Overcome division with core values

Whatever the size of the faith community, those coming together should share the Good News and not bear pessimism in their hearts. Certainly small churches easily can be infected by the virus of jealousy looking at the bigger churches.

Church people should be positive believers because they should bear the hope of salvation. They are supposed to see the best in people and situations, trusting that Christ turning all things to good.

When looking to much to others, seeing those big communities, the smaller ones can get discouraged and loose track of the positive path they can follow sharing the love of Christ in the intimacy of the small community.

Being part of the body of Christ we all should feel united with each other and should trust God that He knows best what is good for us and how we can grow. We need patience and should have faith in what happens. We must not try to hasten things. We have to let the events like they come in their due time. No matter what happens we know Christ has us in his righteous right hand.

As a community we should also be very careful not to exclude ourselves from others and should reach out our hand to other brothers and sisters in Christ, willing to share the love of Christ with as many people as possible.

It is when that sharing love and feeling of equality is not there that division can come. It is when the own selfish personality stands in the way that conflicts shall arise and division can occur.

Faith, and the nurturing of faith, are relational endeavours. Relationships aren’t mass-produced.

In the Church of God there is no place for people looking down on others. In the Body of Christ all members, how different they may be, have all to feel united in Christ, willing to help each other in the progress of developing Bible knowledge and making church.

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To remember:

parties to a conflict must share larger or ultimate values in common to resolve their differences

differences in giftedness + differences of opinion on debatable matters => disrupt unity => effecting areas of service

two guiding principles require a shared attitude for all believers in all Churches at all times.

Church leaders = protectors of unity to practice and to hold people accountable to these guiding attitudes

not think of yourself more highly than you ought

Practice the core value together with one voice…

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Preceding:

Is your church small?

a little church

The Big Conversation

The Big Conversation follow up

The Big conversation – Antagonists

The Big conversation – Recognition and refocus

Having a small church mentality

Reasons why you may not miss the opportunity to go to a Small Church

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Additional reading:

On the Affirmation of Scripture

United people under Christ

Patience is the ability to count down before blasting off

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The Daily Gospel and Readings 21 September 2015 (prayersandmeditations.com)

Wisdomforlife

Conflict management 101

“Virtually all theorists of conflict management agree that parties to a conflict must share larger or ultimate values in common as a basis on which to resolve their differences.” (Hugh Halverstadt, Managing Church Conflict, p. 212).

Two important examples

Two areas that significantly disrupt unity are differences in giftedness effecting areas of service and differences of opinion on debatable matters.

The apostle Paul addressed both of these in the NT book of Romans and then provided a larger or ultimate value to protect each area from becoming a source of conflict.
The two guiding principles require a shared attitude for all believers in all Churches at all times.
It is especially the responsibility of Church leaders (as protectors of unity) to practice and to hold people accountable to these guiding attitudes (see: Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:3; Romans 16:17-18; Jude 16).