Under God?Примерок

Indivisible

So far in this Bible Plan, we’ve reapplied some terms from American government to who we are as the Church. Indivisible is a word we use to describe our nation, but I think what we see is anything but. We can easily get worked up by it all. But what if all of that passion, indignation, and energy turned on the real problem facing us? It’s a way bigger issue that the Church is divided than it is for any particular nation or other group of people to be divided. Why? Because God created the Church to be one, Jesus prayed before going to the cross that we would be one, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to be one.

Guess who has the most interest in the Church being at each other’s throats? Our enemy. And that’s a singular enemy, not plural. The church down the road is not our enemy. That denomination that does things differently from us is not our enemy. The worship leader who plays songs you don’t like is not your enemy. We have one enemy, and his mission is the same as it always has been: to steal, kill, and destroy. To steal our unity, kill the power of our local gatherings, and destroy our credibility and influence with the world we’re called to reach.

With different kinds of churches around the world and even in our own communities, how do we become unified? We have to start focusing on what we’re for and stop focusing on what we’re against. We’re for the lost finding Christ. We’re for the broken becoming whole. We’re for the hurting finding healing. We’re for lifting the name of Jesus higher than the name of our local church, denomination, or ministry.

We also need to admit how desperately we need each other. We simply cannot significantly impact the world alone. We can’t even reach our own city alone—probably not even our own street. We need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.

Unity is not uniformity! We have strength in our diversity!

Our style of doing church isn’t the best or only way. It’s an expression of how we worship. Jesus sent us all on one mission—The Great Commission. He told us where (the whole world), what (the Gospel), but He didn’t say how. How is just a method. One message. Many methods. Paul laid this approach out clearly in all of his varied approaches to presenting the Gospel based on the diverse audiences he preached to. Let’s not get hung up on the how.

But the simplest way to show the world we are one boils down to one word: love. Jesus said this is what we should be known for. Not for our buildings. Not for our t-shirts. Not for our music style or our hairstyle. Not for the way we vote or the things we boycott. And for sure not the way we berate each other on social media. He said the world would know that we’re His followers by the way we love each other.

Pray: Father God, thank You for adopting such a beautiful diversity of people into Your one big family. Expand our hearts for our brothers and sisters living in extreme persecution. Expand our hearts for the other churches in our community. And most of all, help us be the answer to Jesus’ prayer that we would live in unity loving each other in a way that makes the world take notice. In Jesus’ name, amen.