house to support one another to live it out.
In fact, it raises two very important questions.
Question number one is what is authentic community?
And then question number two is how do you get
it? And the answer to both those questions is
in Romans chapter 12 verses 9 to 13. If you're
just new with us, we're going through the...
chapter in Romans 12. And in verse 1, we learn
that what God really wants from all of us is
what? He wants us to surrender to Him, all we
are, all that we have. In verse 2, we said there's
an enemy of our soul. There's a world system
that's trying to woo and seduce our heart away
from our Savior. And we're not to be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of our mind, to be separate from the world's
values. And we looked at verses 3 through 8,
and we learned that we're not to think too high
or too low, but to have a sober self -assessment.
to know where we fit in the body. And now what
he's going to talk about is serving and love.
He's going to talk about what kind of relationships
are we to have as fellow believers. And if you
look at your notes there, in verse 9, you're
going to see that authentic community is the
real you showing up. Verse 10 is going to say
that the real you needs to meet real needs. And
then in verse 11, he's going to say, the real
you needs to meet real needs, but for the right
reason. And then verses 12 and 13, the real you
needs to meet real needs for the right reason
and do it in the right way. For some of you,
you love God, you have a good heart, you're taking
in God's word, but you're stuck. There's a ceiling.
You have these outbursts of anger and you feel
terrible about it. You have issues in your life
that you know you don't want and you've told
God, I'm sorry, and you want to change and you've
tried hard to change, but you still don't see
any radical transformation. I'm telling you,
this moment on this day may be God's answer to
the environment in which some of those things
you've struggled with so long, He can change.
But it doesn't happen alone. So let's look together.
What is authentic community? And maybe more importantly,
how do you get it? First from verse nine, authentic
community is the real you, not a projection of
yourself. See, you can't have authentic community
unless the real you shows up. Authentic community,
he says, let love be sincere. Hate what is evil,
cling to what is good. The two characteristics
of the real you showing up is one, authenticity,
and two, it's purity. Where the word says, let
love be sincere, circle the word sincere, and
right above it, hypocrisy. Paul is borrowing
from the Greek of his day. And in the Greek theater
of that day, they were all male actors. And so
if you were a good thespian, you could be able
to... throw your voice, and you could play a
male part, a female part, an old person, a young
person, and dressed up in different costumes,
and then there would be a mask that you would
wear, so you would throw your voice. And Paul
takes that word for the mask, and that's this
word. He says, let love be without a mask, without
hypocrisy. Let the real you show up. Yes, you
gotta be discerning and you gotta be careful
of who you share the real you with, but he's
saying that authentic community isn't just getting
in a small group. It's when the real you's showing
up and you let people see who you are progressively,
wisely, discerningly. In fact, jot in your notes
if you were Acts chapter five. This is important.
I mean, this is beyond important. Some people
never experience this their entire Christian
life and they can never figure out why they don't
experience the transformation power that God
has promised us in scripture. In chapter four,
it gives an example of this very wealthy man
who had a piece of property in Cyprus on this
island, which is the equivalent of like downtown
San Francisco or Manhattan in that day. And so
he sells it and he takes the money and he says,
look. I mean, I don't know this for sure, but,
you know, I got a second home. You know, this
is a piece of property. You take this to meet
the needs of the people in the church. They're
really hurting. And I think a buzz happened in
the church where, wow. I mean, it was so sacrificial.
It was so generous. And people were like, boy,
I guess this is what it means to love one another.
And his name was Barnabas. And I think Barnabas
got this reputation because they started calling
him the son of encouragement. And the story goes
on in Acts chapter five. And jot that down because
before your head hits the pillow, you ought to
read it. It's not very long. It's very interesting.
So there's this young couple. I'm guessing they're
young. Maybe they're not young. But Ananias and
Sapphira. And so they kind of look around and
they think, wow, everyone's talking about Barnabas.
We wish people would talk about us like that.
