The subject of the discussion was, “How to overcome conflict in the church.” One brother felt it was a moment when he was not going to help the devil with his silence. So, he said out loud what was on his heart. He said, “When a decision in the church doesn’t go the way I think it should, I just quietly go off and set my face against it.”
How many times have we seen brethren set their faces against the work of others? Or, just as bad, how many times have we done it? My best guess is that church members do not as much set their faces “against” brethren or projects, but rather they just go about their own business.
The old saying, “The family that prays together, stays together,” is equally applied to the church.
Even when there are disagreements about process or opinion, the faithful still want everyone to do well. This is expressed in our thanksgiving for each other and our prayers for each other’s work for the church. Paul prayed thus:
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
I contend that if everyone in the Lord’s church rose each morning with these prayers on our lips for each other we wouldn’t know ourselves in 10 years. All the petty differences that escalate into divisions will be circumvented by acts of good will in the name of unity.
Remember, unity is at the heart of evangelism. Jesus expressed the depth and impact of that unity when he prayed:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).
John Staiger
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