Unity - a word used and misused today. To my mother, it is a denomination and belief system. To some it is patriotism. To others it is bi-partisanship. To me, it is working together in spite of and often with differences of opinions because the mission is more important than the method.
People must work with people of different opinions, approaches, methods, and ideas - and this is true of every environment: the home, workplace, neighborhoods, community, nation, and yes, churches.
The Bible gives principles concerning how to do this, and also gives a mandate that it is to be done. We are to live peaceably with all men. We are to forgive those who hurt us. We are to work through the issues to "gain a brother." We are to follow our leaders, and we are to lead gently and kindly.
No one is perfect in all counts, but perseverance should be the overriding principle. We are too quick to call it quits, to sever our relationships, and to move on. This is not to say that there are not times when relationships must be severed. However, we must do everything we can, make every effort to resolve any issues before we call it quits. We must learn to appreciate our differences, and celebrate our similarities.
Disunity hurts, frightens, and spiritually endangers a church. As one famous person (and I don't remember who, off hand) said, "United we stand, divided we fall." This is the biblical position that Jesus took when the Pharisees accused him of being an emissary of Satan when Jesus cast out devils. Jesus' response was, a person cannot stand who is divided against himself. Perhaps that is the real problem anyway - too many people oppose themselves?
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Pastor Greg