We sure wish people would think we're that generous
and loving and kind. And so they hatched this
plan. And the plan is, here's what we're going
to do. We're going to sell this piece of property
and we'll get the money and we'll tell people
that we sold it for this much money and like
we gave it all away. But we'll really keep back
the money for us so we'll kind of have our cake
and eat it too. We'll appear generous and loving
and sacrificial, but we'll still have the major
part of the money. And so, you know, he comes
and talks to Peter. God reveals to Peter what's
going on, and Peter says, Ananias, why have you
lied to the Holy Spirit? Before it was sold,
it was yours. After it was sold, it was yours.
You aren't compelled to give a little or a lot.
The issue is integrity. And then right there,
bam, he dies. I mean, literally drops dead. And
the young men come and pick him up for what?
His hypocrisy. The very first sin in the church
is hypocrisy. And the judgment is death. His
wife comes a few hours later. And I'm thinking,
Peter's going, I sure hope she's not in on this.
And so he says, Sapphira, it's good to see you.
How's things going? Oh, pretty good. How's the
kids? I'm adding just a little. And he says to
her, so did you sell this piece of land for such
and such a price? Oh, yes. You know, Ananias,
when you're married to such a generous, loving,
kind, amazing husband like I have, and we sacrificially
have given it all away, I'm, again, reading between
the lines. And Peter looks at her, and I think
just with sadness in his heart, and said, the
young man's feet who took away your husband shall
take you away as well. Bam, she dies on the spot.
And it says a great fear came among the church.
Yeah, are you kidding? You're listening to Living
on the Edge, and Chip Ingram will continue today's
program in just a minute. Today's message is
part of Chip's series, God's Dream for Your Life,
and you can hear it anytime at livingontheedge
.org. Whether you want to revisit what you've
heard today or pass it along to a friend, this
message and hundreds more are available online.
You'll also find small group resources and opportunities
to help you live out God's dream for your life.
It's all there at livingontheedge .org. Well,
now here's Chip. Now, you've got to understand,
can you imagine if you've never read the Bible
before, and this is your first time through the
New Testament, and you're a brand new Christian,
you're thinking, so this is what happens to hypocrites?
I'm in trouble. I mean, literally, it was like,
whoa. In fact, if God was acting in this way,
I think he was going to make a point. See, if
hypocrisy gets in the mix, it's like leaven and
bread. It spreads. And when people aren't authentic,
the message of Jesus would have been wiped out
within a few years. And so God wanted to demonstrate
how important this was. And I often thought later
when I was a pastor, if God did that for like
24 hours in the church all across America, all
of us would have to turn in our pastor's badges
and become morticians. Probably a lot of us pastors
would need other pastors who are doing better
than us to bury us. But do you get it? Do you
really get that church, quote, was never ever
intended to be a group of people that come to
an event and feel like in some way they're...
doing something morally positive because they
come to an event and listen to someone talk about
God and even sing a few worship songs to him
and then file out and live life their own way
and not be absolutely connected to one another
and have a safe environment where the real you
shows up. And you know why the real you doesn't
show up? The same reason the real you doesn't
show up in me. He says, let love be without hypocrisy.
And then it says, cling to what is good. Hate
what is evil. Literally, the word is abhor what
is evil. Most of us are spending this, I wonder
if this is wrong. How close can I get to sin
without falling in? So people in counseling will
ask me questions like, well, is this rating,
this rating, or this rating in this movie? Do
you think it's okay if I can do this? Or, you
know, we're dating right now, and we're doing
this, this, this, and this. Is that really sexual
sin, or can we? Or, you know, we have so much
money, and I want to know, is it the gross, or
is it the net, or could I take a percentage?
You know, it's kind of like, how? Instead of,
what's it say? Cling to what is good. The issue
isn't how close can I get to sin, quote, without
sinning. It's how close can I get to God? How
pure can I live? Because when you're pure, not
perfect, pure, the real you can show up because
you can be honest. And you know one of the most
powerful and significant experiences you will
ever have in your life is being in a small group
of people that's really safe, that really love
you, and you really love them. And the real you
shows up. The real you that's making great progress.
The real you with the frustrations and hurts
and struggles. The real you with the real problems.
And as you bring your struggles, you're not judged.
