MONDAY MOTIVATION
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Be a Game Changer
- Paul and Barnabas disagreed over bringing John Mark with them
- They split ways over it
- Paul was later proven wrong (Col. 4:10; 2 Tim. 4:11)
- Barnabas took John Mark (his cousin) and went to Cyprus (West)
- Paul took Silas and went through Syria and Cilicia (North)
- We don’t hear much about Barnabas after this
- Paul later spoke of Barnabas in positive terms (1 Cor. 9:6; Col. 4:10)
APPLICATION:
- Don’t allow Satan to divide and conquer
- We need to guard against division and strife
- We need to keep pride at bay
MOTIVATION:
While preparing for this week’s blog I came across this story:
There were two churches with the same name about one mile from one another. They split back about 40 years ago over Fried Chicken! They were having a picnic at the church and two ladies who didn’t care for each other both brought fried chicken. The preacher, not knowing about this, stopped at one end of the table, grabbed a piece of chicken and commented “it was the best he’d ever eaten”. Well, group number two packed up their things and within a few weeks, the church split!
Church splits are a common thing here in America, and we have all heard the stories. One of the common threads in all of them is the breakdown of church unity. In an article written by Thom Rainer he suggests fourteen key reasons for this phenomenon:
- Gossip – Church members talk about one another instead of talking to one another.
- Actions cloaked in darkness – Secret committees meeting at restaurants having “roast pastor”.
- Failure to confront church bullies – Some church members seek power in a church they can’t get elsewhere.
- Self-serving church members – Some insist on getting their way for everything from worship style to the order of the worship service.
- Lack of prayer – A church that does not pray together is likely to fragment into special interest groups.
- Fear of confrontation – Too many would rather sweep the problems under the rug than deal with them.
- Adopting the hypercritical spirit of culture – This reality is especially true in blogs and social media.
- Low expectations – There are no clear guidelines on what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. Some use their idle time to gossip, criticize and tear down.
- No church discipline – Because of the fear of lawsuits or things getting ugly, church leaders avoid church discipline.
- Churches known more for what they are against rather than what they are for – This negativity becomes pervasive in the congregation and destroys church unity.
- Fear of losing members – Many times the most out spoken are your biggest givers, and leadership is afraid to lose them.
- Failure to be evangelistic – When people are reaching their neighbors for Christ they are less concerned about the color of the carpet.
- Power groups – Sometimes the bullies coerce others to form power groups.
- The silent and fearful majority – Many just want to go to church in peace. They enjoy what the church has to offer, but are afraid to speak out against the bullies.
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