Unity – The Simple Pastor

Leadership and Unity

Working Together & Supporting Each Other

To my fellow workers in Christ,

The Lord has called us part of the leadership group placed in the church today. Even though I am a simple pastor of a smaller church body, I am part of this group and hear from and led by the same Spirit as the pastor in the largest congregation on earth. The following scripture leads me to the thought I have today. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.(Eph 4:4-6 NKJV)

Here is the situation I feel we must humbly and honestly investigate and determine if we are fulfilling our Lord’s will or part of a problem of division within the body of Christ. As leaders, bishops, pastors, evangelists, deacons, teachers, and priests in a Royal Priesthood, every believer who places God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and Lord and Savior of our life has been called and commanded to strive for unity within His Body.

Here in the United States and around the world, do the lost and non-believers see us one? They do when they choose to persecute Christians physically or verbally. They feel comfortable attacking any person that claims the name of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The world does not care about denominations or the many differences denominations have in doctrines; they see all of us as fair game to go after.

Why don’t we who are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, and now called the children of God, servants of the Master, and soldiers of God to share the truth to those living behind the gates of the devil and set them free from deception, see each other as one and act as one? We seem more drawn to what divides us than what unites us. The lost to often see this disunity in local assemblies to the national body of believers.

To you bishops, to us pastors, to you evangelists, to you teachers, to you deacons, and to every believer who is a priest in the Royal Priesthood, every one of us is on the hook to strive for unity in the body. We need to ask ourselves if we are part of the solution and following His Spirit or the problem of disunity by following our flesh and deceptions of Satan.

As a wise man once asked me, “Are you simply going to complain and be part of the problem, or are you going to do something and be part of the solution?” I choose the latter by:

I choose not to listen to any gossip or dirty laundry about other church fellowships. If they preach Jesus Christ as Lord who paid my sin’s price, I have not problem supporting them in the conversation. I may disagree with what is occurring but instead of listening and nodding my head, and God forbid, maybe feeling good about a challenge to the competition, I will support them as family and as quickly as possible, lead the conversation to prayer for the situation.
I choose not to get into conversations that can quickly turn into an argument regarding secondary beliefs and doctrines. Topics such as; the end times, rapture and tribulations, prophecy, Pentecost and gifts of the Spirit, are just a few landmines in discussions. I will share my opinion and thoughts if asked, and if my view is different, I will ask them to “consider” the way I view it. I must fight arrogance that leads to a religious spirit and seek wisdom and learning that only comes from being humble in the extent of my knowledge.
I will attempt to show up to activities other fellowships have invited me to and interact with them. Who am I to judge if they are worthy of my time when I can only see what is on the outside of a person and not what is in their heart.
As a pastor, I will talk and act to match what I say and preach. I will seek to be transparent to those around me.
I will not try to homogenize (when all must have the same views) other’s beliefs but allow each saint to be the person the Lord has developed in them. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, His burial and resurrection, His Ascension and His Kingship are good enough for me in what we must agree on.

What are your thoughts on how we can advance unity in the body of Christ without compromising the Gospel?

In your church family?
In your town?
In your state?
In this country?

God Bless you for taking the time to read this, and feel free to add your thoughts. John

Do We Really Want Unity?

The Challenge of Unity in the Face of Denominationalism

You may agree with my view or not and that is fine, but seeking unity in the church within the denominational backdrop seems very contradictory.

I am a pastor of a non-denomination church. A frequent question asked deals with my thoughts on denominations versus non-denomination and unit of the body of Christ.

Let me first state I have developed great friendships and relationships with several pastors in my area who lead denominational churches. Baptists, Assemblies, Vineyard, and others. We have a bond of brotherhood that has turned into a true strength for each of us. We meet each week to pray and talk, sharing lessons we are teaching, bible discussions, issues we may be having and prayer. Over time many the walls that have separated us because of our denominational associations have slowly disappeared brick by brick. We have come a long way in our overcoming division in our move toward unity.

As a non-denominational pastor, I do see the benefit of being part of a denominational organization. Denominational pastors have available to them and the church they lead resources over and above what is available to a non-denominational church.

