Tag: unity

A Team Effort

Old Testament: Judges 1-3

Poetry: Psalm 52

New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12

            I love baseball. (If you don’t, don’t leave just yet, please). Baseball is a team sport.  This was put on display for me recently.  I was watching a Washington Nationals game this weekend and the commentators brought in a retired pitcher who used to play for the Nationals in their 2019 World Series winning season.  During the playoffs that year, Anibal Sanchez came very close to pitching a no-hitter.  It was broken up in the 8th inning by a Cardinals batter.  When asked about it Sanchez said he wouldn’t have come close to having a no-hitter without his teammates making great plays.  He said no pitcher should ever get sole credit for a no-hitter.  It’s impossible without your teammates making plays.   Sanchez wasn’t just being humble, he was 100% right.  It takes a catcher to catch the pitch, fielders to make plays and throw the ball to first, outfielders to run and catch fly balls.  Without good teammates, you can’t pitch a no-hitter.  When a no-hitter does happen, or even rarer a perfect game, the pitcher gets the accolades and they stick a microphone in his face after the game, but it was a team effort.

            The same is true for the Church.  That’s what Paul was trying to get at in 1 Corinthians 12.  There are a few people that are “up front” during a worship service.  The worship leader, the soloist, the scripture reader, and the pastor all have visible roles and they are important.  But they aren’t the only important people.  Many important people are working behind the scenes in nearly invisible ways.  The person running the sound system is important.  The pianist, guitar player, and other musicians are important.  The person who makes the coffee before Sunday School is important.  The people who set up tables for Church dinners are important.  The people who teach children’s church are important.  The people who clean the bathrooms, take out the trash, and vacuum the floors are important.  The people who buy toilet paper are important, very important.  If those people don’t do their jobs what have you got?  A mess.  Also important are the people who type the bulletin and change the slides with the worship song lyrics, and the people who make sure that the heat is turned on or the a/c is turned on.  All of these people are important.  So are the people who faithfully place their financial contributions in the offering, and the people who count and collect those offerings, and the people who write checks so that the pastor can feed their family and the lights stay on.  Even in smaller churches, it takes a lot of people to share their gifts and talents.

            Apparently, in the Church at Corinth, there was a lot of jealousy and rivalry going on between Christians.  It was causing division in the Church.  The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to correct some of those problems.  He wanted them to understand that Churches need to maintain unity to be healthy and carry out the mission that God has given us to do.  Everyone in the church is not gifted in the same way.  Some people love to be up front serving in visible ways.  Some people are not gifted to speak or lead worship, but they have other gifts.  I have a special needs sister, Christine, who wants to help and has claimed her gifts by handing out the church bulletins.  She grabs a stack and goes to each person in Sunday School and gives them a bulletin.  She wants to help by sharing her gifts.  She also loves to sing very loudly in worship and her exuberance is infectious.  (And she likes to say “amen” when her brother the preacher says that he’s winding up the sermon).

            Read through all of the Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament and see how much Paul depended on others to help him carry out his ministry.  Often when he wrote letters to encourage and teach Churches he was in jail for preaching the Gospel of Jesus, which was a threat to both the religious leaders and the Roman Empire.  Paul depended on people to take the letters he wrote from prison and deliver them to the Churches.  He also depended on people to bring him food, an extra blanket, his books and letters, and medicine.  He had poor eyesight so he depended on a secretary to write down his words. He also longed for fellowship with other followers of Jesus.  Paul was the face of much of the teaching and spread of the Church in the first century, but it took a team to support him.

            What are some ways that you are serving in your Church?  You can’t start too early.  Our church has a 7-year-old help take up the offering some Sundays. As you read through 1 Corinthians 12, try not to get too bogged down thinking about the theological issues that continue to divide Christians today (are the spiritual gifts Paul mentions for now or did they stop after the first century?)  It’s amazing how this chapter that Paul wrote to help a church not be divided has caused many Christians to disagree and divide.  If God decides to give you the gift of miracles or healing, who am I to tell you that God did away with those gifts 1900 years ago?  (if you do have the gifts of miracle or healing, please come visit me, I could use it.)

            Remember, there is no “ I” in “Team”.  And there is no I in Church.  It’s all about how we use the gifts God has given each of us to serve.

