Bible Study on Living in Harmony
- Jan 21, 2010 -
Bible Study Guide
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Romans 12:16
Teacher Notes
This is a suggested Bible study for any size group. The accompanying sermon notes (“Living in Harmony”) serve as a resource as you prepare to lead this Bible study. Answers are provided with the questions when appropriate, but do not be too quick to give the answers. Allow the participants time to talk about the questions among themselves and offer their own thoughts and reflections.
Bible Study Instruction
Before class: Type or write on pieces of paper the following Scriptures: 1 Cor. 1:10-17; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:1-6; and Phil. 4:1-3. Distribute them as participants arrive and ask each person to be prepared to read the verses at the appropriate time.
Create Learning Readiness: Write the word “culture” on the board. Ask two or three people in the class to share their cultural background. Ask them to share some things they do because of what they learned from their family’s culture.
Ask: What can we learn from the things we have just heard? (That even people of the same race may have different cultural backgrounds.)
Share with the class the material in the “context” and “introduction” sections of this Sermon Outline and Bible Study Guide.
Ask: What can be done to promote more harmonious relationships among all races? (Allow time for feedback; write ideas on the board.)
Say: We will examine four things today that will help to achieve racial reconciliation. First, racial reconciliation requires the acknowledgment that differences do exist. Reconciliation must be based on reality—a reality that does not bury its head in the sand in an attempt to ignore the differences. Each racial group has its own culture and identity that must be recognized and accepted.
Ask: What are some differences that you are aware of that exist in different racial groups? (Allow response time.)
Say: Paul often addressed the friction that was caused by differences in the early church. (Call on those who have been asked to read the following passages: 1 Cor. 1:10-17; 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:1-6; Phil. 4:1-3. As each one is read, ask participants to identify things that Paul asked his readers to do to bring reconciliation out of strife. Write answers on the board.)
Say: It was to the strife-torn church at Corinth that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13. The principles stated in that chapter apply to racial reconciliation. (Ask someone to read the passage aloud.)
Ask: If a person is truly characterized by the love of God, what will be their response to people of other racial groups (Kind, not envious or boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, etc.)
Say: Second, racial reconciliation requires unity—not union.
Ask: What is the difference between unity and union?
Say: Union refers to “something formed by uniting two or more things; combination . . . a number of persons, states, etc., joined or associated together for some common purpose” (www.infoplease.com online dictionary). Unity refers to “the state of being one; oneness; a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one; oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement” (www.infoplease.com online dictionary) (WS1 and WS2).
Say: Union may be achieved by man’s efforts.
Ask: What are some examples of man-made unions? (Labor unions, business partnerships, etc.)
Ask: What are some ways that men and women try to achieve union in race relations?
Say: Unity is achieved by God’s grace (WS3, WS4 and OS5). (Read the Ray Stedman quote in OS5.)
Say: Third, racial reconciliation requires effort. There is no verb in the original language, but the context shows activity.
Ask: What are some verbs that Paul uses in Romans 12:9-16 that are active? (Hate, cling, honor, share, bless, etc.).
Say: But the context also shows that those activities are based on a state-of-being. He uses words like “be devoted,” be “joyful,” (be) “patient,” (be) “faithful,” and “never be lacking.” The thrust of this is: if we are something on the inside because of the grace of God, it will work its way out into our life actions.
Ask: In what ways could those inward qualities affect the way you respond to someone of a different ethnic group?
Say: Reconciliation must begin with a work of God in a person’s life. (Read the quote from John Perkins and Thomas A. Tarrants III in OS3.) Only when God did His work in John Perkins’s life could he love those who had mistreated him so badly.
Ask: What has God done in your life that will help you treat others in the proper way?
Say: Once begun, reconciliation must be maintained by us. (Read the Ray Stedman quote in OS5 again.) However, reconciliation is not maintained by words, but by actions. Read quotes in OS1 and OS2.)
Say: Fourth, reconciliation requires a changed heart. When the heart is changed, people are changed (WS6 and WS7). But change does not occur without risk (Read OS1, paragraph 4 and OS2.)
Ask: What are some risks that we might have to take in order to bring about real racial reconciliation?
Say: Once people are changed, relationships are changed (CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, OS3, and OS4). And when relationships are changed, the body of Christ thrives (OS6).
Ask: What might happen in this church if we all took seriously our responsibility to be involved in racial reconciliation?
What Can One Person Do?
- If you work with people of another ethnic group, ask them to share some of the main things about their culture with you. Seek to gain an understanding of their culture. Then share some things about your culture with them so they can learn to appreciate your culture.
- Arrange for a pulpit exchange with a church of another ethnic group.
- Invite people from other ethnic groups to your home for fellowship. Seek to develop relationships with them.
- Ask your church to participate in a joint worship service with a church of another ethnic group in your community. Explore ways fellowships of different races and ethnicities can work together to serve others in Christ’s name.
