I was reading article written by a man who was part of a staff of a large church. He was writing about the fact that he and the senior minister was very close, then through the process of time, they grew apart, and eventually didn’t talk to one another for years.
This brought on some very personal feelings for me, as I can relate to being very close to some people and through the process of time (and job changes), we drifted apart, slowly at first until finally there was no communication at all.
The author of the article and the minister were able to reconnect and then sat down to evaluate what happened within their relationship. They came up with six basic things they could pinpoint that led them away from one another. I thought this was an amazing idea. If you can see the issues that caused the problem, it will give you better insight to avoiding the same issues later.
As I read the article and contemplated their reasons for growing apart, I realized that these same issues could cause an entire congregation to fall apart. The congregation may still assemble together, they may be cordial to one another, but are they truly unified if they have fallen victim to these issues? If they are not truly unified, are they being effective in the kingdom of God?
I believe it would do us all well to look at this list and see where we are as individuals, after all it is the individuals that make up the church.
- The church stops dreaming together
- People stop sharing their individual dreams. (Both for the church and for themselves)
- You stop doing life together, no social activity.
- You complain more than you celebrate
- You let people complain about other members to you.
- You complain to people about other members.
It is easy to see from this list how if we fall victim to any of these it could cause us to drift apart. We need to remember that the church is one body and Jesus is the Head, which makes it His body! His desire is unity and oneness for us. It is not always easy because we are different, and we all have character flaws that others may not understand.
Friends, it is easier to love people you don’t know. It is when you get to know them that you really have to work at it because there is so much to overlook!
Read John 17:20-26