Guidelines | Ten Steps | Lesson Plans | Order | Active Groups

Lesson Ten: Unity Among Believers

The Ninth CWG Commandment

You shall avoid divisiveness among Christians; rather, encourage unity among believers of all Christian denominations. (Romans 16:17-18)

 

Preparation and Prayer

Bring to the meeting:

» A Bible and your 3-ring binder

» Any letters or essays in process (enough copies for all)

» Your assignment from Lesson Nine.

As you open your meeting, pray:

» For the members of your group

» For your audience

» For editors of your local paper (by name)

» For unity among the body of Christ; pray that God would make us instruments of unity, not dissension.

 

Establishing the Vision: Promoting Unity Within the Church Scripture: Ephesians 4: 1-6

Imagine the following: You are seriously ill and in debilitating pain. After overcoming your distrust of medical institutions, you finally yield to your family's pleas and rush to the best hospital in town - one with a reputation of near miracle cures.

You are wheeled through antiseptic halls into an examining room well equipped with the most modern medical technology. Friendly, competent staff hurry to assess your rapidly deteriorating condition. Although in great pain, you relax as you recognize the skillful leadership of the medical staff.

All too soon an argument rises from the huddle of specialists called in to consult on your care. One will not proceed with treatment until more tests are performed. Another will not agree to surgical intervention but believes internal medicine is better. One insists that homeopathic cures are a superior path to your healing while another questions the appropriateness of any medical intervention.

In horror, you feel your life slipping away while the learned experts debate the fine points of medical practice only yards from your bed.

 

The importance of Christian unity

When Christians argue and fight, we, like the medical experts in the above story, squander the gifts and life-giving skills we have been given while the sick and wounded in the world slowly perish.

In his book, The Body, Charles Colson outlines three basic reasons to strive for unity:

» Unity is the essence of the church, which is centered on the One who professes ultimate reality and who calls us to be His body at work in the world.

» Without unity, evangelism is frustrated. In John 17, Jesus prays for the church and reveals that it is to be the community which shows the world what heaven will be like. Unity should be the attitude from which our writing flows.

» We must dwell in unity so the secular world cannot discredit the church. When we are divided and quarreling we diminish our own already weakening influence in the world.

Protecting unity

True unity is not sought by pretending there are no differences in our belief systems; rather it is a determined effort not to "major in the minors. "

Christians must recognize and respect the differences among believers while focusing on the great orthodox truths all Christians share. C.S. Lewis called this common ground "Mere Christianity." It covers such fundamental beliefs as the virgin birth, the triune God, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the personal work of the Holy Spirit, the authority of Scripture and the second coming of Christ.

But there are those less fundamental issues - infant baptism, speaking in tongues, and pre- or post-millennium doctrines, would be some examples - upon which we will have to agree to disagree if we are to live in unity.

Disagreements about scriptural interpretation and religious practice were present even in the early church. It is healthy, even necessary, to continually scrutinize and debate theological issues. But it is inappropriate to use the secular press as an intellectual sparring ground between denominations.

Instead, we must:

» avoid using Scripture to support a particular doctrinal or denominational point of view;

» refrain from labeling and alienating other Christians;

» join hands to reach out with biblical compassion and concern for the needs of those around us;

» unite in the battle against our real enemies: atheism, secularism and humanism.

» confront with loving correction and instruction in the truth those who deny the fundamentals of Christianity-especially those who call themselves "Christian."

Promoting unity

The secular press is an ideal medium for promoting unity among believers, You can:

» Highlight any efforts of area churches to unite and reconcile;

» Review the common goals Christians share;

» Encourage believers to unite with other Christians in the community in evangelism and social concern;

» Defuse battles over fine points of doctrine and redirect attention to the greater principles of Christianity.

» By presenting a tolerant, respectful attitude toward a variety of churches in your community, you model the attitude through which the Holy Spirit can flow.

 

News Analysis

Readers are bombarded with information in our media-rich society. An abundance of print and broadcast news services daily inundate us with stories, sound-bites and information. But in order to be well-informed, readers need to process this information and fit it into their understanding of the world. That's why various individuals and special interest groups regularly put a "spin" on the news and cause readers to view the events of the day in "their" way. Editorial columnists, political pundits, PAC groups and others are among those who "interpret" the news and try to tell others what it means and how it will effect them.

 

Questions For Discussion

» Using the list you prepared for the assignment from the last lesson, name aloud those areas on which most Christians would agree; which areas cause division and dissension? Do not take time to discuss these at length, or you will never get back on course! Can you name the core doctrines of the Christian faith?

» Describe how you will protect and promote unity through your writing.