Other Helpful Scriptures
Bible verses about Racial Reconciliation:
Genesis 3:20; Deuteronomy 10:17; Malachi 2:10; Luke 10:29-37; John 4:7-10; Acts 10:28; Acts 10:34; Romans 10:12; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14-22; Colossians 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:21; James 2:1-9
Word Studies (WS)
WS1 — same — from the particle au [perhaps akin to the base of Greek 109 (aer) through the idea of a baffling wind] (backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the compound Greek 1438 [heautou]) of the third person, and (with the properly personal pronoun) of the other persons :- her, it (self), one, the other, (mine) own, said, ([self], the) same, (him, my, thy) self, [your] selves, she, that, their (s), them (selves), there (at, by, in, into, of, on, with), they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which. Compare Greek 848 (hautou). [James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d.)—Greek #846]
WS2 — same — denotes ‘the same’ when preceded by the article, and either with a noun following, e.g., Mark 14:39; Phil. 1:30; 1 Cor. 12:4, or without, e.g., Matt. 5:46,47; Rom. 12:1; Phil. 2:2; 3:1; Heb. 1:12; 13:8. It is thus to be distinguished from uses as a personal and a reflexive pronoun. [W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. III (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966), 317]
WS3 — another — Genitive plural from Greek 243 _ reduplication; _one another :- each other, mutual, one another, (the other), (them-, your-) selves, (selves) together [sometimes with Greek 3326 _ or Greek 4314 (pros)]. [James Strong, _Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d.)—Greek #240]
WS4 — another — expresses a numerical difference and denotes another of the same sort [W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. I (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966), 60]
WS5 — mind — from Greek 5424 ; to exercise the mind, i.e. entertain or have a sentiment or opinion; by implication to be (mentally) disposed (more or less earnestly in a certain direction); intensive to interest oneself in (with concern or obedience) :- set the affection on, (be) care (ful), (be like, + be of one, + be of the same, + let this) mind (-ed), regard, savour, think. [James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d.)—Greek #5426]
WS6 — mind — To set one’s mind on; to set one’s thoughts on; to have one’s mind controlled. It means mind; to set and focus one’s mind constantly upon heavenly things, not upon earthly things. [“Mind On, Set,” Practical Word Studies in the New Testament (Austin, TX: WORDSearch 5 Electronic version, WORDSearch Corp., 2004)]
WS7 — mind — denotes what one has in the mind, the thought . . . or an object of thought. [W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. III (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966), 69]
Commentary Citations (CC)
CC1 — “We are to live in harmony with one another. It was Nelson who, after one of his great victories, sent back a dispatch in which he gave us the reason for it: ‘I had the happiness to command a band of brothers.’ It is a band of brothers that any Christian Church should be. Leighton once wrote: ‘The mode of Church government is unconstrained; but peace and concord, kindness and good will are indispensable.’ When strife enters into any Christian society, the hope of doing any good work is gone.” [William Barclary, Romans. Daily Study Bible (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975), 169]
CC2 — “Christians should be able to empathize with others, both believers and unbelievers. Paul commanded, Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Related to this is the next command, Live in harmony with one another (lit., “having the same attitude toward one another”; cf. Rom. 15:5; Phil. 2:2; 1 Peter 3:8). Being in harmony with other Christians is basic to being able to empathize with them. [Bible Knowledge Commentary (Austin, TX: WORDSearch 5 Electronic version, WORDSearch Corp., 2004)]
CC3 — “The professed love of Christians to each other should be sincere, free from deceit, and unmeaning and deceitful compliments. Depending on Divine grace, they must detest and dread all evil, and love and delight in whatever is kind and useful. We must not only do that which is good, but we must cleave to it. All our duty towards one another is summed up in one word, love. This denotes the love of parents to their children; which is more tender and natural than any other; unforced, unconstrained. And love to God and man, with zeal for the gospel, will make the wise Christian diligent in all his wordly business, and in gaining superior skill. God must be served with the spirit, under the influences of the Holy Spirit. He is honoured by our hope and trust in him, especially when we rejoice in that hope. He is served, not only by working for him, but by sitting still quietly, when he calls us to suffer. Patience for God’s sake, is true piety. Those that rejoice in hope, are likely to be patient in tribulation. We should not be cold in the duty of prayer, nor soon weary of it. Not only must there be kindness to friends and brethren, but Christians must not harbour anger against enemies. It is but mock love, which rests in words of kindness, while our brethren need real supplies, and it is in our power to furnish them. Be ready to entertain those who do good: as there is occasion, we must welcome strangers. Bless, and curse not. It means thorough good will; not, bless them when at prayer, and curse them at other times; but bless them always, and curse not at all. True Christian love will make us take part in the sorrows and joys of each other. Labour as much as you can to agree in the same spiritual truths; and when you come short of that, yet agree in affection. Look upon worldly pomp and dignity with holy contempt. Do not mind it; be not in love with it. Be reconciled to the place God in his providence puts you in, whatever it be. Nothing is below us, but sin. We shall never find in our hearts to condescend to others, while we indulge conceit of ourselves; therefore that must be mortified. [Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Concise (Austin, TX: WORDSearch 5 Electronic version, WORDSearch Corp., 2004)]
CC4 — “A climate of love is absolutely basic to the church of Jesus Christ. Without such caring, and reaching out to touch one another’s lives, the church will fall tragically short of God’s intended experience of His ‘good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Romans 12:2).” [“A Righteous, Loving Church,” #128, Teacher’s Commentary (Austin, TX: WORDSearch 5 Electronic version, WORDSearch Corp., 2004)]
Other Sources (OS)
OS1 — “The Bible says that in order to make friends, one must himself be friendly (Proverbs 18:24 KJV). Thus, the Bible seems to imply that if we want to make a friend, we must demonstrate friendliness. This principle requires us to initiate efforts to make friends, which means we do not wait for people to come to us. Notice that the Bible doesn’t refer to the color of the skin of those people to whom we are to show ourselves friendly.
