Daily writing prompt

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

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When Christians humbly open their heart to one another they discover amazing unity! There’s a supernatural heart-to-heart unity of the Spirit among Christ-followers that can be lost if not carefully maintained. Our natural desires that the Bible calls “the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21) can easily disrupt, interrupt, and destruct that Spirit-given unity.

The Bible tells us to make every effort to preserve the beautiful inner unity of the Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3) We Christians haven’t obeyed that Scripture very well. Instead, we have shattered our unity into hundreds of thousands of fully independent churches and denominations worldwide. How can we begin to remedy that colossal divisiveness in Christianity?

If Christ is in you, (Colossians 1:27) He wants you to recognize and live out your Spirit-produced unity with all other Christ-carriers. To do so, keep His living water (John 7:38-39) stirred up within you. (2 Timothy 1:6) Be careful not to stop His inner flowing. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) Be humble, gentle, and lovingly patient with people. (Ephesians 4:2) Listen to and obey (John 14:15) Christ’s voice. (John 10:27) Always let Him lead you (Romans 8:14) and teach you (1 John 2:27) from within. Walk in love just as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2) and even love your enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

God doesn’t want His Holy Spirit to be moved aside. (Romans 8:14) The divisiveness of institutional churches has done just that. When a church doesn’t freely welcome the Holy Spirit’s direct leadership in a Christian gathering, the Spirit is quenched. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Having begun a church service in the Spirit with “worship in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24)) churches too often shift into the flesh (Galatians 3:3) — leaning on a preacher’s own understanding (Proverbs 3:5) to prepare a programmed talk about a religious topic. Having begun in the Spirit they seek to go forward by the flesh.

I believe that there are things that churches can do to be more united and more effective disciple makers. (Ephesians 3:20) We are far from our maximum potential! But when I make suggestions based on my studies of Scripture many Christians don’t want to hear them.

I don’t see the one man over a church type of leadership in the New Testament. I see it in the Old Testament but not the new. In the New Testament leadership is plural — elders, bishops (which literally means overseers like football officials), apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They are all plural. The risen Jesus is the only person that Scripture says can be the Head of a church or gathering of the body of Christ. However, toward the end of the first century, one man headship of churches and groups of churches began to replace the NT model of plural leadership that oversaw church meetings as the Spirit led them.

Let me ask you a question. If Jesus is really risen from the dead and present and active in the world today as the Holy Spirit, why isn’t He capable of being the literal Head of a church and not just a figurehead shoved to the side by human leadership? Christians can disagree about what the Bible is saying in 1 Corinthians 14:26, but if they let a congregation all consistently listen to the Spirit and then say or do what He tells them to, they will be amazed by the spiritual fruit they see in peoples’ lives.

Too many churches treat the Bible like a formal textbook when it is really a love letter from God to you. Let the Bible speak for itself! Don’t just hear about it through a preacher. Open your heart to the Bible and read it like a love letter, not like a textbook!

Jesus didn’t
Need a screen
For His message
To be heard
And be seen
By the hearts
Of large crowds
Of people
Because He spoke
Spirit-prompted words
That awoke
Spiritual life
And unity.
Let Christ in you
Prompt you to speak
Words directly
From His Spirit
Not from your own
Understanding.