The greatest attack on a local church is often not what “comes from without” in culture but what “comes from within” in community. We must guard against disunity! The Apostle Paul was coming to the end of his passionate letter to the Philippian church. This was a church of great sacrifice and joy. This was a church of great service and community. One thing threatened their future influence for Christ - disunity. There was a growing issue in the church that revolved around the disunity of two influential women. It’s very possible that these two women were part of the group of people who were meeting for prayer when Paul first preached the Gospel in Philippi (Acts 16:13). As some of the original pioneers of this great church, no doubt they had served their community and church well, yet now, something had changed. There is very little context beyond Paul’s concern over their disunity, other than the fact that he summoned an intervention to help. Paul recognized the importance of church unity! Do you and I? He doesn’t end his letter with a doctrinal warning; instead, he ends it with a relational warning. That should get our attention! Did you know that the phrase “one another” appears 100 times in the New Testament, speaking of how we should treat each other? God cares about unity! Why? Because our love for each other is our greatest testimony to a depraved culture (John 13:35)! Sometimes a church isn’t fractured by outright anger but by feelings of entitlement. We need to realize that Emmanuel is God’s church for God’s glory alone! We must always make the mission our priority, which means that hurt feelings are set aside for the sake of the Gospel. Are we all striving in the same direction with the same focus? If not, why?
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