10/11/2023 0 Comments Unity church reviewsAnd the practical takeaway almost comes out to “Let’s just all get along” anyway. There was basically only one chapter that got down to the brass tax of how to draw the circle of unity. While he admits some lines do need to be drawn, and we can’t do the “Let’s just all get along” act, I still came away without a clear picture of when we should and should not be unified, in Chan’s view. So, the emphasis on approaching the issue of unity with the right heart was well said.īut with any book on unity, the challenge is going to be in deciding when and where to draw lines. There’s an arrogance to being too exclusive, looking at ourselves as the true arbiters of what is right and cutting off others, and there’s an arrogance to being too inclusive, thinking ourselves to be more loving than even God may be. The matter of unity is one we simply have no hope of getting right if we don’t approach it with humility. The call to humility is especially important. Yet we view preaching on such issues as sound and faithful yet worry about any push toward unity as liberalism and compromise. There is great value in the early chapters which call the reader to take God very seriously and realize He is just as passionate as our love and unity as He is about our sexual purity, evangelistic zeal, etc. And though I enjoyed the audiobook, I’ll be sure to revisit some of the key points when my print copy arrives, as I much prefer that medium for comprehension and understanding.Īs always, Chan does a great job of getting us thinking about the holiness of God and the importance of serving Him with reverence and loving one another. With proof of purchase the publisher offered a free audiobook that could be accessed immediately, so I jumped at the chance to get to listening. It left me wondering: what if unity is not just a prerequisite for mission – but also a collateral benefit of mission? If so, surely we must find ways to talk about and tackle these divisions together.I’ve long been a fan of Francis Chan’s work and have been heavily influenced by his views on the church, so when I saw he had a new book coming out on Christian unity, I placed my preorder. He doesn’t analyse the divide in Hong Kong between pro-government and pro-democracy groups that runs through the churches or the major political divisions in the US Church. He has experience living and working in Hong Kong – a country that is suffering from its own divisions.Ī challenge that has stuck with me from the book is Chan’s observation: “We divide easily because we love shallowly.” He goes on to make an impassioned call for unity, arguing that this is what God desires for us in love.Ĭhan sadly, perhaps deliberately, doesn’t address some of the urgent issues that are preventing unity: racism, politics, class and wealth. In the wake of this I was excited to read Until Unity by the bestselling author and former megachurch pastor Francis Chan. I was part of a diverse representation of Anglicans, Pentecostals, Baptists, Catholics, Chinese churches and Free churches that were uncommonly united in our desire to show the compassion and love of God to desperate Afghans fleeing to the UK to escape the Taliban. This week I experienced just how powerful a common cause could be on a national level. It appears that a common cause is a powerful unifier. I have, however, discovered an exception: the concerted effort once a year to come together to prevent the council levying car park charges on Sunday mornings. They seem to coexist pretty peacefully but entirely independently. There is little I have seen that unites the various churches in my town. What God has to say about your anger problem.Mike Royal: There is too much cult of personality in the Church.
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