Pastor Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  What similarities do you see between sports teams or work teams and the team work needed to carry out the work of Jesus and the Church?
  2. Are you currently using any of your gifts to help carry out the mission of the Church?
  3. Are you willing to test your gifts and potentially experience some failures and disappointments as you seek to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ and the Church?  What will you try and risk next?
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Preparing with Prayer

*Theme Week – Jesus: John 17

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 33 & 34

Psalms Reading: Psalm 93

This prayer. Oh if only we all prayed like this. 

Jesus has been speaking with his disciples, trying to impart some final wisdom and direction before his death, leaving them with words of comfort for the trying days ahead that they can’t even comprehend yet. And then he follows that by praying with them and over them. 

He starts off his prayer by glorifying God and asking that God be glorified through him. He’s requesting that everything he’s about to say and do be done for God’s glory, for his plan that he had from the very beginning of the world. From the very start of our existence God planned for his son to save us all. And Christ is recognizing that here, acknowledging that God’s plan and God’s glory come first. 

Then he prays over his disciples, his closest of friends and followers. He has been pouring into them all that God has given him, and he’s praying that it all takes root, that his disciples take the message of salvation and spread it everywhere. He’s praying out his hopes for them, his love for them, his joy in them. How beautiful to see his love and passion for the people God has placed into his care and for his purpose. He prays not that they have it easy, not that they will live perfect lives, but that God will protect them so that they can do his good and perfect will. He prays they are in the world but protected, different from society and so like Christ. 

And then, my favorite part. He prays for us! Jesus Christ prayed for each of us. He prayed for all believers, all those that would hear the message of salvation. He prayed that we, as believers, would be unified. 

This is beautiful and also a little disheartening when I read it. Because I see how little we are unified sometimes. I see how we lose focus. Jesus spent this entire prayer to God focused on God’s plan and God’s glory. He wanted us to be unified in that. But how unified are we? Churches and Christians are so frequently distracted by the little arguments, the differences of opinions, that we lose sight of what Jesus’s greatest hope for us was. He wanted us to be unified in our faith, actively working to show God to others. 

Personal confession time. I have some major personal issues with some people in my church. Some bitterness. Some anger. Some hurt. And I asked myself a few months ago how I was supposed to keep dealing with these people over and over again if all they were going to do was insult me and hurt me? And one Sunday morning, before I was supposed to be leading others before God in worship and adoration, I asked God. “How do I do this? I’m so tired of coming into church Sunday after Sunday and feeling like this. What should I do?” And I had the very clear image of Jesus smiling and welcoming Judas into his disciples. He walked and talked and worshiped and interacted with that man for months. And I thought, “Did he know? He knew he would be betrayed, but had God revealed to him who it would be even from first meeting? And if he knew, how did he do it!?”

 But if Jesus could love Judas and interact with him on a near-daily basis, then I could love this person who angers and hurts me so. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still bitter, probably more often than I should be. But it’s something I’m dealing with and learning to set aside. Usually. It’s going to take more prayer I think. But maybe you have something in your life, or someone, that is keeping you from being unified with your fellow believers as well. 

Take some time today and prepare yourself in prayer with me. Ask yourself: 

What kind of prayer life do I have? Do I have a healthy practice of placing everything before God?

Am I putting God’s plan first in my prayers and in my actions? 

How can I better pray for those around me? For the message of salvation to be spread through me?

Am I so focused on the tiny disagreements that I have with other believers that I lose sight of how I should be working alongside them? 

What should be my specific prayer to God that would help unite me in his great purpose with other members of our church body? 

My prayer for you today is that you spend time deep in prayer with God. Be specific. Analyze your heart and align your plans with God’s plan so that you can better show God’s love and glory to others. Pray that God’s plan be first. Pray over your family and friends that they show his glory and put God’s plan first. And pray over other believers, that they all be unified in spreading the gospel message of salvation to all nations. 

Jenn Haynes

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Watch Out!

Romans 16

June 1

One of the best ways to say “I love you” in the midwest without using those words specifically is to say, “Watch out for deer” when someone is leaving your house in the evening. This is a phrase that is so common, especially in the summer months when deer are more willing to wander further distances before there are plenty of crops to munch on. Ask anyone who has ever hit a deer: the damages to any vehicle can be severe. It is devastating. So, although it is obvious that it is not ideal to hit a deer, nor would anyone want that, we still remind one another to watch out for them. It’s a simple way to show concern to something that is an all too common experience.


