a 29-year-old kid who was (and still is) overwhelmed and underqualified.Īs church succession planning becomes an increasingly hot topic in our movement, most leaders have come to realize transitions are always messy. He”s a living legend, and he handed the baton to me. Bob planted the church in 1977, and over 39 years grew the body to about 3,000 people. On April 17, 2016, Bob Cherry, the founding minister of Northeast Christian Church, handed me the baton of leadership. Ĭross-shaped love“”This is the cruciform love Jesus selflessly embodied and which we bear when we choose to carry our own cross. These first three principles all point to the final one. Suddenly we find ourselves fighting like family rather than enemies. But when we balance both truth and love, suddenly we find ourselves on common ground with a common goal. Truth without love will never be heard because it”s self-righteous. The trick here is sharing the truth in love. Truth“” Unity is not uniformity, but it can cultivate it when we lead with humble listening and accommodation. It”s much like the accommodation Paul described in 1 Corinthians 9:22 when he said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”* It”s the kind of unity James articulated in his letter to Gentile Christians when he asked them to “abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled” (Acts 15:29), so they might be in fellowship with Jewish Christians. It requires making a calculated decision to prioritize common ground over personal opinion, mission over method, Jesus over generational difference. If you esteem the One who gave his life for his enemies, you will certainly be willing to listen to your fellow Christians.Īccommodation“”By its very nature, unity demands joining with people whose views differ from yours, and yes, that is possible to do. Humility is having no self-esteem, but rather esteeming Christ alone. Humility isn”t about having high self-esteem or low self-esteem. Both care too much about how their peers see them. The student who fears raising his hand to answer a question is just as prideful as the one who always raises his hand. In fact, passivity often is just a different form of pride. I”m not suggesting humble people are passive or lack confidence. Listening is acknowledging that no one has all the answers. It”s saying to your counterpart, “You talk first.” Through listening, we earn the right to be heard. Listening generates empathy and understanding, the key ingredients for peaceful disagreement. Humility“”The calling card of the humblest people I know is a willingness to listen. Here are four principles that I hope will move us in the right direction: We desperately need to swing the “truth and unity” pendulum back to a more balanced place. Perhaps leaders have allowed our autonomous approach to the local church to turn into a competition rather than a kingdom.įrom what I read in the New Testament, unity was an undeniable essential for the earliest church. Perhaps theologians elevate an exhaustive list of doctrines to the level of being absolutely essential. Perhaps ministers confuse changing methods with changing mission. Perhaps preachers have mistaken unity for uniformity. Honest question: Do we fight for unity with the same enthusiasm we fight for truth? I see this movement”s leaders fighting publicly for truth or sometimes with one another over truth, but I see few fighting for unity. Perhaps it”s time to call for a restoration of that ideal in our movement, because I believe we are out of balance. “¢ In essentials, unity in opinions, liberty in all things, love.īut the most compelling principle to me has always been our commitment to live in the tension between truth and unity. “¢ We”re Christians only, but not the only Christians. “¢ We have no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but Christian. Where the Bible is silent, we are silent. I was raised in one of our churches, educated at one of our schools, and lead one of our churches. I love the principles of the Restoration Movement.
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