You're loved. And the real you that needs help
gets support. And the real you that needs accountability
and as we all do an occasional kind of rebuke
and you know, what were you thinking? You kind
of violated our trust by that. See, that's a
fundamental part of authentic community and a
lot of people never have that. And so enormous
amounts of energy, what we end up doing instead
of allowing God to transform us, The energy is
we have to do sin management. And so we're spending
all this energy trying to either hide or deal
with our guilt or deal with our shape or drown
it out with food or work or money or shopping
or speed. And so when the real you shows up,
that's the beginning of authentic community.
But it's beyond that. It meets real needs, not
superficial or convenient ones. Authentic community
doesn't happen when you do a little nice thing
or a little nice thing here and it doesn't really
cost you very much. Authentic community happens
when the real you shows up. Notice it says devotion.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Humility. Giving preference to one another in
honor. Real needs getting met always involves
devotion on our part and humility. The word devotion
here is strong. He's saying you need to be committed
to one another and lay your lives down for one
another like you would for blood relatives. I
mean, for people that you feel this moral responsibility
for. And he says, be devoted to one another how?
In brotherly love. Philo Delphia. That's the
word. We named a city in Pennsylvania by that.
It's this commitment of family love, of being
there for one another, of doing whatever it takes.
I thought I knew what it meant to kind of be
devoted and love. I was a new Christian. And
after probably, I guess it was about five, six
years, I'd been coaching for a couple years after
school. And Teresa and I were married. And we
had two small kids at this time. And so, I mean,
I was shocked, literally shocked that God called
me into vocational ministry. I thought, I just
can't imagine ever him being able to use someone
like me. You know, I'm a teacher. I'm a basketball
coach. I can't imagine being a pastor. But he
made it clear, so we went to school. And after
about a year there, built some relationships.
We stayed in a little apartment complex. Actually,
it was a huge apartment complex, but it had like
these apartment here, apartment here, apartment
here, apartment here. They were little quad things.
And so you really got to know the people. You
shared one hallway. And I came home after school.
It was in my first or second year, and Teresa's
eyes were all red. I said, honey, man, what is
going on? Are you okay? She goes, oh, I spent
all afternoon with Pat, you know, right across
the hall. I said, well, what's going on? She
goes, well, her husband left her. I said, oh,
you gotta be kidding. And they'd gotten really
close. They had a little boy the same age as
my little boys. They were all about five years
old. And she goes, it's worse than that. Bank
accounts are emptied. He left her. They have
a like two or three week old newborn and she
has no money. And we just prayed and cried. I
thought, wow. So, you know, I'm thinking, My
heart's really going out to her, so I'm thinking
it's really spiritual. Honey, you want to pray
for her? She goes, well, actually, we did that.
But I've been thinking about it, and we talked
over dinner. She goes, I think we should, in
two days, her rent is due, and they're going
to kick her out if she doesn't have rent money,
and I think we should pay for her rent. And my
portfolio at this point is very easy to keep.
I can keep it in my head. We don't have a savings
account because there was no need. We had a checking
account. And I made under $1 ,000 a month on
straight commission as I went to school full
time. So I said, honey, if we pay for Pat's rent,
our rent is due in 10 days. And the moment we
pay for her rent, we will have $10 in our checking
account. She said, I know. Oh, you know. When
you marry above yourself, it's really not very
good at times, you know. And so it was like.
You know what? Okay. But you know what it was?
It was being devoted isn't like, oh, I hope it
goes well for her. I heard she had cancer. You
know, that family's going through a rough time.
No, no, it's like we're in this together. She's
family. And so, you know, I'm figuring I'm probably
going to have to learn how to be a pastor someday.
Might as well start now. And so, okay, Lord,
here it is. And we write the check. And by the
way, it was not noble. I think people get this
idea that when we take big steps for God, yes,
God. Most of my really big steps are like, yes,
God. You know, I don't really want to do this.
I'm pretty. But okay, I'm gonna claim your promise,
but my God will supply all my needs according
to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. You
said I'd do that, and the context is giving,
being generous, Philippians 4 .19. I'm standing
on that passage. Our rent's due. No money. We
have a three -day grace period. First day, grace
period, no money. Second day, grace period, no
money. Third day, hey, yo! Which part of this
verse am I misinterpreting, or what's the deal?
