Category Archives: Church Life

Church Life should be governed by God’s design and purposes for the Body of Christ with Jesus as its Head and us as members united though diverse.

Harmony Amid Conflict?

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God’s Word tells us to “live in harmony with one another” (1 Pet. 3:8). With so much conflict around us, is harmony possible in the Church? We’re all so different with varying views and opinions. Can we really come together as a unified whole?

Living in Harmony Isn’t an Option

Living harmoniously isn’t an option for us as believers. God commands us to live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-9). The beginning of 1 Peter 3:8 provides two important points: “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another …”

  1. “All” means each and every one of us so none of us are the exception.
  2. The use of the term “one another”, allelon in the original language, suggests a mutual, reciprocal response of members toward each other. That means, even in conflict, both the offended party as well as the offender work toward reconciliation (Matt. 5:23-24).

Since this is a command for each one of us, let’s look more closely at what it means to live in harmony.

Being Harmonious Doesn’t Mean a Lack of Differences

Living in Harmony Despite our Differences
Liken living harmoniously to an orchestra. Different instruments with different shapes and sounds come together to make a fuller and harmonious sound. The instruments do not all become the same. They bring their differences together.

In the Church, members likewise have varying parts. We’re different from each other, not only in gifting but also in the ways we think and express ourselves. When we bring our differences together, we can produce something stronger, even better.

Problems come when even just one instrument is out of tune, makes a mistake, or decides to do their own thing instead of coordinating with the whole. We then experience a break in harmony. Sinful actions and reactions are always wrong. Some conflict, however, isn’t the result of sin but rather differences.

We’re all human. It only takes one person in a relationship to act contrary to the Spirit, in one’s old nature, offending another person, and there will be conflict. Or, it might be a misinterpretation of what someone has done or said. Either way, perceived or real, we have conflict.

We are all individuals, with varying personalities, philosophies, and perspectives. Whenever two different ideas or ways of doing things collide, conflict ensues.

How We Handle Our Differences Determines if We Experience Harmony Amid Conflict

We must pay attention to the warning signs of conflict turning bad. If we don’t, we open the door for the devil to wreak havoc among us.

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph. 4:26-27)

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. (James 3:14-16)

We must make harmony our ultimate objective when we find ourselves in any kind of conflict.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Rom. 12:18)

When it comes to conflict management, “true reconciliation — the healing of the relationship — is the primary objective, not resolving the issues” (quote from an article on the TrainChurchLeaders.com site). We can be harmonious without agreeing on an issue. We don’t have to like what a person says or does to live in harmony with them.

But, you might ask …

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A Two-Fold Purpose in Life

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When asked about the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus’ responded with what could be summed up in one word — LOVE (Matt. 22:36-40). Though only asked what He viewed as the greatest commandment, Jesus broke it down into two commands:

#1 – Love God.
#2 – Love people.

Since Jesus identified these as the greatest commandments, it only makes sense that we consider them as our two-fold purpose in life.

Why a Two-Fold Purpose?

Jesus didn’t stop with the greatest commandment, which is to love God with all of who we are. Why give more than He was asked, especially since the person asking was trying to test Him? Further, the Old Testament verses Jesus quoted don’t mention both commands together.

Perhaps these two commandments tie together so closely that Jesus couldn’t state one without the other. Love for God and love for people have to go hand in hand. Love for people spills out of our love for God. If we love God, we will love people.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 Jn. 4:8)

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 Jn. 4:20-21)

Perhaps Jesus wants us to know that life in Him isn’t an either/or. When we accept Jesus into our life, we’re placed into the Body of Christ. We first and foremost love Him but we also love one another.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (Jn. 15:12)

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 Jn. 3:23)

Steering the Church Toward God’s Priorities as Given in the Greatest Commandments

Steering the Church Toward God's Two-Fold Purpose
If Jesus identified both love for God and love for people as top priorities, certainly as a Church we should be helping people live out these purposes. Church leaders have a major role in keeping the church on track in this two-fold purpose. You’ll find the above content in the Steering the Church Toward God’s Purposes Leadership Guide which also considers some implications of this truth for our church bodies and leaders.

For even more help steering the Church in this direction, go to: Church Purpose Resources

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Encourage One Another

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Encourage One Another - 1 Thess. 5:11According to 1 Thessalonians 5:11, God has given us the responsibility of encouraging one another. It demonstrates that we’re members of one another in the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:5). The New Testament contains numerous uses of the phrase “one another” (allelon in the original language). This word depicts a mutual, reciprocal effort on the part of believers, one toward the other. The word for encourage, parakaleo, denotes calling to one’s side, further strengthening the idea of being there for one another. We come alongside of fellow believers to have a positive effect on their lives, and they in ours.

About Encouragement

Read through the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and you’ll discover some key points like why we need encouragement, who needs it, and how to encourage. (Click on the links below for more on those points.)

We need encouragement to be lights in a dark world. We can encourage one another to remain alert and self-controlled so we reflect our Lord in all we do.

Everyone needs encouragement. As one of the many one-another commands of Body life, encouraging each other occurs reciprocally. No one should have to face the hardships of life alone.

Each one needs encouragement tailored to them. How we encourage one another varies based a person’s particular situation and needs. While encouraging one another should be reciprocal, the way we encourage may differ.

