Tag: unity

  • Letter #32 (Unity–3)

    Dear Small Church Pastor,

         The following is a list of various scriptures that deal with the topic of unity.  I encourage you to read them, including the contextual verses around them.  Unity—Ps 133:1, John 17:23, Ephesians 4:3 & 13 (NLT); Unified—Ezra 3:1, Nehemiah 8:1 (NLT); In One Accord–Acts 1:14; 2:1; 2:46; 4:24; 5:12 (NLT); (According to my concordance, there are 34 verses I did not list that come from the KJSV and the NLT that list the word unite/united.)

         In this third letter concerning unity, allow me to give you a “case study” of what can happen when unity exists from my experience as a small church pastor.  Our congregation had mentioned we should work on something to connect with the young people in our community who were related to our attenders or lived in our general area.  As we prayed and sought guidance from God on how to go about doing this, the idea of creating a safe place for young people to gather on a regular basis was brought up and discussed. 

         The discussions led to a major project that we decided to call The Landing.  The project was the creation of a large youth shelter with a platform on one end for various events, supplemented by a fire pit and sports areas.  The congregation began working on the project “in one accord.”  Through their enthusiasm, dedication and hard work that was covered in prayer, what we refer to as miracles began to occur.

         We had to clear over an acre of thick woods to create the building site.  One of our members worked for an underground utilities company.  The company donated the use of the equipment we needed to clear the woods and prepare the ground.

         The poles for the structure were donated by an individual.  We purchased the trusses, and when it came time for them to be set in place, a commercial contractor brought his crew two consecutive weekends to set them without cost to us.  (Four-man crew for 20 hours of labor) 

         The lathing for the trusses was donated by way of a developer who gave us over 120–2”x12”x14’ planks that were considered scrap concrete form boards.  A local man who owned a sawmill cut enough of the lumber to make the lathing (at no cost). 

         The structure was ready for roofing.  A large congregation in our area heard what we were doing and bought the metal for the roof.  A local resident who installs roofing came to direct and work with us to install the metal.

         It was time to build the platform.  We had enough planks left to create a 13’x40’ platform, but we needed to raise it off the ground.  I got word that a mason I know was cleaning around a house he used to store various building materials and I contacted him.  He donated 150 lightweight 8”x8”x24” blocks, which were more than enough to build the foundation for the platform.

         Some of the leftover blocks became the walls for the fire pit.

         We hired a local electrical contractor to install power so we could put up lights and outlets for night-time activities.  The power pole was donated by the same person who donated the shelter poles.

         Poles for creating a volleyball court were donated.  A moveable standard basketball goal was donated.  A set of small goals for children was donated.  A ski-ball table was donated.  A foosball table was donated.  A child sized billiard table was donated.  We bought an air-hockey table and built a sturdy ping pong table.

         This whole process took a little over 2 years of prayer, discussions, phone calls, decisions, work, scraped knuckles, sweat, hope and dependence on God to move for us, to provide for us, to keep us on track and to anoint our efforts.  God did His part for that small congregation that had to rely on Him to achieve what we were doing together, what we were united about, what we prayed about in one accord.

         Take another look at those scriptures in the beginning of this letter, especially the ones in the book of Acts.  Unity creates miracles.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter #31 (Unity–2)

    Dear Small Church Pastor,

         In the last letter I discussed one of the challenges that will need to be overcome in order for a congregation to become cohesive.  Allow me to invest this letter in presenting a technique I found useful more than once in my ministry.  That technique involves focusing on identifying everything possible that the members of a congregation have in common.

         Despite their differences, such as spiritual gifts, occupations or food preferences, most congregants have many similarities.  Diligently seek those similarities. 

         Most people who attend a worship service enjoy music, regardless of the style.  Talk to them about what types of music they enjoy and incorporate these into your music.  Most of them do want to experience the presence of God individually and corporately.  Ask them how they have experienced God’s presence in the past and give opportunity for the Holy Spirit to move in them while they worship.  Most want the pastor to help them walk closer to Jesus.  Find out what types of teachings and sermons they feel will help them to be more like Jesus and be diverse and creative in how you minister the Word of God to them.  You should be able to find agreement among them when identifying and celebrating these commonalities in worship.   Start with these if you need to as you seek to discover other ways your attenders are already alike.

         Remember that your attenders are people.  They will not only experience things together dealing with spiritual topics.  They also experience life in the physical, mental and emotional realms.  Look for similarities there, too. 

         What types of occupations do they have?  What are their hobbies?  Where do they go for recreation?  Which restaurant is their first choice when they go out to eat?  If they have children or grandchildren, where do they attend school?  In which extra-curricular activities do the younger family members participate?  Do they enjoy reading novels or watching movies?  Are they involved in community affairs?  What’s their favorite sports team, if they are interested in sports?