Financial availability, advice, and direction
Discipline issues regarding the pastor or other church leaders
Teaching support programs
- Seminaries and universities
Coaching support for new or young pastors and leaders

Being part of a denomination does have its strengths, but it also creates a real challenge to unity in the church within a community. I love my fellow brothers who pastor denominational churches around me, but no matter how sincere hearts are, divisions exist within the body. There are formal and informal rules that create these divisions. Think about why there are denominations in the first place. They were not created to advance the Christian influence and ministries but created because of differences in beliefs. (1Co 1:10 NKJV Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.)

I am sure all believers and disciples of Jesus Christ would love to see a powerful body that works together strengthening and edifying the entire body. For the church to show the unbelievers the love of Jesus Christ by our love one for another. (Joh 13:35 NKJV By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”)
I cannot see how the unity of the body of Christ will occur with denominationalism in place as it is today. Why keep the denominational names and ties unless there is a need to keep some semblance of individual identity.

My brother pastors are awesome men and smarter than me for sure. I am a simple pastor and a believer in Jesus Christ and the simplicity of the Gospel that struggles with the whole notion and concept of denominations.

I can only imagine what our Lord Jesus Christ would tell us if He physically visited us here in the United States. Would He start with the moral decay we are witnessing in our society, or rebuke us in the church for our thought process and lack of unit? I am thinking the latter, for if we were as unified as the early church was, we probably would not have the problems in the church we presently have. It is hard to influence society when the church is not that much different many times.

Divorce
Drugs
Pornography
Love of money
Love of self

Shall I go on?

You may agree with my view or not and that is fine, but please do not forget to pray that His Spirit influences the hearts of the leaders God has placed in His Body here in America, to do His Will and create the unity in the church body that glorifies Him and effectively does His Will. (1Co 12:25 NKJV that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.)

God Bless, John, the simple pastor

Christian Unity, are we strangers in this world?

NKJV Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (2) elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied….1Pe 2:9-12 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (11) Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, (12) having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

These verses expose a critical fact that many Christians never really grasp or even consider in their lives. It can change the way they look at the world around them and the lost of this world. It can also change the way Christians look at one another.

We are in the world but not of the world…Christian unity needs to become a priority. If we truly believe we are citizens of the kingdom of God and not citizens of the world, we need to treat one another as part of the same team. Unfortunately Christian denominationalism has produced a Christian Body that fights more with itself than the true enemy, Satan and his army.

Let us first look at how we view situations and the way we view others.

I live in northern Minnesota and we view people who live in various parts of the state differently. Some people we see living in certain areas as the “rich and yuppie”. Other areas of the state are the “artsy”, and still other areas have people who we see are “clickish and clannish”. We identify the differences they have with us and hold our identity as different and apart from them in many ways.

However, have you ever traveled to a different state or country and run into someone from Minnesota or the state you reside in? Those differences seem to disappear and we find unity with a fellow Minnesotan. Why is this? It is because we are on someone else’s turf or territory and find comfort and a relationship with someone from the state we live in. Our paradigm of how we view that person has changed and it reflects in the way we act with them. They can easily become a friend and companion.

How does this have anything to do with the Christian Church?

The scriptures throughout the Bible make it clear this world is not our home. The example of the Israelite’s shows how no matter where they were they were not considered welcome or part of the area. The apostle Peter describes us, who are believers and followers of Jesus Christ, with the Greek word parepidēmos, which is defined as: one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives, a stranger, sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner.

Do we act as Peter describes? As aliens, strangers living in this world with worldly cultures and beliefs?

We should see other believers that go to different fellowships as having something in common that creates a relationship of unity that supports us in the face of the “world” we live in.
For those that truly believe that Jesus is God and Lord and King, the world sees that in us and sees us as strangers living in their world. The Holy Spirit in us leaves an identity mark that the world sees clearly in how we act, talk and share the truth.
- Do you find yourself trying to hide this distinguishing identity?

We as believers must get past the divisions that we have put in place with one another.

Is the difference we have with another Christian fellowship really that critical that we will not nurture a relationship with them?
Do we place the pride in the name of the church we attend and the number that attend there over the unifying name of Jesus Christ? The tower in Babel was seen as an object that all the citizens could claim identity with and have pride in what they were a part of. (Gen 11:4) Churches can fall into this same error with placing their identity on items like holiness standards, exercising of the gifts, number attending, and doctrinal statements that the Bible does not prove out.

We as believers in the truth and salvation in Jesus Christ need to live and share in the fight for independence from sin, Satan and the world. We need to bind together and not separate. What Benjamin Franklin stated to those promoting independence from England is relevant to us. Ben stated, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

John