The Apostle Paul does just this when he is closing out his letter to the Romans. In Romans 16 he says to the church, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites” (Romans 16:17-18). We all know instinctively that division is not a good thing. Division causes pain and strife in any family, but we see this specifically in the family of God. Just like in the summer months we ought to watch out for deer, so we need to be on guard against people whose goals are to cause divisions and create obstacles. This type of behavior is found in a person who is not interested in growing God’s kingdom by sharing the gospel. Rather, this type of person is interested in dividing God’s kingdom into different sections. Paul further explains the type of people who are always dividing: they are interested in serving themselves and not the Lord Jesus.


We live in a time where politics and culture are always in the forefront of people’s minds. It is hard to take in any form of media without having some type of political statement attached to it. The division that is caused by the polarizing view of politics is something that can be avoided in the church almost altogether. I say almost altogether because there are issues that Christians should vocally stand for such as being pro-life. A majority of political issues fall under the category of “opinion” however. I heard it said well recently that the Apostle Paul could have filled his letters with news concerning the Roman empire. But he didn’t. He spent his time and efforts sharing the good news of the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus. We need to be on guard from anything that divides the body of Christ, and to seek unity in the body of Christ. Especially when the divisions are created over opinions, and not because of a dissent in sound doctrine. Division should be avoided as best as we can. We should never roll over because it is easier, nor should we have a church split because it would be easier. We should make every effort to keep the family of God in a unified stance. We are stronger and better together. The kingdom grows because of our common faith. Let’s grow God’s kingdom together and not divide it into smaller pieces.

-Nathan Massie


Application:

  1. Seek to build in unity with those around you and don’t become divided away from other people on the basis of opinions.
  2. Watch out for people who seek to make divisions in the church for their own gain.
  3. To remember Christ wants us to be unified in his body and to rejoice in the unity
    in faith that we all share.
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Living for Christ and Each Other

Acts 4

April 22

After the events of the day of Pentecost, the healing of the lame man, and the great response of multitudes in Jerusalem, the church faced life in the world of that day. A world of darkness, and difficulty. And yet met it with a flowing out of the life of Jesus Christ. This is ideal Christianity, true, genuine Christianity. Unfortunately, there is also a counterfeit Christianity. It came in shortly after this in the early church, and evidence of it will be seen throughout the book of Acts. Wherever the true church has gone throughout the world, counterfeit Christianity has gone right along with it. How can you tell true Christianity from counterfeit?

Counterfeit Christianity can be recognized externally as a kind of religious club where people, largely of the same social status or class, and bound together by a mutual interest in some religious project or program, meet to advance that particular cause. That is part of Christianity and let’s face it every group that gets together. But that is a far cry from all that true Christianity is. True fellowship consists of individuals who share the same divine life, who are made up of all ages, backgrounds, classes, and status-levels of society, and who, when meeting together, regard themselves as what they really are, brothers and sisters in one family. With that mutual background of love and fellowship they manifest the life of Jesus Christ.

That is what we have here. The key idea is community, commonness, everything in common. They were of one heart and mind. Here were people who, by the Holy Spirit, had been united into one life. They were of one heart. At the very deepest level of their lives they belonged to each other, and that is only possible by means of the Holy Spirit. They did not need to have met someone before to recognize that if he or she is a believer they belong to each other, they are of the same family and they always have the most important thing in common. This was true of these people.

Not only did they have it, but it also manifested itself in the fact that everyone had a new attitude toward the material life. This is not a forced distribution of goods. It is not an attempt to make everyone give up their material things and redistribute them to others. No, it is a change of attitude, saying, nothing that I possess is mine, but everything that I possess is God’s, and therefore it is available to anyone who needs it. So here were these early Christians, one in heart and mind and body, united together. That is the church as it ought to be.