         Finding similarities on which to focus as you seek to develop strong unity in your congregation will give you information that should help guide your efforts.  There will always be differences of opinion in any congregation.  However, if you can show people how they are more alike than different, your goal of unity will not be as distant as you might think.  When people realize they do have things in common with those who may differ with their opinion, you can use that realization to foster unity.

         An example from my own life: While growing up, I attended a small country church house that was populated with folks from several denominations.  The attenders knew they did not agree on every single doctrinal point in Christianity.  But they had come to a conclusion which, as best as I can determine, is still in force today in that congregation.  They have agreed to disagree without allowing animosity to develop. 

         When they disagree on something, they communicate their opinions, they choose to make compromises when possible, they vote or seek consensus, and then they move on as a congregation.  If they vote on some issue, they all choose to back the results of the vote.  They have chosen to maintain their unity by loving each other.

         Continue praying.  Continue seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit.  Continue teaching about unity that is powered by the love of God.  Continue encouraging unity in your people.  Unity is achievable.

    Sincerely,

     A Small Church Pastor

  • Letter # 30–Unity (1)

    Dear Small Church Pastor,

         Unity is an elusive characteristic that we are told to strive to achieve.  We are told it is good when brothers can dwell in unity.  We should pray for unity.  We should seek it diligently.  We should encourage it.  But just how can we do this? 

         How can we develop unity within our congregation when there are personality clashes?  How do we achieve unity when the children of our leaders argue while in Children’s Church?  How do we unite if there are differences of opinion about how to move out of our four walls and into our community?

         To be honest, as far as I can determine, there are no “one size fits all” solutions to this challenge of creating unity.  There are some actions we can take, though, which will aid in the development of unity among our members.  Allow me to address one of these actions in this letter.

         A congregation that has agreed on a common goal and a plan to achieve that goal will usually develop a spirit of unity as the members do their part in working the plan.  In order to create that goal and its plan, there must be open and honest communication about the various possible goals and ways to achieve those goals.  All ideas presented must be accepted at face value and given the opportunity to be discussed and evaluated.  (Run it up the pole, brainstorm, dump the can and see what falls out, etc.)  Again, open communication and consideration is a must at this point.

         If you can get your congregation/leaders/committee to participate in that first phase of creating a common goal and a plan to achieve that goal, the hardest hurdle to unity is being overcome, and you will begin to see progress in creating the unity needed to achieve that common goal.

         But what do you do if you can’t get them to agree on a common goal and action plan?  If that’s the case, experience says you have a spiritual problem that is going to have to be faced and defeated before unity will arise in your people.  If you realize a small faction, a larger group, or even all the people are refusing to cooperate with others, there is some deception from the devil that has taken hold of minds and has convinced them they should not or cannot cooperate with each other.

         If this occurs, you will have to deal with the situation spiritually first before anything physical can be accomplished.  You will have to fast, pray, teach Biblical doctrine, counsel, encourage, face and conquer spiritual opposition, seek the Holy Spirit’s anointing and guidance and demonstrate love to your people every chance you get as you focus their attention on Jesus.  Then do that again.  And again.  And again.

         Dale Carnegie in the 20th century and Samuel Butler much earlier in the 17th century stated that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.  In order to change a person’s opinion, the heart (the will) must change first.  If you can do your part as pastor to open truth to the people so the Holy Spirit can change hearts that are determined not to cooperate, that is all you can do.  It is the influence of the Holy Spirit spreading the love of God into hearts that can change them.  You can’t do that. 

         You can’t force the changes needed for unity to exist.  You can provide the opportunity for the changes to occur, but you cannot decide for someone else that they will change.  You face this every time you give an altar call for people to respond to the good news about Jesus.  You can tell them about Jesus and forgiveness, but you can’t make them choose to repent and seek forgiveness.  The same thing holds true for creating unity.  You can create opportunities for unity to be developed, but you cannot develop it in a heart.  God has to do that.

         If you will persist in doing your part and rely on God to do His, then you should be able to see unity begin to develop in your congregation.  When you begin to see the cooperation and mutual love that can exist in a congregation that is unified, all those prayers and seeking God will be rewarded as God’s presence envelopes all your people do together. 

         I’ve already written enough for you to pray about for now.  Remember lasting changes will occur slowly or quickly depending on the Holy Spirit’s presence and the people’s willingness to yield to that Spirit.  (I speak from experience here.)  We’ll cover more about unity in the next letter.

    Sincerely,

    A Small Church Pastor