Ever heard the phrase: the church is the people, not the building? Well if it’s the people (in other words, us), then we need to make sure that we’re working together for the church to be effective. As the church, our responsibilities are to evangelise sinners and equip saints. Basically, to tell people about Jesus and to help those who have heard to become spiritually mature. But if we’re divided, the task is impossible. As humans, we’re never going to get on with everyone all the time. And in some ways that’s a good thing. Disagreements can lead to new ideas, fresh ways of doing things and a stronger church in the end. Yet when these disagreements become so deeply rooted that the church becomes divided, it loses its focus and its effectiveness. When we start to have leaders with different ideas, with the rest of the church following who they agree with, we end up with something like the situation Paul described in 1 Corinthians. ‘One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ” (v.12 NIV). This is not a good situation to be in. Instead we should be united in following Christ. United as the body of Christ. Let’s check our vision and focus. If we’re all working towards the same vision and are focused on God, we’ve got a great chance of staying united. We also need to make sure we’re loving others in the church. Correcting, encouraging, disagreeing, decision-making, mentoring – all in love. If our motive is love, there’s more chance we’ll stay united as God’s church.

What Now?
Find out what the vision of your church is. Pray that as the church you’d be united in working towards that vision.