Dale Carnegie wrote a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Christians have written the book on “How to Make Enemies and Alienate People.” Maybe because we have been more focused on “winning souls” than winning friends, and because we’re more prone to label and judge people than to influence them by our example.
Part of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation, which we celebrated this Sunday, is as many as 30,000 different denominations (and in reaction, “non-denominational churches”). Churches don’t all have to look alike, but we do have to claim our unity in Christ.
Ephesians 4:1-6. People need to know that it is safe for them to talk about the issues that matter inside the church. Christians do not have to agree with one another. But we do have “bear with one another in love.”