I was at a women’s event when the question was posed, “What’s the one piece of advice you believe the church needs to hear today?” A voice in the crowd spoke up loudly and firmly,
Stop the separation!
It’s the truth. Consider the Church as a whole. We focus more on how we’re different than how we’re the same. Our arguments drive people away from the church instead of attracting them, which means they miss out on the joy, strength, and security of living for God’s Kingdom.
Consider the local church, perhaps the one you currently attend. Think about the comments of discontent. What are the topics that are currently dividing individuals? How eternally important are those topics? Are projects put before people? Is too much time spent on details and not enough on dreams? Does fixing problems overshadow fixing processes?
Narrow the focus a bit further. The local church is made up of individuals, including you. How are you separating others? How are you separating yourself? I was recently listening to a speaker who talked about the feelings of being marginalized in church. Sometimes others marginalize us, but much of the time, we marginalize ourselves. We withdraw one step at a time for a variety of reasons and then wonder why no one is investing in us.
It’s time to stop. Stop the separation!
God created us for community. It’s going to be messy at times. We’re human. We’ll have disagreements, personality conflicts, and problems to solve. We’ll have to set aside our personal agendas for God’s agenda. We’ll have to set aside our pride for humility. We’ll have to reserve our energy to fight only with God’s weapons to protect only his territory. We’ll let God define the boundaries instead of us. We’ll yield in obedience instead of trying to take control.
It won’t be easy, but with God’s help, we can do it. We can stop the separation.
Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together. If one falls down, the other can help him up. But it is bad for the person who is alone and falls, because no one is there to help. If two lie down together, they will be warm, but a person alone will not be warm. An enemy might defeat one person, but two people together can defend themselves; a rope that is woven of three strings is hard to break. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)