-Andy Cisneros

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. Don’t point the finger at others – but look at yourself. How authentic, true and genuine is your Christianity? Are there any areas where you slip into a counterfeit Christianity? What would the fix be?
  2. How will you practice unity of the church body this week? And next week?
  3. What do you “possess” that is God’s? (Hint: it should be a pretty long list – but go for it – no one word answers here.). How can you show that these belong to God and make them available to anyone in need?
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The Love Chapter

1 John 4

i John 4 11

This chapter starts out with an admonition to “test the spirits to see whether they are of God.” Not every teaching or spirit is true. There is a very important test which can be used to know if a spirit is from God, or not. “By this you know the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God” (4:2).  The test does NOT say:

  • that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and yet is fully God
  • that God has come in the flesh as Jesus Christ, taking on a human nature
  • that Jesus Christ came from some pre-existent state into the flesh.

We must be very careful to read the text for what it says and not read into it what it doesn’t say! The phrase “come in the flesh” means that Jesus the Christ (Messiah) is a real human being, not just dressed up like one.

1 John 4 is actually the “love chapter” in the Bible as love is mentioned 26 times, almost three times as many times as in 1 Corinthians 13 (9 times). A friend once read this chapter as a devotional thought on Valentine’s Day, and it stuck with me as the “love chapter.” So much so that when I read it last February 14th, I thought that maybe the children’s song could also go “Yes, God loves me, yes, God loves me… the Bible tells me so.”  Ultimately, it’s God’s love that ignites our love for others through His Son, Jesus the Messiah. A key verse that summarizes this chapter of love showing how love is of God is verse 9.  “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

God took the initiative, motivated by love, to remedy our sin problem.

Knowing that “God is love” (4:8,16) should motivate us to love others. But the author is not calling for a hippie kind of “All you need is love, love”. He is admonishing us to a love of other “brothers” who believe that Jesus, the human Jesus, is the Messiah/Christ (5:1). This admonition to love is a call for unity among like-minded believers, because they are family as the children of God. The way we love other like-minded believers whom we can see demonstrates how much we love God, whom we can’t see. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also (4:21).

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (4:7)

 

Bill & Stephanie Schlegel

Disputable Matters are Disputable

Romans Chapter 14

The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Ah yes.  Disputable matters.  What are those exactly?  Well, that’s disputable.  We were only given a short list of what those are for sure.  Meat or no meat?  Days all the same or some more sacred?  And from a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 8;  food sacrificed to idols able to be eaten?

 

What modern disputable matters can you think of?  Drinking alcohol?  Voting?  Putting up a Christmas Tree?  Playing Dungeons and Dragons?  Rooting on the New England Patriots?  No, we all know that last one is evil.

 

I have heard arguments for and against these so-called disputable matters.  I have also heard from those who hold a strong stand on them that they are NOT disputable.  In fact, those with opposing stands can often both point to scripture to back their conflicting viewpoints.  What then?

 

As Christians, moreover as people, we are going to disagree about things.  Paul knew this.  He saw it.  And he was concerned about the division within the church that would create.  And for good reason.  I once heard that a church actually split over the chosen color of the new carpet.  That is rather ridiculous.  I don’t know if that would classify as a disputable matter, but the point is that we are easily divided if we are not careful.  The enemy wants to divide us.  Don’t let the enemy win in regards to these issues.

 

Sometimes we have to agree to disagree and leave it at that.  And I am not saying that truth is not important.  It is of the utmost importance.  But there are some things that people are simply not going to agree on.  That doesn’t mean that anything we disagree on is automatically a disputable matter.  But if it is something that we can disagree on and still have fellowship together, then maybe we need to leave it at that.

 

Let’s strive for unity, and still be mature enough to disagree on some matters.

 

I’m sure I cleared this right up for you.  Or maybe you dispute that?

 

Greg Landry

 

 

One Mind

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Acts 15  –  Conflict is Inevitable

Life would be SO much easier (for me) if everyone always agreed with me.

BUT – I am not always right.

AND – conflict is inevitable.

 

Acts 15 is about a whole lot of conflict.

First, the Jewish Christians thought the new Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians needed to follow the whole law of Moses – and prove it with circumcision. However, the Gentile Christians felt their faith in Christ – proven by baptism, not circumcision – provided salvation rather than the old law.  And, the church in Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were teaching and preaching was being torn apart by the division.  Sometimes conflict does that.

 

But, here we get to see some great steps for conflict resolution.

