“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (ESV)
Every one of us has an opinion, and a voice. We should not be rejected, cancelled or ignored simply because it’s different. Loving and obeying Jesus is much more important than turning against those who don’t see things the same way as we do. Of course, we do have a common core called Jesus Christ and His word. The bare essential to kingdom unity is believing in our heart that God rose Jesus from the dead and confessing with our lips that He is Lord (Romans 10:9-10). Beyond that, Jesus said that if you love Me you will obey My commands (John 14:15). It is time to display that love, for Christ and for one another! John warned us that if any of us claim to be in the light but hates his brother, he is deceived and is still in the darkness (1 John 2:9-11). John even spoke it stronger than that when he said that if you say you love God but hate your brother, you are a liar (1 John 4:20)!
Come on Church! Get over your issues and join the army of God against a greater foe, the kingdom of darkness! A family divided cannot stand, but one that is united cannot be defeated! If ISIS can join up with the Taliban, two groups who would normally be fighting each other except for this opportunity to fight their common enemy, the US, why can’t the church get past these lesser issues of race, vaccines and/or Trump, to stand together in obedience to our Lord, and fight the devil together who desires to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).
Ask God to fill you with a greater love for Him and for those around you, especially those who may not like you or are not like you! Choose to not allow offense to have any place in you. Choose to stop canceling other followers of Christ because they disagree with you! Pray for your pastor to be a champion for unity in our city, that he would do whatever it takes to maintain the kingdom unity through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Pray that the church across our city would display a love for Jesus and each other so much that the world around us would see and be impacted by it (John 17:23).
