Can We Really Fix Relationships? |10.06.24| Re-Assembly Required pt.3

Matt 7:3-5; Philippians 2:1-8 Pastor Drew WIlliams One of the worst feelings in the world is when you accidentally walk into a spider web. Am I right? Is that the worst feeling in the world? Because one minute you're walking along and everything is fine. And the next minute you want the world to stop because you know there's a creature on you. You're jumping around, you do a little dance, you try to brush off the web. And no matter how hard you jump around a dance,(...) you can never be fully sure that there isn't still a little spider making a home on your body somewhere. (...) Unless, unless you're with someone, right? And then you ask them, "Would you please just come over here, brush off the web, make sure that I don't have a spider still on me." And that is great as long as they're willing to help you. (...) Because let's be honest, I wouldn't ask my five year old to help check me for spiders. Number one, she's not tall enough and she's not going to be able to check all the spots. Number two, I've seen her clean her room. I'm not that confident in finishing the job all the way well, right? We're working on that. Another person you wouldn't want to have asked is someone who you know doesn't see very well. Because the last thing you want to say is, "Did you get it?" And they're like,(...) "Yeah, yeah, I think I got it. I think I got it. You're probably fine." In fact, someone who can't see very well isn't a very good person to ask for advice on many topics. Whether it's, you know, how tidy a room is or how you're dressed or anything like that. Just yesterday, my glasses, the one arm broke and I had to like super glue it back together. And most of the day I was walking around with no glasses on, just enjoying the fuzziness of the world. And at one point, my wife asked if, you know, the dishes in the dishwasher were clean or dirty. And I had to smell it to see because I couldn't, I was like, "They smell clean. I'm not sure." And those are not the type of people you want to get advice or help from. But that doesn't stop people, does it? Right? People love to give you advice. They'll give you all the time, even if they're not the best person to give you that advice. And when they do, when they're just trying to help out, what's our natural response? (...) Why would I listen to you? Right? We react defensively or we judge them back because we can see that they can't see all that well. So why would we listen to what they have to say?(...) Have you ever felt that way? (...) I was thinking about this earlier this week because we're wrapping up our series on fixing relationships called Reassembly Required a Beginner's Guide to Repairing Broken Relationships. So remember, this is just a beginner's guide. This is not meant to replace good relational work or counseling or anything like that. But sometimes what we need is a simple starting point because what we're experiencing in that moment is an immediate conflict, a lack of unity, a missed connection. And is this type of missed connection or miscommunication that leads to a lot of relational conflict, doesn't it? We don't want them in our business, especially when they aren't exactly an expert in the thing that they're telling us to do.(...) But what about when it's the other direction? Because almost all of us will admit that we've been on the other side of that conflict as well, right? Where we've been the one giving the advice because we see how someone else is doing something and we just know. We know how to help them. We can help them. And so we say something like, "Are you really going out dressed like that?" (...) Or we say things like, "Stop, you're doing it wrong. Here, let me help you." (...) Or we say things like, "You know that thing you were talking about.(...) I think you should just go talk to them and you should say... (...) And how do they respond when we offer that type of help?"(...) Whether it's a friend or a spouse or a neighbor, a family member, they usual