The Greater Witness

1) We are on the same team fighting the same enemy. No sports team has ever won championships when they were fighting and bickering with one another. Championship teams usually are unified and they work well together. Too often we, as Christ-followers, find ourselves losing some big time games. Instead of seeing other churches and Christ-followers as teammates, we see each other as opponents. Shouldn’t we be focused on fighting Satan, our real enemy? But the sad fact is that we end up making each other the enemy. No wonder, we haven’t been able to do much damage to Satan and his demonic influences.

2) We need to learn how to drop our egos and logos. When was the last time, we rejoiced when we heard that another church was seeing a lot of people being saved through the Gospel? When was the last time, we celebrated the growth of another church, especially in our neighborhood? The problem with the Church today is that we are consumed with making much about ourselves rather than Jesus Christ. The sooner we drop our egos and logos and put more of the focus on Christ, the sooner we will see greater things happen within a city.

3) We are able to make a bigger splash when we come together as one Church. Do you remember when you were younger and you did the cannonball in the swimming pool? I still remember trying to jump into the pool (with one knee up) and trying to make a big splash to get the lifeguard all wet. What would happen if 10 or 15 or 30 of us all jumped in at the same time?! We would definitely get the lifeguard and the old granny on the sun chair all wet! I don’t know about you, but I want to make a huge splash for Jesus and I know that I cannot do it alone. There is power when we come together.

4) We must remember that God loves unity and so does our church members. There is something about seeing children play together without fighting that brings great joy to the parent’s heart. God loves it when His children are getting along and are unified. In fact, this was one of Jesus’ greatest prayers (Jn 17). I have observed over the years that it is usually the pastors and leaders of ministries that promote (or fuel) the disunity in the Body of Christ. When I talk with people who are “just” members, they long for their church to work together with other churches. They are hungering for it. They are praying for it. Maybe some of us who are leaders in the churches need to rethink about how God judged the leaders in the Bible so harshly. With great privileges come great responsibilities.