Introduction.
I want to lay out a vision of what God has taught me about having and creating a culture that embraces the great commission that Jesus left us with, which is to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations:
Matthew 28:16-20 “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Here we see that even after all the disciples had just witnessed, including the insanely grueling death of Jesus by crucifixion, Him three days later rising from the dead, showing Himself to the disciples, and Jesus spending time with them (post resurrection) some still doubted v17 “..but some doubted”. This is hard for us to fathom, unless we really look at ourselves and how at times we also doubt even though we still worship Him (v17). This should encourage us, that those who witnessed these events still had doubts, how much more will we.
I bring up the great commission and these points about our human doubt and weaknesses to say we truly need to learn to move forward anyway, even though we have doubts and struggles, and learn what Jesus wants to teach us. Today He wants to help us learn about loving each other which sets up a “church”, which at the end of the day is simply a “community of believers” in Jesus Christ, for all God wants to do in the earth. Once we learn to embrace, understand, pray for, and support one another in our own “community of believers” we can begin to set up a culture that will also embrace new believers, embrace evangelism, and have a culture of discipleship. These are all outflows of the love of God being practiced together by a community of true believers in Jesus Christ.
This vision I share comes from what’s taught in scripture, also from experience being in churches that were practicing this, and on the flip side seeing and being in churches that had no evangelistic/discipleship culture. What a difference there is when it is in place and people love one another. The size of the church has nothing to do with having this in place, in the book of Acts on the day of Pentecost there were only 120 believers there.
Acts 1:15 “In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was about 120)...“
Connecting with Each Other in Unity.
Around seven or eight months ago, I began a new small group at the church I attend that meets at the church on Wednesday night. Most of the other small groups meet in homes (which I also am a big fan of). One of the motivations to begin this meeting was to provide a place to meet and study God’s word (and share a meal) for parents that were already coming to church to drop off their teenagers at the midweek service for teens. As we discussed it with our Pastor he had a vision to make it more of a “catch all” group (singles, widows, couples of all ages) and to help folks get connected. We ran with the vision and called it “Connect” small group. I mention this to say our first study, which went on for around 3-4 months, was around a topic that I believe would help this diverse group unite, no pun intended as it was literally on unity and what the new testament taught about it. The work and study I began to do on this topic has literally turned my Christian life upside down.
Let me provide a little more context. I was saved in a non-denominational fellowship of churches that is what I would call militant in their structure in terms of discipleship, church planting, and evangelism. I do not say that with negative connotations, their blueprint is literally the great commission and I fully support it and grew in the faith and areas I see many other Christians struggle in or never get to experience. They did door-to-door evangelism (preaching Jesus and praying with any and everyone who would allow), street preaching, and essentially every event that was planned had an evangelistic angle associated with it. These are great things to have in place and was my only church experience (for the most part) for the first six or seven years of my faith.
Why I say this study on unity turned my Christian life upside down is because of the amount of scriptures and teachings in the book of Acts and throughout the new testament that deal with unity, being of one mind and one accord, and brothers and sisters loving one another. Jesus even said these most polarizing words in John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”. Notice He did not say that you will know they are my disciples by how good they preach, how many verses they can quote from memory, how many people they witnessed this week, or how much money they put in the offering plate. He said the distinguishing characteristic of those that are My disciples is that they “have love for one another”. This study on unity opened my eyes to the fact that this is of the highest priority amongst brethren, to be unified, to serve one another, to help one another, to suffer with one another, and to rejoice with another. Jesus and the new testament authors put as much emphasis on unity and love for one another as they did on discipleship and evangelism, so that means so should we in our churches.
Lets see some more of the verses that I am referring to:
Acts 2:42-46
“42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
1 Cor. 12:12-13
“12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
Ephesians 4:13-16
“13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
John 17:20-21
“20 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Philippians 2:1-3
“1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Colossians 3:12-14
“12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
Romans 12:9-12
“9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[g] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”
Practical Applications.
So in closing, lets add some practical application to what I’m saying and what these verses are saying to us as believers.
How do we begin to incorporate this as individuals and as members of the body of Christ?
First off, it will begin with us as individuals to begin to obey God in this area, meaning we may need to forgive some people in our local church, maybe even have some conversations to start over in relationships. We might be excessively complaining about how things are being done, being a bit too nitpicky about how others are doing things, in reality we may just need to simply support the work of the Lord for a change. Maybe we have a conversation with our leaders about how we can help in the church, maybe starting or asking to host a small group/bible study at our house or at the church. We won’t all lead, but one thing we can all do is serve others and serve in the church.
One thing I began to think about during this unity study is do I actually know people well enough to see needs in their lives to be able to help/encourage them. My wife and I began to take people we haven’t met from church out to lunch (or at least invite them to lunch) to be able to build new relationships, and to encourage people that there is someone who cares to know them outside of the Pastor. We have seen this approach as transformational in our church, many people are getting together and building relationships through our small group and lunch happenings these days. We give God the glory for this, and are so thankful for His vision in this area, relationships can be formed or mended only when someone is making an effort (someone has to be the initiator). Many people believe revival will happen when the greatest preacher who preaches the greatest sermon in the world comes to our church. When in reality revival will happen once the people in a local body love each other, this provides the testimony that Jesus spoke of in John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”.
When people in our churches feel loved and have real relationships with one another, they will be willing to invite others and tell others about what Jesus is doing in their church. If they don’t they won’t be motivated to tell others. One of my all time favorite preachers of the gospel AW Tozer said it this way: “The Holy Spirit does not come to give unity in a church, but comes when a church is United”.
This seems like such a simple truth, but in reality it’s one of the hardest and greatest accomplishments in a local church, to have and get people united together around the love and service of the gospel. It can change entire families, which can change entire towns. Revival happens individually and spreads corporately through multiple individuals who are having personal revival.
Conclusion.
Creating a culture of evangelism starts with us individually loving one another, and having an atmosphere and culture that will embrace and support people through anything. We need to have love, grace, and mercy for one another and for the lost like Jesus does. At the end of the day, we are the hands, feet, eyes, and ears (and every other part) of the body of Christ once we are all serving one another God will bring the increase. Let’s seek God for personal revival and see what He will do!
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