Recently I wrote about “5 Ways to Destroy Unity in Your Church.” This week’s post is a follow-up, and I’m trying to be more positive. For those who want to do more than not destroy unity, how can we fight for unity in our churches? Here are 7 suggestions:

 

1. Become more like Christ. That may sound like an obvious, “Sunday school” answer, but it’s Paul’s answer in Philippians 2:1-11. The more your members have the mind of Christ, the more unified you will be as a church family.
2. Deal with disagreements. Too often people try to sweep conflict under the church rug instead of handling disagreement in a biblical way (Matthew 18:15-20). If there is an issue between two people, deal with it quickly.
3. Refuse to gossip. Gossip is an issue that’s easy to spot in others and easy to overlook in ourselves. We may pass it off as sharing concerns or sharing prayer requests, but if we participate in gossip we are destroying unity.
4. Apply 1 Corinthians 13. I know most people think of the “love” chapter as a passage you’re supposed to read at weddings. But the immediate context is clearly talking about the relationships we have in our church family.
5. Get busy with the mission. Too often church members are divided and fighting because they’re not busy making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Get busy making disciples, and odds are you won’t have time to fight.
6. Have realistic expectations. I’m talking about the expectations you have about other church members, particularly about your leaders. Every member of your church is battling indwelling sin, so expect some conflict.
7. Be intentional about relationships. Relationships don’t happen on their own. If you want to promote real unity in your church, you’re going to have to go out of your way to build relationships with people you don’t know.

Originally published February 20, 2017 on landoncoleman.com.