And that day in the mail, that day, an envelope
came, you know, business side envelope. And in
the left -hand corner, it had a football helmet
that was green and yellow. And it was from Lombardi
Avenue. I got a letter from someone from the
Green Bay Packers. I was like, are you, you know,
what is this? So I opened the letter and the
letter says, hi, Chip, I'm sure you don't know
me. I met you about six years ago or so. I was
a senior in high school at the time and you taught
a Bible study in San Jose. And I later went on
and played college football and I was the first
quarterback taken in the draft. And I'm playing
for the Green Bay Packers now. And when you taught
that Bible study, all I can tell you, I can't
really remember what you said, but something
happened that changed the spiritual trajectory
of my life. And I've never forgotten it. And
I've not thought of you for six years, but this
is weird. Out of the blue, you came to my mind
and I'm supposed to send you this thousand dollars.
I mean, it was just like, oh. You know what happened?
I got to experience authentic community. This
is how God works. This is normal. He puts people
in your life that you have some more time than
they have. You have money that they don't have.
You have energy that they don't have. You have
spiritual gifts that would help them that they
don't have. And you don't nod and think, well,
I went to church. I read the Bible. I went on
a missions trip. You think, I'm a part of this
community. And that need is a red light going
off on my soul to love them. And I will tell
you what, man, we got tight with Pat. I mean,
it was like 20 years later, he got a postcard.
Teresa, you know, I saw somewhere you and Chip
and da -da -da. I just want a picture of her
and her grown son and the little one. And you
know, our hearts were connected to Pat. Why?
Because wherever your treasure is, your heart
follows it. And then I got to see that God also,
that was the first of many lessons. I mean, that
was a like, ooh. And after that, in the last
30 years, we've done that scores of times. Scores
of times, never knowing for sure how God's apply.
My testimony, he always does. And what we've
experienced is God. See, at the end of the day,
you know what most Christians don't know? God
is real. He's not a philosophy. He's not a formula.
He's not a moral code. Jesus is a person and
he's real and he loves you and he made promises
and he wants you to stand on him and you take
risks, which are called faith, and you love one
another and people get love through you and then
he supplies. When the real you meets real needs
through devotion and also through humility. Because
at the end of the day, you know what? You have
to think more of other people than yourself.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
Today, Chip unpacked what it really means to
do life together. Not just showing up to a small
group, but letting the real you show up, meet
real needs, and experience the kind of transformation
that simply cannot happen alone. That's the heart
of God's dream for your life. Now, if today's
message resonated with you, we'd love to help
you go deeper. At livingontheedge .org, you'll
find small group resources and practical tools
built around this very series, designed to help
you and the people you care about build authentic
community. What makes Living on the Edge different
is simple. Chip doesn't just explain what the
Bible says. He shows you how to live it out all
week long. And that kind of practical, life -changing
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and follow the instructions. Well, now here's
Chip. You know, as we wrap up today's program,
I... I guess the question I have for you is that
if a non -Christian overheard you talking or
was sort of at the next table at a coffee shop
and heard you kind of talking with a friend,
would they hear you talking about other people
or would they hear you talking about information?
Would it be just sports or what's on sale? Or
would they kind of eavesdrop and think, wow,
I wish I had a relationship with someone that
was that deep, that real? that vulnerable, and
that authentic. If you don't have close friends,
then you need to launch a small group. Or if
your family doesn't have these kind of relationships,
and don't get me wrong, I know it's hard, you
got to go there. Because at the end of the day,
relationships are what matter. And deep relationships
that matter can't happen without authenticity.
And you need to be wise about who you do it with.
But it'll be the greatest thing that ever happens
because when the real you shows up and the real
you gets loved, it's awesome. And that's God's
plan. I'm Dave Drewy with a final question. Are
you serving God or just serving your image? Join
Chip Ingram and discover what it really means
to love people the way Jesus did. Tomorrow on
Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced
and sponsored by Living on the Edge.