Whole Church: Bringing People Together, Even When Conflict Abounds
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, September 29, 2009
- Viewed 67
- (0) comments so far
Today, I'm pleased to be a part of the "Whole Church" blog tour. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm reading Mel Lawrenz's new book: "Whole Church: Leading from Fragmentation to Engagement". I got to ask Mel one question about the book. Here's my question, and his great response:
Todd: Mel, You talk in your book about church conflict and fragmentation; and how that will inevitably keep a church from uniting together. In light of some very serious and public church conflicts as of late, what is your one piece of advice for pastors who very much want to bring their people together, but all they see is a church divided by conflict?
Mel: One piece of advice??? (there are 350 practical cohesive ideas in Whole Church). If I had to say one thing, it would be this: what all you see is conflict, shift your vision to what is whole and build on that. The truth is, every church has fragmentation (because human beings are fragmented), and every church is whole (because there is always a mature core of people who have their heads screwed on straight and know that Jesus sees One Body). Don't let conflict win. Remind everyone that our battle is "not against flesh and blood." And then, practically: 1) communicate honestly and clearly; 2) let the aspirations of the congregation have a louder voice than the conflicts of individuals (congregations are sometimes wiser than their leaders); 3) anchor the church in authentic engagement with God and the world (i.e. get the focus off yourselves). Rise to the high calling of being a Whole Church.
For more great posts on Whole Church today, check out the entire blog tour:
Greg Atkinson http://www.gregatkinson.com/
George Bullard http://www.bullardjournal.org/
Kent Shaffer http://www.churchrelevance.com
Mark Roberts http://www.markdroberts.com/
Sherry Surratt http://www.sherrysurratt.com/
Comments
if you want a Globally Recognized Avatar (the images next to your profile) get them here. Once you sign up, they will displayed on any website that supports them.
Post a Comment