Unity is not uniformity. Uniformity comes from without. Unity is not unanimity. We will never agree on everything. In fact sometimes, we must agree to disagree agreeably. Unity comes from within; it is a matter of the heart.
And, speaking of the heart, keeping the unity in a church is a lot like exercising the heart. In order to exercise the heart muscle, you have to exercise the large muscles of the body—the legs and the arms. Unity, like the heart, may very well be the most important muscle in the body. And, to keep it healthy here are some exercises:
1. Live by vision and values.
Develop a compelling vision that is bigger than any one person or one group. Since people tend to forget the vision, communicate it often through every means and at every opportunity.
2. Focus outward, not inward.
Nothing will create disunity faster than when the church looks inward. Too many church members ask, “What’s in it for me?” They value their comfort and their conveniences more than reaching others. Help the church to look at what it can do. It may not be able to do everything, but it can do something. Discover the one something your church can do for the community and then do it.
3. Look to the future more than the past.
Too many churches are looking backward – “The way we have always done it.” Looking to the past is like trying to drive your car while only looking out the rearview mirror. While we are not to ignore or neglect the past, we are to learn from it, so we can march boldly into the future. Giving the church a missional and kingdom mindset will do much to foster unity in the body.
4. Move people to the frontlines of evangelism and ministry.
I have been told that in the military grumbling and complaining increases in direct proportion to the farther one is from the front lines. On the front lines people are concerned about their lives and the lives of the fellow soldiers next to them. In the church, we need to move people out of their seats of complacency and inactivity to positions of service and ministry.
5. Reinstate the cause.
Most churches begin as a cause, become a community, but settle as a corporation.
When churches reach the corporation stage they are more concerned about their rights and conveniences rather than the original cause of reaching people for Christ. Find a new cause based on the old Great Commission that will challenge and motive your congregation.
6. Have a project that is bigger than one person or one group.
Too often churches settle for small plans and puny thinking that doesn’t require much effort to accomplish. Leading a church to accomplish a ministry effort or evangelistic thrust or a building campaign requires the entire church to come together builds unity and keeps people on the same page.
Decide now to implement some of these exercises to keep the unity in your church. It may well be the most important life-changing strategy your congregation has ever experienced.