United We Stand

Dan Owens and the Eternity Minded Ministries ministry team are currently ministering to the people of Rwamagana, Rwanda. Today we are sharing an excerpt from Dan Owens' book A Joy That Is Real. Devotions from the Spiritual Genealogy Series will resume upon Dan's return.

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UNITED WE STAND
Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, Dear Friends! I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. --Philippians 4:1-3

During a difficult time at the beginning of our country's history, founding father Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." Abraham Lincoln said the now famous phrase, "United we stand; divided we fall." Throughout America's history, unity has been an important concept.

In the Bible, unity refers to a sense of oneness. Jesus expected unity among his followers, and he prayed in John 17:23, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Unfortunately, conflict sometimes destroys our unity, especially in the local church.

I've heard people say, "I don't want to go to church because people don't get along with each other and I don't want to get hurt." Sadly, in many cases that is true. Paul has been writing about joy, and he's getting ready to give some encouragement, but first he must deal with a problem of disunity in the church. Two women, Euodia and Syntyche, were having a conflict. Apparently this problem was big enough that Paul singled them out as he begins the final portion of his letter. He urges their fellow believers to help them in resolving the problem.

How do we resolve disunity within the body of Christ? I want to offer you a few principles from Scripture on how to deal with conflict in the church.

Don't Run
In verse 1, Paul says, "Stand firm in the Lord." Running away from conflict will not resolve it. We need to realize that conflict is part of life-whether you see it in the office, at home, or at a Bible study.

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Don't Sweep It
Another common response to conflict is to try to pretend it's not a big deal, or sweep it under the carpet. However, Paul realizes that this type of problem won't resolve itself-and he gets right down to naming names. He isn't being mean-spirited, but he realizes that he must confront these two women and call them specifically by name in order to deal with the issue properly. He does it out of the true love and concern that we saw in the first verse.

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Don't Ignore It
When we realize and admit that there is a problem, we can't ignore it. Paul was so concerned about this conflict that he asks others in the church to meditate. They could not resolve it themselves, and they needed help. In these cases, someone else needs to get involved-not a busybody, but someone who truly desires to bring the two people or groups together for the glory of God.

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Paul saw that his beloved church had to choose a direction. Either these women needed to deal with their conflict and forgive each other, or they were going to continue to build up their secondaries and drag others into the problem, and end up causing a split in the church.

God has called us to be unified. The church should not be a place of bickering and fighting, but a place where lives are transformed, and where we see the Spirit of God at work.

Peace to you!

Dan

Copyright 2008 Eternity Minded Ministries