The Best Way to Encourage One Another

Though how we each need encouragement varies, we all need to be pointed to God as the ultimate Source of encouragement.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. (2 Thess. 2:16-17)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort (paraklesis which is the noun form of the verb parakaleo translated in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 as to encourage) … (2 Cor. 1:3)

As we continue on to verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 1, we read that it is this God “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God”. Again, the word for comfort in that verse is parakaleo, the same word used when told to encourage one another in 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

The best way to encourage others, then, is to pass on the encouragement we received from “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” for He is our ultimate Source of encouragement.

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How to Be More Discerning

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Discernment requires that we observe and understand a situation. It not only helps us distinguish right from wrong, but also choose between good, better, and best. We’re able to make a judgment about what will work and what won’t. In essence, to discern we make an assessment of the situation that should ultimately lead to making wise choices.

Wisdom's Foundation Has Consequences
As humans, in and of ourselves, we tend to make poor, and even destructive, choices, so how do we become more discerning?

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Prov. 14:12)

What We Need to Do to Be More Discerning So We Make Wise Choices

Discernment takes more than following a few steps. It’s something developed within us as we use the right means to get there. Click on the links below to learn more about each of these means to becoming more discerning.

He provides the standard against which we discern what’s right and wrong.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom … (Ps. 111:10)

If we don’t change on the inside first, our attempts to be more discerning will be short-lived.

… be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12:2)

This is what God uses to teach us about Himself so we know the right and best way to go.

… by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:14)

Since loving God and others are the greatest commandments, we need to filter what we do through this lens.

… that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless … (Phil. 1:9-11)

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Prayer That Reflects Who God Is

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Prayer That Reflects Our Great God
Think about when you pray. Are your prayers truly reflecting the kind of God we have? If so, they’ll demonstrate a wholehearted trust in Him. You’ll approach Him with a sense of awe, yet also intimacy.

An Acrostic Showing Prayer That Acknowledges Who God Really Is

For each word in this acrostic, think about what qualifies God to be the One to whom we turn in prayer in these ways.

P – Pleading – trusting in God

We can “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” because He is merciful and gracious, ready to help in our time of need. (Ps. 121:3; Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 8:28; Phil. 4:19; Heb. 4:16)

R – Relating – communing with God

We can talk with God as a Friend because in His love He reconciled us to Himself through Jesus’ death on our behalf. (Ps. 66:20; Jn. 15:13-15; Rom. 5:8-10; Col. 1:20)

A – Aligning – cooperating with God

We can seek His counsel and will for what to do since He is holy, all-knowing, and all-wise, making His ways higher and best. (Isa. 55:8-9; 1 Jn. 5:14)

Y – Yearning – seeking after God above all else

We can look to God to satisfy our deepest need as He is totally sufficient, unlike anything or anyone else. (Ps. 42:1-2)

E – Exalting – worshiping God

We can express His worth as the Lord God of whom there is none greater. (Ps. 34:1-4; 46:10; 57:11)

R – Revering – honoring God

We can defer to Him even when we don’t understand because we know He is sovereign. (Ps. 33:6-11, 16-20; 50:15; 111:10; Prov. 3:7-10)

Resources to Help with Praying

For more on prayer, visit the Prayer Ministry Training section of this site.

Also consider these resources:

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Unity or Disunity in the Church?

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We live in a divided society. Even in the Church we let all sorts of issues divide us with strong opinions pitting us against each other. We may follow certain personalities, putting one above the other. Perhaps we engage in certain inconsiderate practices that favor one group of people over another. Our programming can also separate us rather than bring us together. Brothers and sisters this ought not to be. Read through Ephesians 2 and discover God’s intent for unity, not disunity in the Church.

When God established the Church, He broke down walls, making unity possible. Why do we rebuild those walls?

Remember that we all are on the same plane and with the same ultimate purpose:

We all came from the same place pre-Christ.

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Eph. 2:1-3)

We all came into Christ by grace. None of us deserved our salvation.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph. 2:4-9)

Having all been saved by grace, not of ourselves, we now live for Him, not to advance our own cause.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10)

His Peace Brings Unity Not Disunity
On this foundation, God built His Church. bringing together two very different groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles, who were hostile toward each other. He “made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility … in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Eph. 2:11-16).

Being on the same plane leaves no room for superiority of one over the other. We are equal in Him, each receiving the same message of peace made possible because of His grace. “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Eph. 2:17-18)

Walls stay down when Jesus remains the centerpiece, keeping disunity at bay. Why do we make it about ourselves?

We all have the same access (Eph. 2:18) to the throne of grace where we “may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Eph. 2:19). — When we rebuild those walls, it’s like we’re disregarding the fact that we’re God’s people. As God’s people, we align with Him. It’s not about our preferences or politics.

Here’s the key: The Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” (Eph. 2:20-21). — When we let our differences, and any other cause, divide us, it’s like we’re saying that Jesus isn’t enough to hold us together.

We don’t have to rely on ourselves to stay united. Why don’t we depend on God’s power source?

When we keep the focus on how it’s “in him the whole building is joined together”, we rise above and “become a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:21). The good news is that God doesn’t expect us to muster up the will power and self-effort to stay united. Rather, “in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). When we walk by the Spirit, we will “serve one another humbly in love” rather than “gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:13-16).

When we make it about ourselves, we stifle and quench the Spirit who lives within us. Then we wonder why the Church at times looks no different than the world around us. Let’s be the Church God established us to be, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ with Him as the Chief Cornerstone, the Head of the Body.

Church leaders, do your part to steer the Body toward God’s power, the only means of staying united. Check out the Steering the Church Toward God’s Power Leadership Guide.

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