The Number 2 Indicator that You Might Be in a Dysfunctional Church

You might be in a dysfunctional church if everyone has a different vision. Paul tells the Corinthian church:

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Corinthians 1:10, NIV)

As discussed in yesterday's post, Paul has a concern. That concern is koinonia, fellowship. The community which was to be in fellowship with one another was to be in unity with God and with one another. This unity is not uniformity. It is not based upon some forced sense of saying and doing the same thing. Unity within the church allows all of us to be truly unique, yet to be one in heart and mind. Paul shows that this is the area of his concern in the next few verses where he says that they have different slogans to support the different factions within the church. When this is the case, there is no unity. Paul also mentions the word "thought" which in some translations is called "judgment". This word can also be translated as what we in this era call "vision". The church had no sense of common vision.

What should be done? Paul presents the remedy. Later in the letter he discusses the fact that the church is the body of Christ. We are not on our own. Jesus Christ who is no longer with us in the flesh, is present in the world through the presence of his body; the Church. Just as a body is held together through the joints and ligaments, Paul essentially says that we should let Christ join us together in mind and thought. We should have a common vision and that vision is not ours but it is Christ's.

How does vision in the church come about. First, since Jesus is the head of the body, he is the source of the vision. Vision comes through Him. Pastors and other leaders really are those who seek to discern that vision and help the rest of the congregation to understand how to carry out that vision. It must be mentioned here, that the rest of the congregation can also be given discernment of Christ's vision. It doesn't matter how we arrive at it; it matters that we do see the vision of Jesus Christ for our church.

Vision is also related to purpose. All churches have a purpose. They were started and placed in order to carry out God's purpose. Yet, many churches never grapple with why they are where they are; they just keep doing what they have been doing. One of the most challenging places I have been is Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. The are "the Purpose Driven Church". The amazing thing is that all 20,000 or so really understand their purpose. We don't have to be Saddleback to understand our purpose, but we must understand why God brought us into being and placed us where we are.

To the extent that we have no sense of purpose and no common vision, we are dysfunctional. We must pray for discernment. We must study the scriptures and our communities. We must discuss among ourselves. We must ask the community around us. We must discern and understand our purpose. Then we must be faithful to that heavenly vision. Then we will indeed function as God's church in this place.