At the beginning of 2019 we took on a different approach to finishing both our series on Church Growth, or lack thereof, and the Study of the Book of Proverbs. Instead of alternating weekly between two subjects, as we have in the past, we are proceeding this year by carrying one subject to completion and then next to completion. Please be assured we will finish each subject, Church Growth and Proverbs. We will wrap up the series, “Why My Church is NOT Growing” with the last two postings focused on disunity within the Body of Christ.

Why My Church is NOT Growing – Part 22 – Seed of Disunity

People’s fundamental lack of acceptance of who God created them to be is the seed of disunity. Ironically, it is in those differences that our individual beauty and value is found. In the passage of Scripture taken from Ephesians, chapter four, cited in the last posting, God addresses the need and reason for different spiritual gifts and ministry positions within the Body of Christ.

First, we have to realize that God’s grace is upon us to do certain things and to hold certain positions. If we attempt to act outside of that grace, we will not be able to adequately perform or serve as God intends us to and as is need for the rest of the Body of Christ. Grace enables us to do everything we do in life, without grace, we could do nothing; just as apart from Christ we can do nothing worthy of doing.

The saints must be equipped properly for God work. It is through God’s grace given to the apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors, and teachers that these Believers become equipped and ready to use their spiritual gift and talents for Kingdom service. Additionally, the edification of the Body is the responsibility of these individuals as well. Yet, when these individual and the task they are given to do is not respected by both themselves and others disunity is often the result. If the pastor wishes to be a teacher, he could well interfere with the work of the teacher within that community. If the prophet wishes to be a pastor, he will most likely be a miserable failure and make others miserable in the process. If an evangelist attempts to be an apostle, they will find they are restless in their work establishing churches and longing to be on the road sharing the gospel. If the saints resist the work of these individuals, or worst wish to be these individuals and believe they can do better, they will become agitators and never grow as God wishes them to grow. In all of this disunity will run ramped.

A further and deeper purpose of the leaders is edifying and building the Body of Christ in order to bring it into unity around one faith; faith in the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. To bring people to a fuller and deeper understand of who Christ is to His Church and to them as individuals. In so doing the leaders help the individual members of Christ’s Body to grow up in their faith and become grounded in their doctrine so that they are not easily led astray by false doctrine or wrong teachings.

Growing people often requires speaking the truth to them. Truth should always be spoken in love and for the hearer’s well-being, not the speaker’s fulfillment. We are not to go about bashing people over the head with our “truth”, but we are also not to remain silent when “truth” needs to be spoken. If we refuse to hear the truth, we will not grow as we should in Christ. It is only through hearing and accepting the truth that we can move from glory to glory being recreated in the image of Christ. If each individual continually focuses on the “in love”, aspect of presenting the truth then there will be less disunity caused by correction, exhortation, encouragement, and the like.

We all must do our part for the Body of Christ to be what it should be. We must all do our part to keep unity within the Body of Christ. We must all do our part in actually manifesting unity to the Body of Christ. Finally, we must all do our part to promote unity within the Body of Christ. Then and only then can the Body of Christ be what Christ desires for it to be.

Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.