{"id":7573,"date":"2019-04-12T13:21:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=7573"},"modified":"2019-04-12T13:21:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:21:13","slug":"pleasant-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Pleasant Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I walked away from our Church Family Night reflecting on King David\u2019s observation in Psalm 133:1 – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!<\/em> \u00a0That evening we had discussed a possible change in our church constitution, processed four challenging church discipline cases, and even reviewed the conflict of interest policy each of our elected officials signs and follows.<\/p>\n

Each of those situations could have resulted in drama, dissension, and division. However, in our case, while there were plenty of solid questions and observations, everyone stayed joyfully engaged in a way that was healthy, positive, and productive. David\u2019s words were and are true \u2013 it is good and pleasant when people dwell together in a unified way. I believe this unity flows out of four key commitments.<\/p>\n

1. Remember that Jesus is the head of our church, even in the way we conduct our discussions and deliberations.<\/h3>\n

Our Lord prayed before going to the cross that we would be unified (John 17:20-21). His death, burial, and resurrection makes it possible for us to be transformed in the way we relate to those around us. We would say with the apostle Paul – He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything<\/em> (Colossians 1:18). When we all remember that Jesus is the Head of our Church, it helps us place our views and opinions in the proper priority. Even when we see things differently, we want the way we express those views and opinions to honor our Savior.<\/p>\n

2. Solve problems quickly before unsolved issues take on a life of their own.<\/h3>\n

Paul told the Ephesians – Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger<\/em>\u2026 (4:26). As I discuss church challenges with pastors and leaders from other churches, I am amazed at how hard it is for some groups of people to decide anything. Even a discussion about the color of the new carpet in the foyer sets off a minor war. When you start peeling the layers from the onion, you often find that the carpet disagreement erupted because of an affront at a previous business meeting years ago that was never addressed and solved. It is never easy to face problems head on, but Paul\u2019s command not to let the sun go down on our anger is clear and powerful.<\/p>\n

3. Let our interactions be characterized by biblical love.<\/h3>\n

In the great love chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, Paul explained that love \u201cbears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things\u201d (verse 7). \u00a0In other words, love gives the benefit of the doubt. That does not mean that we should never ask hard questions or challenge one another\u2019s beliefs, positions, or assumptions. However, there is such a thing as loving deliberation that solves problems, improves proposals, and still results in stronger relationships than when the meeting began.<\/p>\n

4. Stay focused on the \u201cmajors\u201d instead of becoming mired in the \u201cminors.\u201d<\/h3>\n

Also at Church Family Night, we had the privilege of seeing a number of men and women follow the Lord in believer\u2019s baptism. Then we heard testimonies from a number of other people who were becoming members of our church family. We were able to hear about and pray for Faith Christian School and the upcoming Passion Play. We enjoyed several tremendous songs from our school\u2019s worship team and then celebrated the Lord\u2019s table together. All of us would say that those elements were more important than the business items we had to process. Yes, it is all important, but activities that are most closely aligned with our core mission is what interests and excites us.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s never take our unity for granted. And let us redouble our efforts to, \u201cwith all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace\u201d (Ephesians 4:2-3).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently I walked away from our Church Family Night reflecting on King David\u2019s observation in Psalm 133:1 – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! \u00a0That evening we had discussed a possible change in our church constitution, processed four challenging church discipline cases, and even reviewed the… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":7576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPleasant Unity - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pleasant Unity - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently I walked away from our Church Family Night reflecting on King David\u2019s observation in Psalm 133:1 – Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! \u00a0That evening we had discussed a possible change in our church constitution, processed four challenging church discipline cases, and even reviewed the... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-12T17:21:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20190412132046\/FJO_0208.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1471\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Viars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/\",\"name\":\"Pleasant Unity - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-12T17:21:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-12T17:21:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/pleasant-unity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pleasant Unity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/b83c7b6a62eab6b6e07c6659b204826c\",\"name\":\"Steve Viars\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408121939\/ViarsSteve.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Steve Viars\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Viars has served as a pastor and counselor at Faith since 1987. 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