Hello my readers. On twitter last week someone asked “Christians: What do you think are the biggest obstacles to unity in a local church?” It got re-tweeted and between the original tweet and re-tweet there were some really thoughtful replies. Below I share some of them, ones that particularly jumped out at me or I especially agreed with… I am not sure how to link to the thread, but it was shared by @kylecarlson and @beardonabike . The replies are from a variety of people:
♦Making unity (or anything other good thing) the goal, rather than Christ. A church whose common goal is Christ will have a better chance at unity than a community whose common goal is unity.
♦The false ideal that we need to agree on every minute detail theologically, politically, etc, to have communion.
♦Non-discipleship in how to process and actively engage the offenses we pick up. I estimate that Paul spent 32% of his letters doing this.
Someone replied: The offenses we pick up? Like when others wound us?
Reply back: Exactly! What do do when we are hurt? Do we attack or avoid? Do we have the skills and spiritual formation for a way beyond those natural responses?
♦1. Lack of transparency
2. Desire for growth (numbers) over growth (depth and discipleship)
3. Misunderstanding the difference between cultural differences, doctrinal differences, and moral differences
4. (maybe) Pastors that are too reliant on congregants for financial support
Someone replied: Say more about the transparency part.
Reply back: My opinion is people spend about half of their emotional energy trying to hide who they really are. Transparency, especially from church leaders, seems to breed trust with one another and relief to pastors who feel the struggle of “hiding” who they really are.
♦Depth. If you don’t know someone beyond the surface level you can’t truly love/help/encourage them the way then need. Shallow water stays stagnant. So do shallow relationships.
♦The assumption of unity without acknowledging our differences. “Of course we all believe X right?”
♦I don’t think contestants are looking for unity. They have their own circle of friends or family and not interested in widening the circle. Renders church service to a dose of weekly worship and feeding them go about busy lives.
♦People don’t know the difference between authenticity and impulsivity. You can’t tell someone they’re going to hell and then expect them to serve on your leadership team.
♦Denial/ignorance of division.
NOW BACK TO ME… I could create blog posts expanding on some of these thoughts. Actually, I have already blogged on some aspects! I will share continuing thoughts about “therapeutic communication” on Wednesday, so check back.
Enough Light 
Overcoming obstacles to church unity is a HUGE and unnecessarily complicated problem. You hit the nail right on the head when you said making anything other than Christ the goal! Too often it is the personality, or the leadership-style, of the pastor; or the agenda(s) of people who feel a need to control things. Or mistaking shallow goals for more substantive ones. Or insisting that things must be done only according to the way they used to be done elsewhere. Or being overly concerned about church membership numbers, instead of focusing on reaching unchurched people. Ugh! I could go on, and on, and on! We all need to find our unity in Christ alone, and what He expects us to do, and quit “majoring in minor topics”. Sorry about this rant. But, like I said, this is a HUGE problem!.
I feel that I need to add a clarification to what I said in my previous comment. When I said that one of the obstacles to unity of local churches is the personality, or the leadership-style. of the pastor, I was NOT finding fault with pastors. As see it, the problem is with church members who are obsessed and preoccupied with what they perceive as deficiencies in their pastor. Local churches were never intended to be little cults that are centered on their pastors. Let’s get this straight, our center is Jesus Christ. If the pastor is a great leader with an engaging personality, then that could be a good thing, but it is not essential to being a gathered assembly of the faithful. Let’s quit beating-up our pastors, and start cherishing them for what they are, servants of Christ. If you find that you have a great pastor, that’s wonderful! But if your pastor is as human as you are, then give him/her some slack! Focus on Jesus, and find more ways to share His love in your community and world! Let us find our unity in Him, and in His mission!
Thanks Tom for contributing to the conversation, and clarifying your one point. Yes, pastors often get way, way more criticism than encouragement. They need some slack. For myself, I don’t think we have the right to offer constructive critique, unless we have also spoken up with positive words of encouragement and support. If we only speak up when we have a complaint, that is wrong. And yes, with a proper focus on Jesus, this helps other things fall into place. “Seek ye first…”
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