In Ephesians 4:2, Paul writes, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
I’m not sure what “completely humble” means exactly. I may need to leave that to the scholars, but my strong hunch is that it would be difficult to overdo humility. I’m also confident that it must start with the leaders of the church. When we willingly submit to each other, great kingdom power is released in your church.
5. Confront church bullies.
Extending grace to others is the right thing to do, but that doesn’t mean we should let a church bully get his or her way. God calls us to be humble and submit to each other by serving one another, but sometimes confronting a troublemaker is necessary. Taking a stand in order to fight for unity is part of the responsibility of a leader. The body of Christ is counting on us leaders to stand up.
Start with generous amounts of prayer, and give the benefit of the doubt. But over time, if it becomes clear that an individual does not have the church’s best interest at heart, and in fact favors his or her own agenda, it’s time to confront that person.
Take a church leader with you and first ask questions. Seek to understand why they feel the way they do. But in the end, if they refuse to be reasonable, and act in the best interest of the church, it’s time to have them step down from leadership. If it persists, and they threaten to leave, don’t be afraid to let them go.
6. Fight for a gossip-free and faith-filled culture.
Satan loves gossip and hates faith. One sure way to improve unity is to reduce gossip and increase faith. Gossip is simple to fight; just refuse to listen when someone offers it. However, it’s not easy to fight because human nature feeds on it. So it’s important to agree together to be a no-gossip church.
Try this: When someone is talking negatively about someone, say to that person, “Hey, I think you should tell ‘Bob’ what you are saying about him—in person. I don’t agree with you on this, but I’ll go with you if you like.” That shuts it down about 100 percent of the time.
As for faith, remembering what God has done, and believing things yet unseen will substantially build your faith. If you struggle with faith, get around people of great faith and ask God to increase your faith. He will!
Dan Reiland is the executive pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. This article was originally published on Reiland’s blog, Developing Church Leaders.