By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 3:24
If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
(CSB)
The most abundant element on the planet is oxygen with
silicon second. These elements are both
important as oxygen makes life possible and silicon as a semiconductor making
the computer on which I am writing this blog possible. The abundance of these elements means they
are readily available to the public.
Divisiveness is also abundant in our society and readily available to
anyone turning on their TV or looking at their smart phone.
Less abundant elements have greater value because they are
not so readily available. One such
element would be a diamond which is carbon, transformed under heat and
pressure. The diamond missing in our divisive
culture is unity. However, unity for the
sake of unity has little power or benefit as it can lead to one compromising
values to appear in unity with others.
Such is the problem with political correctness attempting to achieve
unity through prohibition of certain words or actions that could be offensive
to others. Powerful unity is unity with
purpose.
The unity spoken of by Jesus in John
13:34-35 is not a unity of compromise to get along with the world and
invite them into the Church for this invites the temptation to compromise sound
doctrine so as not to offend those outside the Church. Instead Jesus speaks of a unity of purpose to
make disciples (Matthew
28:19-20). Unfortunately, many
churches have lost their focus of spreading the gospel and making disciple,
instead focusing on facility management, entertaining programs and worship, and
growing membership numbers and increasing contributions. It is time for the church to regain a unity
of purpose by,
1)
Guarding against divisiveness, the enemy’s
tactic (Mark
3:24; John 10:10) – Churches focused on facility management, programs,
giving, and membership numbers can begin to have jealousy and compete with
other churches instead of working in unity with them. Churches are not competing businesses but
branch offices with the same leader, Jesus Christ. Scripture speaks of the church as the Body of
Christ consisting of many parts all contributing to the purpose of spreading
the Gospel and making disciples (Romans
12:3-8; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20)
2)
Unity through sacrifice (John
3:16; Romans 5:8) – When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain separating
the most Holy place from the rest of the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew
27:50-51). The separation by this
curtain symbolized the lack of unity between sinful humanity and a righteous
God. However, when Jesus offered up his
sinless body in payment of the death penalty for sin, reconciliation with God
became possible. To achieve unity, God
needed to sacrifice His only Son. For
disciples of Christ the sacrifice is surrender of our life purpose to the
purpose of spreading the Gospel.
However, our works of spreading the Gospel are not what saves us (Ephesians
2:8) but what brings life to our faith (James
2:20). Unity of purpose for the
church comes as Church leadership sacrifices its selfish desire to have the
biggest, most beautiful, and most entertaining worship and unifies around the Gospel.
3)
How the world identifies disciples of Christ (John
13:34-35) – The abundance of divisiveness in the world means one does not
need to go far to find it. When the
church demonstrates unity of purpose, the world sees a valuable and rare
diamond of great value. Jesus’ desire is
for the world to view the Church as diamond people working with unity of
purpose to spread the Good News of the Gospel.
A divided world needs an example of unity to follow. However, the model of political correctness
only serves to limit liberty and leads to compromise of values. Instead, the world needs to see a church with
unity of purpose centered upon following the sound doctrine of Scripture and
empowered by the Holy Spirit. A Church
with unity of purpose is an unstoppable force that can turn the world upside
down (Acts
17:6).
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