Still On Unity 

You don't need to be a prophet to see and foresee that the issues facing and will continue to face the church in our lifetime are that of diversion by division. Diversion from the mission to preach the Gospel because we are distracted, divided and focused on issues of less importance, to the detriment of the transforming power of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is able to save, transform and heal our society.

When I worked for the regulator of health and social care in England a few years ago, we could easily work out the health, strength and culture of an organisation from reading their board papers and minutes of their Executive team meetings. The problems they were discussing and seeking to solve tells you a lot about their direction and whether or not it's in sync with their vision and mission.

In the same way, you could tell a lot about a church from the issues most paramount on their agenda. The media headline a few weeks ago is a case in point - "Methodist church to allow same-sex marriage after 'historic' vote". How did we get to a point where an issue so clear in scriptures has become a talking point, let alone voting to uphold what scriptures so strongly oppose? It's because we are distracted, divided and we've lost sight of the power of the gospel.

It's not only same-sex marriage that divides churches, but also race relations, the role of women in the church, worship style, how we pray, gender issues, and even ridiculous things like pews or no pews. I am not arguing against discussing these culturally relevant things (even pews) in light of scriptural truths. My issue is that they take an inordinate amount of our time, to the extent that we can't seem to resolve them without falling out with each other and splitting churches over them. While the gospel of Christ, the very reason why the church exists, is relegated to the background if not totally abandoned.

The 1st century church faced similar challenges and we have a lot to learn from how they dealt with division. In Acts 6, after the supernatural growth of the church following the move of the Spirit at Pentecost, the devil set in to divide the church. It came in the form of the "D" word - discrimination. Widows were treated differently depending on whether they were Hebrew or Greek speaking (Acts 6:1). The Apostles did not neglect the issue, they gave it the attention it needed without being distracted from their primary calling - the gospel.

"So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith". (Acts 6:2-7).

The Apostles recognised and dealt with the issue by choosing and delegating people filled with the Spirit and wisdom to address the issue. At the same time, they committed themselves to prayers and the ministry of the word. I would imagine their prayer meetings were filled with prayers to God for forgiveness, repentance and rededicating themselves to God and his mission - the gospel. I imagine them teaching and preaching about the need for equality, love, fairness, caring for one another and the primacy of the gospel.  

It is the devil that sows discord and division in the body of Christ. It's the same old, often effective tactic which we must not be ignorant of. There is a society out there, longing and seeking for a way out of darkness, while we are debating and fighting amongst ourselves. That's what the devil wants. We can't let him have his way.

We must faithfully resolve our differences and fight hard to ensure we are about the gospel. Nothing must take the place of preaching the gospel. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16). Let the Gospel take its rightful place in our Churches! Let's put aside our division, make allowance for each other's weaknesses without compromising the scriptures. Let's stand for unity, so that the gospel can flourish as it did in the early church.

To be continued...