How to Build Church Unity: 6 Practical Leadership Strategies to Overcome Division

2. Define unity.

Unity is not uniformity or conformity. It’s not about everyone agreeing with everything. The sake of biblical unity should never be leveraged as a way for a leader to get his or her own way. Unity is a solidarity among believers focused on the mission of the church, in order to advance God’s kingdom purposes for the good of the people.

Division is focused on self and unity is focused on God. We divide, separate and go to battle when we lift up our own agendas over the greater good. It’s easy to cloak selfishness under the guise of righteous passion, but God designed the church to operate as a community moving in the same direction—not a collection of lone rangers who are each doing what is right in his or her own eyes.

3. Present clear communication of your vision.

We all talk a lot about a clear vision, and the reason is twofold. First, a significant percentage of churches still do not have a crystal clear vision for the future. Second, just because you have a vision doesn’t mean your people know it and have embraced it.

Here is a simple vision test:

1. Does your vision inspire the congregation to invite new people to the church?
2. Do the new people return?

People don’t attend churches because of perfect programs—they attend because of compelling vision. They attend because they feel cared for and like they are part of something that matters.

4. Create a M.V.S. environment.

M.V.S. stands for mutual voluntary submission. When the body of Christ willingly submits to one another, for the good of others, the grace and power of God seems to be unleashed in a powerful way. At the core of this is a servant heart and humility.