Unity of the Spirit in the EFCM<\/b><\/p>\n
We must rejoice over unity as a precious gift from God, while protecting it as a valued treasure. Here are some practical ways we are committed to keeping the unity of the Spirit in the EFCM:<\/p>\n
1. I will recognize the call and gifts from God in all of my co-workers.<\/p>\n
2. I will exercise vigilance over our unity.<\/p>\n
3. I commit to speaking well of my coworker brothers and sisters and will publicly express appreciation for them.<\/p>\n
4. I will pray diligently and fervently for the blessing of God on my teammates.<\/p>\n
5. I will affirm the co-equal importance of planting, watering and supporting ministries.<\/p>\n
6. I will shoulder responsibility for the ministry assigned to me and at the same time exercise prayerful concern for the field\u2019s ministry in its entirety.<\/p>\n
7. I understand that in the \u201cheat of battle\u201d there will be misunderstandings, conflicts and offenses.<\/p>\n
8. I will deal with offenses promptly and appropriately<\/p>\n
9. I will listen intently in order to understand the other person\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n
10. I will avoid judging the motives of a fellow worker, because I cannot see my brother or sister\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n
11. I will forgive others on the team without hesitation or precondition, knowing that I, too, will need frequent forgiveness for my offenses.<\/p>\n
12. I will commit myself to becoming better acquainted with the members of my team.<\/p>\n
Jesus Himself said that believers and non-believers alike are watching, and our love for each other is the evidence that our faith is real. Join with me in guarding the precious unity of our faith.<\/p>\n
Dr. Benjamin A. Sawatsky, Executive Director, EFCM, in Beacon, July, 1998<\/p>\n
Getting Along<\/b><\/p>\n
Mark Twain used to say he put a dog and a cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did, so he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic; soon there was not a living thing left. <\/p>\n
Phillip Yancey, What\u2019s So Amazing About Grace, Zondervan, 1997, p. 33<\/p>\n
One<\/b><\/p>\n
Children of one family<\/p>\n
one Father <\/p>\n
John 20:17<\/p>\n
Disciples in one school<\/p>\n
one teacher <\/p>\n
John 13:13\u201335<\/p>\n
Sheep in one flock<\/p>\n
one shepherd<\/p>\n
John 10:16<\/p>\n
Members of one body<\/p>\n
one head<\/p>\n
Eph. 4:15<\/p>\n
Stones in one building<\/p>\n
one foundation<\/p>\n
1 Peter 2:3, 1 Cor. 3:11\u201312<\/p>\n
From the Book of 750 Bible and Gospel Studies, 1909, George W. Noble, Chicago<\/p>\n
Porcupines<\/b><\/p>\n
The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter\u2019s night. He said, \u201cThe colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth\u2019s winter eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneliness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christ has given us an alternative\u2014to forgive each other for the pokes we receive. That allows us to stay together and stay warm.<\/p>\n
Wayne Brouwer, Holland, Michigan, quoted in Leadership, p. 68<\/p>\n
You Got to be Together<\/b><\/p>\n
The Atlantic Monthly (11\/94) told about superstar tenors Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti performing together in Los Angeles. A reporter tried to press the issue of competitiveness between the three men.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to put all of your concentration into opening your heart to the music,\u201d Domingo said. \u201cYou can\u2019t be rivals when you\u2019re together making music.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s also true in the church.<\/p>\n
Leadership, p. 68<\/p>\n
Admonition<\/b><\/p>\n
One of the most eloquent admonitions I have ever encountered along these lines is in Bishop Burnet\u2019s preface to the classic work The Life of God in the Soul of Man, written by Henry Scougal in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Here is what Burnet wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is scarce a more unaccountable thing to be imagined, than to see a company of men professing a religion, one great and main precept whereof is mutual love, forbearance, gentleness of spirit, and compassion to all sorts of persons, and agreeing in all the essential parts of its doctrine, and differing only in some less material and more disputable things, yet maintaining those differences with zeal so disproportional to the value of them, and prosecuting all that disagree from them with all possible violence; or if they want means to use outward force, with all bitterness of spirit. They must needs astonish every impartial beholder, and raise great prejudices against such persons\u2019 religion, as made up of contradictions; professing love, but breaking out in all the acts of hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Jack Deere (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993), pp. 176, 177.<\/p>\n
Resource <\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 The Fight, J. White, IVP, pp. 137ff<\/p>\n
Quote<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. – John Wesley<\/p>\n
John Calvin<\/b><\/p>\n
Calvin, who saw that the Devil\u2019s chief device was disunity and division and who preached that there should be friendly fellowship for all ministers of Christ, made a similar point in a letter to a trusted colleague: <\/p>\n
\u201cAmong Christians there ought to be so great a dislike of schism, as that they may always avoid it so fast as lies in their power. That there ought to prevail among them such a reverence for the ministry of the word and the sacraments that wherever they perceive these things to be, there they must consider the church to exist…nor need it be of any hinderance that some points of doctrine are not quite so pure, seeing that there is scarcely any church which has not retained some remnants of former ignorance.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Body, Charles W. Colson, 1992, Word Publishing pp. 107-108<\/p>\n
Support<\/b><\/p>\n
In the Cambridge, Minn., Star: <\/p>\n
\u201cIsanti County Commissioner Tom Pagel has 100-percent support from his family, not 10 percent, as was stated in last week\u2019s article on Pagel\u2019s announcement to seek re-election.\u201d <\/p>\n
Reader\u2019s Digest<\/p>\n
Eccumenicalism<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cTo remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray, that they may be one, even as we are one\u201d? (John 17:22). A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping the unity tune. What they are saying is, \u201cChristians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless… Unite, unite!\u201d<\/p>\n
Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Our Lord\u2019s prayer in John 17 must be read in its full context. Look at verse 17: \u201cSanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.\u201d Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel. <\/p>\n
Charles H. Spurgeon, The Essence of Separation, quoted in The Berean Call, July, 1992, p. 4<\/p>\n
We Were Just One<\/b><\/p>\n
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.<\/p>\n
When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ\u2019s commands. Then they came together.<\/p>\n
Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, \u201cWhat did you do then?\u201d \u201cWe were just one,\u201d he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.<\/p>\n
When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, October 4, 1992<\/p>\n
Five Fingers Make a United Fist<\/b><\/p>\n
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn\u2019t. \u201cWhat makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?\u201d asks Linus. \u201cThese five fingers,\u201d says Lucy. \u201cIndividually they\u2019re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.\u201d \u201cWhich channel do you want?\u201d asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, \u201cWhy can\u2019t you guys get organized like that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Two Ways of Being United<\/b><\/p>\n
There are two ways of being united\u2014one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power. <\/p>\n
Moody\u2019s Anecdotes, p. 53<\/p>\n
What You Mean We<\/b><\/p>\n
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Indian warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, \u201cWhat are we going to do?\u201d Tonto replied, \u201cWhat you mean \u2018we,\u2019 Whiteman?\u201d<\/p>\n
In Search of Unity, Edward Dobson, pp. 20-27<\/p>\n
Quote<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline. – Anon<\/p>\n
\u2022 Snowflakes are one of nature\u2019s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. – Vesta Kelly<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become \u2018unity\u2019 conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. <\/p>\n
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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