 

  • Go to find wise counsel. Look for spiritually mature and trustworthy individuals.  In this case Paul and Barnabas were sent with a delegation to the Jerusalem church elders 300 miles away (a trip that may have taken them approximately 15 days if they were able to cover 20 miles per day – sometimes conflict resolution takes some time – but it is worth it).
  • Everybody gets to share their side of the argument. And even through “much debate” (vs. 7), we see order and respect – standing to speak and not speaking out of turn.   And, during the debate – lots of listening (rather than merely preparing your rebuttal).
  • After everyone has had their say – listen to the leadership (in this case, James the brother of Jesus – vs 13) and be prepared to peacefully abide by their decisions.
  • And don’t forget to go to God’s Word! James shares words of the Prophet which clearly say that it is God’s desire that all mankind will seek Him and that there will be Gentiles called by His name.  Using this and the evidence that had been shared of how God had been working amongst the uncircumcised but believing Gentiles, James gives his judgment – no circumcision is needed, but Gentiles must follow some basic rules to be set apart to God and holy.
  • Share the findings with those impacted by the decision – aiming for peacefully being of one mind. A letter is written and members of the Jewish church are sent back with the Antioch delegation to share the letter with the body of believers caught in this conflict.

 

The Antioch church received the letter and delegation and “rejoiced” and were “strengthened” and were at peace.  Conflict resolution at its best!  Unfortunately, we know this issue will come up again throughout the New Testament as other churches grapple with the change.  Old traditions die hard for the Jewish believers.  So too, we must be careful to be tuned into God’s will rather than traditions or merely what “I want” or “I think” or has always been done this way.  Search out what God thinks on the subject.  Aim for becoming of one mind – centered on God’s mind – not yours.

 

Just as peace is reigning once again in Antioch, a new conflict transpires!  But, this time it’s a very personal one – and between our two heroes – Paul and Barnabas!  Even great heroes of the faith don’t always see eye to eye.  Barnabas – always the encourager – wants to take Mark on the next missionary journey.  Paul – perhaps more “task oriented” – remembers that Mark left them in the middle of the last journey and doesn’t want to give him a second chance.  “And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another” (Acts 15:39).  It could have easily become an opportunity to grow sour and bitter toward one another, or even God’s work – allowing bad feelings to fester.  However, sometimes a decision to peacefully disagree and get on with God’s work – even if it results in parting ways at least temporarily – can actually deepen relationships and be a useful thing.  In this case, the missionary efforts were doubled since Barnabas went in one direction with Mark to teach and preach and Paul chose Silas and went in another direction to preach and teach.  Differences remained – but both were still actively spreading God’s Word.  And, what fun to later read (Colossians 4:10) that Paul would find Mark to also be very useful in ministry.

 

Life would be so much easier (for me) if everyone always agreed with me.

BUT – I am not always right,

AND – easy isn’t always better.

When we use Biblical models and Godly wisdom to face the conflict, we can grow through the conflict and come out stronger, wiser, and more in line with what God has designed us to be – either as a church, a marriage, a friendship or an individual.  Face your conflict – with much prayer, Bible searching and wisdom and Godly counsel.

 

-Marcia Railton

A Lesson from Nicaragua: Community

 

Missions Spotlight: Nicaragua

alex davila

Alex Davila leads a small group Bible study in Nicaragua.  He also maintains a public YouTube channel and radio broadcast, sharing the Good News.  If you would like to check his website out (La Biblia y las religions: The Bible and religion), you can visit http://labibliaylasreligiones.com. He is also a perfect Spanish-English bilingual and would love to hear an encouraging message from you! 

 

Pictured above is Alex preaching at the Lima Church in Peru.  We love it when Alex accompanies us when we travel to Peru. 

 

Community is a compound word: common and unity.  This means that we are a group of people unified by what we have in common.  This is a perfect example of the Body of Christ: unity through common beliefs. Just like our human bodies are unified by the drive to survive, the body of believers are unified by Christ.

 

Sometimes, as Christians, we can get caught up in our differences.  Quarrels over wine vs. grape juice for communion, tattoos vs. no tattoos as a Christian, and Sunday school before or after the church service take place all over the nation.  Now, some of these quarrels seem silly, but you know as well as I do that feelings are hurt over simple differences in ideas.  In Galatians 5:6, Paul reminds us “for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love”.  It is our faith, exemplified by our love, that counts, not the small differences (or similarities) we may have.

