CHURCH:
PROBLEMS; CHURCH: CONFLICT; CHURCH: UNITY; BODY OF CHRIST

Because the church is a society of human beings, the problems that plague families and nations are found in the church, too. If Christians stand alone, their only problems are personal, but as soon as other Christians join them, they have social problems as well. True, the members of the church are redeemed human beings, but that fact does not make them any less human. Differences of taste, temperament, opinion, moral energy and speed of action among religious people in close association create a certain amount of friction in the group. Wise Christian leaders will anticipate this and will know what to do when it develops.…

The church is a body of moving parts, a society of many members. The problems arising in any church will be in direct proportion to the zeal, the activity and the energy of its members. This is inevitable and should be taken in stride.

Some misguided Christian leaders feel that they must preserve harmony at any cost, so they do everything possible to reduce friction. They should remember that there is no friction in a machine that has been shut down for the night. Turn off the power, and you will have no problem with moving parts. Also remember that there is a human society where there are no problems—the cemetery. The dead have no differences of opinion. They generate no heat, because they have no energy and no motion. But their penalty is sterility and complete lack of achievement.

What then is the conclusion of the matter? That problems are the price of progress, that friction is the concomitant of motion, that a live and expanding church will have a certain quota of difficulties as a result of its life and activity. A Spirit-filled church will invite the anger of the enemy.

1 Corinthians 12:25–27; Ephesians 6:10–12; 1 Peter 5:8–9

This World: Playground or Battleground?, 122, 123, 124.