Churches should unite to be powerful

| Friday February 5, 2010 00:00

We hear of churches accusing the other of taking the others' converts, leaders aggressively competing for positions in the church amongst many other petty disagreements.

What the body of Christ fails to understand is the fact that as long as we fight each other, no progress is made and, above all, the devil's work is cut into half.

The devil no longer has to put much effort because we as Christians will be doing the devil's work on his behalf. It is quite a sad development and I hope some church leaders will learn something from all this.

Most Christian churches have far more in common than they have in disagreement with each other.  I believe most evangelical congregations share the same beliefs over the most basic elements of Christianity - such as Jesus' life and teachings and even his death and resurrection.

However, almost every church has its own style of worship, they have differing opinions concerning certain doctrines and, more so, they have different passed-down traditions. Although there are certain aspects of tradition that are good for Christianity, there are however certain traditions that have an ill-effect on the church.

Obviously, the imminent question in most people's hearts is the fact whether it is possible, for the body of Christ, to attain such high ideals of unity.  In practical terms, would it be possible for the body of Christ to come into such harmony that we all speak the same thing? I, myself, am confident that such a possibility exists only if the Christians can focus on the common ground of what makes us all followers of Christ. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1 vs. 10 'I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.'

 It has now become so difficult these days to ask another Christian from another church just to unite and pray together for an hour.

The answer you get from that request is a question - 'Which church do you go to and on what day is your Sabbath?' I think the time has come for churches to move away from preaching organised doctrine and preach the simple Word of God.

Whether it is completely possible or not to attain total church unity it is imperative for all Christian churches to hold out the loftiest goal of unity and holt the fighting.  Churches should cease competing against other Christians from other congregations. A church is not made up of numbers.

That is why I would rather be in a church with five people who are full of the Spirit than a large congregation with dead wood and useless Christians.  The Bible says in Luke 13 vs. 36 'For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.'

I believe the time has come for churches to serve God's purpose and not their own. After our generation is gone from this earth, we shouldn't expect the next generation to come up with different ideas from ours. The legacy we leave today as a church will be the same that the next generation will take up.

In conclusion, I believe genuine love for each other as brothers and sisters brings an image of integrity to the church. Jesus said that the world would identify His followers by their love for each other.  Perhaps that is what all people in the world are waiting for-to see a body of Christians who sincerely care about each other, and who are not embroiled in conflict or competition.

Don-Martin Takudzwa Whande