“The first obstacle to fulfilling this principle is that it requires us to make the first move. The problem with this is that almost none of us will do it. The reason is that most Christians have bought into the American mind-set of being comfortable. Trying to make friends with people will definitely move us out of our ‘comfort zones.’
“The second obstacle to taking the first step in making friends is that it requires faith. If we are honest with ourselves, many of us, even though we are Christians, do not like living by faith. We struggle with living by faith because living by faith means we are not in control, and we are not sure exactly what God may ask us to do. But we do know that whatever God asks us to do won’t be easy.
“The third problem we have with showing ourselves friendly is that we fear people will reject us. People may think we are strange or even call us names. An attempt at initiating relationships with people may even affect our reputation in the business world, at church, or in the evangelical community within which we work, which could negatively affect our earning potential.”
[Clarence Shuler, Winning the Race to Unity (Chicago: Moody Press, 1998), 208]
OS2 — “If you chose to be part of the solution and get involved, you can expect misunderstanding and conflict. But if we decide to be reconcilers, we have to take risks. We must use our sphere of influence to open doors of opportunity for others who don’t naturally have that access . . . When we take risks and cross barriers into areas where society is not comfortable, it doesn’t always work out; it sometimes blows up. That’s why it’s called a risk.”
[Raleigh Washington and Glen Kehrein, Breaking Down Walls (Chicago: Moody Press, 1993), 239]
OS3 — “Stronger than all these images playing through my mind was another powerful, soul-stirring, body-shaking scene—and that was the image of the Son of God dying on the cross of Calvary. I saw Him bruised and battered, His back torn apart by the brutal whipping He had endured, His hands and feet pierced through with huge spikes and blood running down His face from a crown of thorns that had been pushed down onto His head by a blood-thirsty group of Roman soldiers. I saw Christ as He felt so alone and abandoned that He cried out, ‘My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?’ Yet Christ looked at those who had treated Him cruelly and prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
“The Holy Spirit would not let that image leave me. He seemed to be whispering to me again and again, ‘John, you’ve got to love them.
“‘But I don’t want to love them! Look what they’ve done to me.’
“There was that image of Christ: ‘Father, forgive them . . .’ I simply could not get it to leave me alone.
“‘How can I love them, Lord?’
“‘Let Me love them through you.’
“And that is exactly what happened. The love of God began to take away from my soul every bit of anger and hatred. The only way I can describe it is to tell you that I was overwhelmed by the love of God. And as His love and joy coursed through my spirit and soul, I knew there was no way I could keep that love from overflowing to the people around me. White people, black people, any other kind of people, it did not matter. God loved them all and so did I.”
[John Perkins and Thomas A. Tarrants III, He’s My Brother (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1994), 132]
OS4 — “Certainly it is unrealistic for Christians to pretend there are no differences among them. There is no group in the world so gloriously heterogeneous as the church. Its genius is that it is made up of different kinds of people. In the true church of Christ the rich and poor are to gather on the same footing, without distinction and certainly without favor. Jews or Gentiles, men or women, black, red, white or yellow—it is to make no difference. This, admittedly, is not the way the church has always been, but this is the way the church was meant to be and can be. The church crosses all the boundaries which men erect and all natural distinctions as well, and gathers all peoples, without exception, into one body.”
[Ray C. Stedman, Body Life (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1972), 23]
OS5 — “But also in the apostle’s exhortation a second fact is visible. Beneath all the differences among the early Christians there is also the fact of a basic unity. The apostle does not tell these Christians to strive to produce unity, but to maintain what is already there. The church is never told to create unity. There is a unity that is already there by virtue of the very existence of the church. There is no need to create it, in fact, men are incapable of producing the unity that is essential to the life of the church. It can be produced only by the Spirit of God; but once produced, it is the responsibility of Christians to maintain it.”
[Ray C. Stedman, Body Life (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1972), 24]
OS6 — “A body is formed by the extension of one original cell which grows until it becomes a mature body in which every cell shares the original life. That is the secret of a body—all parts of it share life together . . . It is the sharing of life that makes a body different from an organization. An organization derives power from the association of individuals, but a body derives its power from the sharing of life.”
[Ray C. Stedman, Body Life (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1972), 25]
Further Learning
Learn more about: Citizenship, Racial Reconciliation,