 

Today, I want to remind you that we have more in common with one another than we have differences.  The Church should be the tightest-knit group of people in the universe.  We should have the highest sense of morale and comradery.  Watching the Olympics gets me hyped as I see hockey teams, and ice skating duos, curling teams (yes, even curling can be exciting) accomplish big things together.  Their sense of togetherness and years of hard work to achieve a common goal awakens my drive to seize the day.  Guess what, we have GOD and His son, JESUS CHRIST living in US!!! Imagine the radical acts of love we can achieve with divine power, strength and grace living in us.   Jesus says that the world should be able to know who we are by how we love one another.  What are you doing to show your neighbor your radial love?

 

You have probably heard this verse before, but I want to take it back to its original Greek.  1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own..”. All of the times that you and your are mentioned in this verse they are actually plural which translates from the Greek into English as ‘you all’. Grammatically, this is known as the second person plural, and something our English Bibles hide from us sometimes because we do not have a direct translation for the second person plural that sounds nice in English. The closet thing we have in English is ‘you all’ or if you are in the south then ‘y’all’. Can you imagine your Bible saying “do you not know that y’all’s bodies are a temple of the Holy spirit”? Due to the mistranslation of this verse into English people usually take this verse on an individual level. The meaning of this text then becomes a verse used to support exercise to keep your “temple” nice however what the author originally intended was to mean the body of Christ is the temple. This means that how we treat each other as the body directly correlates to what the temple is like. That is a very important statement! When we are angry with or hate our fellow believers, we are desecrating the new temple that God has set up.

 

If you look at how the temple was treated in the Old Testament we see how holy and sacred it was. We need to translate the holy aspect of the Old Testament temple to the body of Christ today. So what exactly does it look like to be holy to each other? It is patience, kindness, forgiveness, and love. Next time you want to be angry at someone remember that how you treat them affects the holiness of the temple, the place that God dwells. Reading the passage for its original meaning is much more difficult than a simple command to exercise and eat well.  It is a command on how we should be as a community. Try reading the passage in this way, “Do you not know that your community is a temple of the Holy spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God”. This is Paul lifting the community of believers to a higher level. I encourage you to take up that call and to bring even more glory to God’s community of believers.

 

The latter half of Acts 2 describes a true community of Christ.  The Church devoted themselves to teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread together, to giving to the needy, and all the while with glad and sincere hearts (Acts 2:42-47).  Let’s reach out to each other.  Let’s strive to love each other in a radical way that makes the world hunger for what we have.

 

Reaching out is exactly what Alex is doing in Nicaragua with his radio ministry.  Our love doesn’t stop within our culture, or backyard or our nation; we are an international community.  Although we can’t break bread with our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua, we can encourage them even from afar.  Alex would love to hear from you!  Just a simple message saying hi, the church you attend, and that you are thinking of him can go a long way.  You can find him on Facebook under the name ‘Alexander Davila’.  Remember, he is a perfect bilingual, so no need to use a translator.  Radical love awaits us ❤

 

Love,

Josiah & Amber Cain

 

 

Our Week of Unity

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I’ve enjoyed writing this week’s devotions and sharing with you Paul’s words on unity. Today I want to recap what we’ve learned and encourage you to start living out these ideas in your own life.

 

 

I began this week talking about the conflict-ridden times we are living in and the fact that the Church is not immune to divisiveness. The church has struggled with unity since its inception, but this isn’t how it should be. Paul wanted unity for the church in Philippi—he said this would make his joy complete. Unity is also what is needed in every church today. This is why we should pursue it.

 

 

On Monday, I said that to be unified we must be striving towards the same idea—to be of same mind. And the idea around which we should be unified is living out the Gospel. This should be our singular purpose in life and everything else should pale in comparison to it.

 

The next day we moved to Paul’s advice on the way towards unity. Humility, the lowering of one’s self and self-interests, is how he says we should go about achieving unity. Our agendas should be subject to God’s. Paul pointed to Christ as the prime example of living in humility and subjecting oneself to God’s will. We must follow Christ’s pattern of humility if we are to have unity in our churches.

 

On Wednesday, we learned about four enemies of unity and why they’re so destructive to churches. The first is pride, which promotes self-interest instead of the Gospel. The second is gossip, which divides people by pointing out others shortcomings without trying to help them. The third enemy is complaining. When we complain, we are saying that we think something is wrong, but we don’t care enough about the body to address the issue in the proper way. The fourth enemy to unity we see is argument, but not just simple disagreement. Arguments that are fueled by a desire to be proved right and arguments that are filled with bitterness instead of love drive churches apart. All four of these enemies are real dangers that we should fight against with love and humility.

