DO NOT ARGUE

I Cor. 1:10 Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.  NLT

       Some things seem to never change. Apparently there was arguing going on in the Church right from the start. It was bad enough that it was brought to Paul's attention. As long as people make up the Church there will be lively "discussions." Sometimes issues will be resolved for the common good and sometimes for the sake of the common good people will part ways to either connect with another church body or to start one themselves.

      However, it is not God's desire for his body to be divided. God does not want, or need, a church on every street corner. He does not want His body to compete with each other for places of prominence in town. He does not want any part of His body to lord it over others. He doesn't want any part of His body to get an attitude about who they are or what they do in the Kingdom of Christ.

       We are not going to do away with the wide variety of churches that make up the body of Christ. We are not all going to see things the same way, worship the same way, or serve the same way. But, we don't have to let our differences separate us. We can learn to live in harmony with each other. In fact, for the good of the body, I would suggest that we MUST learn to live in harmony.

       A fragmented church is not an effective church. We will never impact our communities and world as long as we have different agendas. We will never make much of a dent in Satan's territory as long as we have different mindsets and purposes. United we stand strong and true; divided we crumble and fall.