 

Perfecting Our Skills

Critique:

Take some time to read and critique written pieces which members of your group have brought. Did the author communicate an attitude of tolerance? Does the piece promote or inhibit unity among believers?

Spend around five to ten minutes per article. Be affirming and constructive. Remember to use our steps to R.A.C.E!

As a Christian writer, you can help people put the news into God's perspective by practicing News Analysis.

Practice analyzing the events occurring in today's news as a result of obeying or disobeying the principles of God's Word. Explain to readers how certain events or phenomena support and illustrate biblical principles. Show how a tragedy could have been avoided by following God's way.

News Analysis tells:

» what a recent event means
Describe an abstract issue in concrete terms. The Boston Globe reported yesterday that .... For the uninitiated, this means that ...

» how the reader can use the news
Lost week, the Governor signed into law the "School of Choice" bill recently passed by the Senate. lf you are a Christian parent who would like to exercise more control over your child's education, you now have some choices...

» how the news affects an actual person or group
Sharon Michaels always believed the biblical principle that "children are a blessing from the Lord... and happy is the man (or woman) whose quiver is full of them." But if Rep. Jones has his way, large families like Sharon's may be penalized in subtle ways.

» how the news fits into a larger perspective
Many residents enjoyed the festivities at the Heritage Festival in Sunville last week. But how many know that this event began in 1918 as a celebration of Christian unity and for appreciation to the leaders of the community?

» what opportunities the news presents
"The tragic bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City offers a unique opportunity for Americans of faith to come together to meet the needs of this devastated community. God has instructed believers to..."

» what challenges the news entails
"Recently reported statistics reveal that child abuse is a growing problem, despite efforts to stop it. To solve this tragic problem perhaps it's time to go to the Source of wisdom who has said..."

How you can apply News Analysis:

News Analysis will give you more fuel for Letters to the Editor and opinion columns and can often provide a smooth entrance for the Word of God.

However, now that you have had a lot of practice on the opinion pages, it may be time to leave your comfort zone! You may be even more effective if you submit news analysis as free-lance news articles. News analysis may be a way to gain access to those publications which do not print opinions, i.e., trade journals, company newsletters, local newspapers, etc.

In order to be considered for publication outside an opinion column, news analysis must be presented with an unbiased, balanced perspective. This means you explain news events without lobbying for one side or another Considering the biased reporting many publications allow, simply explaining issues truthfully, and accurately presenting both sides of an argument can be persuasive enough.

Application

1. Write a letter to the editor or a news article which includes news analysis. Read carefully the news in your newspaper, professional journals or local newsletters. Are there stories which illustrate a biblical principle or show the consequences of breaking a biblical principle?

2. Work for unity in the body of Christ. If you do not know the basic doctrines of the Christian church, read such books as Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, or Basic Christian Doctrines by Carl Henry. Visit other denominations periodically and listen with respect to why they practice their Christianity as they do.

3. Write to protect and promote unity in the Church.

4. State each of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) in your own words as a positive statement.,(Ex. Do not steal = Be scrupulously honest in all your dealings) This is good practice for being pro-active and positive in our writing.

 

Technical Tips

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail..., but that every word tell." -William Strunk, Jr.

Some words to eliminate are:

» that-try eliminating it from your sentence. It is often (but not always) superfluous.

» the fact that; in order that,

» who is, which was-almost always superfluous

Avoid:

» cliches and jargon

» redundancies-Join together, green in color, continue on, consensus of opinion, each and every, irregardless

» negatives- Jean wasn't clear about it but she would never tell a lie. Better: Jean was unclear, but she told the truth.

 

Thought to Ponder

The world isn't looking at our tracts and rallies and telecasts and study manuals. It is looking at us and how we behave. When it fails to see the unity of Jesus' followers-the church-it fails to see the validation that Christ is indeed the Son of the living God.

-Chuck Colson
The Body, Word Publishing 1992, p. 103

Scripture References:

» Matt. 12:25
» 1 Cor. 12:22-25
» John 13:35
» Eph. 4:3-6
» John 17:21
» Phil. 2:1-4
» Acts 2:46
» Col. 4:5
» Rom. 12:4-5
» 1 Tim. 6:3-5
» Rom. 15:5-6
» 2 Tim. 2:23-25
» 1 Cor. 1:10
» Titus 3:9

This is the tenth of twelve lessons in the "Church Writing Group" curriculum. Reproduction of this lesson is permissible.

For more information contact The Amy Foundation, P.O. Box 16091, Lansing, Ml 48901, (517) 323-6233.

« back

« Lesson Plans Index

next »