 

On Thursday I spoke about our union with Christ and how essential it is to church unity. Union with Christ has two aspects: knowing him and being like him. In knowing him we must truly understand what he did, why he did it, and what that means for us. In being like him, we must strive to live as he lived, in subjection to the will of God and in the service of others. Christ is the head of the body; if we want unity in the body, we must be united with him.

 

Yesterday I spoke about Paul’s final advice for the Philippians on unity and four principles we can take from it. The first is of reconciliation. When two or more people in the church are divided, the church should work together to bring everyone back into unity. The second principle is about exercising gentleness. Just as Jesus was gentle when caring for those who were weak and needed special attention, the Church today needs that same gentleness in its ministry. The next principle is that we should live our lives worry free from the troubles that plague this age and that, when we do face struggles, we should bring them to God in prayer. The final principle we see is that we should fill our minds with things that are good instead of the rot that is a hallmark of this world. These four principles will go a long way towards promoting unity in our churches.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these devotions this week, along with the words of Paul to the Philippians. But we are not called to simply be hearers (or readers) of the word—we must also be doers. The words of Paul to the Philippians are challenging, but the results from following them would be life changing and paradigm shifting for the Church. If we want to see unity in the Church, we must start by applying these ideas in our own lives as individuals—living in humility, having the Gospel be our primary focus, and not gossiping, complaining, or arguing.

 

– Joel Fletcher

Paul’s Final Exhortation for Unity

Philippians 4

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Yesterday we took a break from our discussion on unity in the body to talk about our union with Christ—the head of the body. Today we’re back to the theme of unity in the Church and looking at Philippians 4, where Paul offers the Philippians some final exhortations for unity. From Paul’s advice to the church at Philippi in this passage, we can see four principles that, if applied, will help promote unity in our own churches.

 

The first principle we see here is reconciliation. In verse 2 Paul calls attention to an apparent disagreement that was causing strife among two of the woman in the church. He urged them to “be of the same mind in the Lord.” These women had been workers, alongside Paul, for the Gospel and this disagreement between them was hindering their ministry. Personal differences should never get in the way of our commitment to the Gospel. When disagreements arise, the church should work together towards reconciliation so that it can get back to its primary focus.

 

The second principle we can take from this passage is to live gently. Paul says in verse 5 (NRSV) to “Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” Gentleness is one of the Fruit of the Spirit, but one that I think is often overlooked. This comes from a misunderstanding of what gentleness is all about. Many people equate gentleness to weakness, but it is actually a sign of strength. A weak person is one who lacks strength but a gentle person is one who appears weak for the benefit of others. Gentleness allows us to care for those who are weak and need special attention. Jesus was gentle—this aided him greatly in his ministry to sick and inflicted. If we want to have inclusive churches that minister to the needs of those who are weak, we must promote gentleness.

 

 

Living worry free is another principle Paul pushes in this passage that can aide our goal of church unity. In verses 6 and 7 (NRSV) he says “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Worry and anxiety are enemies of the Gospel. Worry is a prison; the Gospel is freedom. Worry keeps us focused on the evils of the age we live in—all the bad things that come about from our sinful nature. It takes our minds off the hope we have in the future Kingdom of God, where everything will be made right and worry rendered obsolete. When bad things do happen in our lives, we shouldn’t spend time thinking about how much worse they could get or why it is happening to us. We should instead bring our concerns before a God who can offer us peace that we won’t find anywhere else, and that can get us through this evil age until we dwell with him in His kingdom. A church at peace and without worry is one that is focused on the future and making a difference in the present.

 

 

The final unity principle Paul offers in Philippians 4 is filling our minds with that which is good. In verse (NRSV) he says, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” There are a lot of things in this world that try to grab our attention and many of them are not beneficial. Our minds our shaped by what we take in, just as our bodies are by the food we eat. This is why what we think about is so important. If we want to get good out, we must put good in. If we want to be unified in our purpose, we must be unified in our thinking, and that thinking should be on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, and excellent.

 

While they are not always easy to follow, these four principles will go a long way towards promoting unity within the Church.

 

– Joel Fletcher