Unity that changes the spiritual atmosphere

Neither was willing to back down, but after an intense evening of arguing, one leader finally decided to bring an end to the bickering. ​“Fine! Let’s agree to disagree,” he said. ​“You do church your way, and I will do it God’s way”.

I’m writing this in a week full of leaders’ meetings in Manchester, Liverpool and Chester as well as an Intercultural church forum in Wolverhampton. It is so encouraging for us to see so much energy and passion from churches that want to collaborate to make Jesus known in their region.

However, the kind of unity that changes the spiritual atmosphere of a region does not come easily. 

Sponsored

Yet in Acts 2, we see the unity of the early church: ​“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts”. It may take time and commitment, but we can achieve so much more together than we can by ourselves. 

So, if you are pulling leaders together for the first time or looking to go to the next level in your city, here are three important principles to remember:

The worst punch I ever received was the one that I didn’t see coming. Paul says in Ephesians 4:3 that we must ​“make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit”. He is saying that even though our unity comes from God and is given to us, we should expect it to require effort and to bring challenges. As leaders, we know this: nothing in ministry flourishes when it is not being cared for. Unity is hard work… but we are called to roll our sleeves up and get our hands dirty. 

• A church for every 1000? 
• Every man, woman and child to hear the gospel?
• A rising tide in the city of stronger and more generous churches supporting one another? 

Whatever your vision is, keep it clear and keep talking about it. The purpose of your unity must outweigh the cost of the challenges. If you forget the compelling centre, then you are in danger of being distracted or disheartened. Unity is hard work… but it matters.

Unity always has a bond (sticky centre) and a boundary (edges or limitations) that work together to create culture and impact. If the centre and the edges of your unity are not in synergy with one another, then you will inevitably experience unnecessary distractions and frustrations. 

The boundary of your unity will likely have some theological elements and some practical ones. For example, I spoke to a group recently whose vision was to share the gospel, but they could not agree on what the gospel meant. The centre and the edges were not clear, which caused unnecessary confusion and lost clarity. Boundaries protect unity and help people to have confidence in what you are for. Unity is hard… so it must be protected.