As Jesus sent his disciples out to do his works he didn’t say, “now be nice to each other and you’ll see the sick healed and demons flee and hearts transformed.” He said “Don’t go alone; be careful! I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves, expect to be imprisoned, expect persecution, expect to stand before politicians and princes, expect to be rejected by brothers and fathers, expect strife, but stand firm to the end because my Father will give you everything you need- in fact- it makes Him happy to give you his entire Kingdom!”
Paul, Peter, James – all of them say expect it to be hard- you’ll be tempted to blame each other but remember, you’re fighting demons not each other (Eph 6).
If we want unity it won’t feel like unity most of the time- it will feel like we’re barely hanging on to each other. Real unity, REAL community comes at a great price- we surrender our rights for the sake of Christ and one another. We together go on a journey of dying to ourselves and living to Christ and it’s hard.
If it’s going well it will drive you into 2 places:
1. To your knees in desperate prayer
2. Into hard conversations
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