The Blessing of Unity Discussion

Unity is not a burden to bear, but a blessing to desire.

David taught us that unity is the defining trait of followers of Jesus, and that it is beautiful and refreshing.

And while it is difficult, unity is achievable through Christ in us.

John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

If your record of pursuing unity in the church or allowing and/or pursuing division in the church was put on display, would people see you as disciple of Christ or a divider of the church?

Ephesians 4:1–3 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Colossians 3:14 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ or are you harboring negative thoughts against them?

Romans 1:29–31 “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

Right in the middle of all the attributes of those who live unrighteously are the words “gossips and slanderers”.

How serious is it that we strive for unity instead of being agents of division?

James points out one of the symptoms of a divisive heart is a fiery tongue. James 3:6 “And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.”

Anybody love the idea of their tongue being compared to hell fire?

How can we be a unifying agent against gossip in the church?

Don’t do it. If you don’t know whether or not something you’re about to share is gossip, don’t share it.

If someone begins to share gossip with you, gently rebuke them and say that you don’t want to be a part of that and that you hope the gossip doesn’t spread any further.

Offer to go with the person to settle an issue and that will be a surefire way to tell gossip from genuine concern for an issue in the church.

1 Peter 3:10 “For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;”

Forgiveness and Unity

Is there someone in your life right now that you have not forgiven?

Unity is impossible without forgiveness. Anytime someone mentions that we are called to forgive and move on, we immediately remember something we haven’t quite moved on from. Or it may be something we have moved on from, but our flesh and the devil reminds us of it in an effort to drag us back down with an unforgiving spirit.

Matthew 6:14–15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Colossians 3:12–13 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Church unity depends on us being willing to humble ourselves and forgive others. It’s not going to be easy. Forgiveness always comes at a price. You have to choose not to get even for whatever wrong has been done to you.

Unity Through Servanthood

Mark 9:35 “And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.””

The disciples were arguing over who was the best. The story here is kinda hilarious. They had just arrived to someone’s house and Jesus asked them what they had been talking about on the way there. SPOILER: HE ALREADY KNEW!

They said nothing because they were embarrassed, but Jesus tells them that they will be greater by striving to be lesser. The greatest in the kingdom is a servant. Now this isn’t a competition of who is the greater servant. The point is that God is most pleased when we lay our own desires aside for the sake of serving others to spread God’s Kingdom.

“Servant” 57 times in the NT

“Serve” 58 times in the NT

Servanthood is referred to over 100 times.

Ephesians 3:7 “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.”

God intends for us to serve Him by serving others.

Common Categories of Disunity in a Church

Worship Wars

Facility Focus: Caring more about physical elements of the church than spiritual ones. Fighting over something getting messed up. A chair broken. A drink spilled. A stain made. Yes, we need to be respectful and care for God’s house. But if you are complaining about those details and an unbeliever sees that, and they did it, what are the odds they come back?

Program Driven: You love one specific ministry, but others don’t and don’t support it like you do. They support other ministries that speak to their gifts. They’re not wrong, but we’re not careful, we can get upset because someone doesn’t join in our preferential love for our pet ministry.

Inward Focussed Budget: Monies used more in the church than outside the church. You have one camp arguing to do more things in the church and for the church and another camp arguing to do things outside the church.

Inordinate Demands of Pastoral Care: The Pastor is expected to show up for every little doctors visit, or they are expected to come and visit the house so many times a month or whatever just because they are a member of the church.

More Concerned about Change than the Gospel: Any change whatsoever and you have the villagers with pitchforks waiting to tear down the walls of the change agent.

Predisposition to a Bad Attitude: Some have chosen to be angry people. They either stay mad about something, or they are on a very short fuse.

Humility of Christ: The Antidote of Preferential Disunity

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Just look at Jesus. Remember how He humbled Himself to save you, and you will humble yourself for the sake of unity in the church.

Sometimes all you can do is pray for those who seem to be agents of disunity.

Sometimes all it takes is an honest conversation where you are willing to listen to their concerns and answer those concerns in love.

Responding in kind will not help. We do not return evil with evil, but overcome it with good. Those believers are not evil, but sin in their heart is. And you cannot confront it and overcome it by being evil back to them. You love them in humility. You forgive them. You pray for them. And you pray for yourself in case you have actually done something to cause this issue.

There is a blessing in the church that has unity. Let us pursue that with all of our might.