Francis Chan - Until Unity

Francis Chan

UNTIL UNITY

Published by David C Cook

4050 Lee Vance Drive

Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

Integrity Music Limited, a Division of David C Cook

Brighton, East Sussex BN1 2RE, England

The graphic circle C logo is a registered trademark of David C Cook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The author has added italics or bold to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

Library of Congress Control Number 2020952209

ISBN 978-0-8307-8272-7

eISBN 978-0-8307-8273-4

2021 Crazy Love Ministries

The Team: Michael Covington, Kevin Kim, Mercy Gordon, Mark Beuving, Stephanie Bennett, Judy Gillispie, James Hershberger, Susan Murdock

Lead Cover Designer: Julie Ip

Cover Designer: Mackey Saturday

First Edition 2021

This book is dedicated to the followers of Jesus from various denominations who have forgiven me for my arrogance and divisiveness over the years.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:1116

Mercy: Youre listed as editor, but you did much more. I couldnt have written this book without you. You are brilliant. Your wisdom coupled with your deep and pure love for Jesus made writing fun for me. Theres no one on earth I would rather write with. It was great to think with you, pray with you, and just be with you. Youre the best.

Mark Beuving: thanks for contributing to yet another book despite being in a busy season.

To my church family in Hong Kong: Lem, Diana, Allison, Christy, David, Lillian, Julie, Alan, Jen, Eugene, Telly, Francis, Iris, Douglas, Kelly, Ka Yuen, Wai Wai, Ah Wing, Barry, YY, Josh, Grazia, Sailor, Circle, Brian, James, Ka Yin, Helen, Hawk, Lorraine, Kyle, Jimmy, Hilda, Silas, On, Chicken, June, Jackie, Mike, Camilla, Amanda, Emma, JoJo, Andy, Andrew, Eric, Esther, Ah Sun, Ethan, Lap Yin. Thanks for making 2020 the best year of my life!

My friends in HK for your faithful prayers and support: Jackie P., Agnes, Jason, Juliana, Brian, Angela, Chow Fai, Kabo, Richard, Linda, Hugo, Yuenyi, TH, Paula, KO, YK, Serena, Cynthia, Sydney, Peter, Susana, James, Kennedy, Peter, Eugene, Matt, Robert, Pinky, Ben, the Balcombe family, Matt and Rebekah.

Be honest: How much time did you spend praising Jesus this morning?

Asking for things doesnt count. Just reading a passage of Scripture doesnt count. Im asking, How much time did you spend staring at Him and telling Him how amazing He is?

We were Gods enemy, destined to face His wrath. Let that sink in.

Jesus was tortured on the cross to appease the wrath of God. Does that truth still move you?

You are now reconciled with God and adopted as His child. How do we go a day without praising Him for this?

There is nothing you have to do today that is more important than worshipping Him.

God now abides in you! Dont just give this a head nod. Marvel at this!

Put this book down and worship Him. You are breathing now because God is giving you breath. Use your next breath for its intended purpose. Bless Him.

Bless the L ORD , O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

Psalm 103:1

We cant start our days without praise. We are commanded to rejoice in Him always. There is nothing you have to do today that is more important than worshipping Him. If Im not wise enough to start my day with praise, why should anyone listen to what I have to say? If I am foolish enough to forego praise because my mind is needed to fix problems in the church, then Im more of the problem than I realize.

Our lack of praise may actually be the biggest cause of our divisions. Once we stop worshipping, all hope for unity is lost. This is what unites us: we cant stop talking about the treasure we have in Jesus. Its hard to start an argument with someone who is on her knees shouting praises to Jesus, especially when youre busy blessing the Lord as well. Many of our problems could be reconciled if we discussed our concerns on our knees before a Holy God. We cant allow the Enemy or our enemies to interrupt our praise. Worship is our path to unity.

Even now I would encourage you to look up the following passages that explain the truths mentioned above: Romans 5:1011; Ephesians 2:34; Romans 3:2325; 1 John 3:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 14:2123. Fill your heart with worship, and keep it filled. You and I are part of an outrageous love story. Once we lose our fascination, we lose our effectiveness. Our words end up doing more harm than good. With a heart of thanksgiving, lets address the issues.

We are currently the most divided faith group on earth, and there isnt a close second. If you think Im exaggerating, name another religion with more than two or three factions. We have thousands of denominations and ministries, each believing their theology or methodology is superior. The saddest part of this is that our Savior was crucified to end our divisions, commands us to be united, and says we will impact the world when we become one.

We cant just go back to our various circles and continue our discussions about how deceived our brothers and sisters are. Its time to try something different. What if we each made it our goal to strive for a level of humility weve never had? We could spend our circle time on our knees crying out to the God of truth, begging Him to expose any pride or deception that has crept into our own lives.

We need to stop thinking that our primary duty toward our fellow believers is to critique them. Its not. Our primary duty is to love them. Paul says we owe a debt of love to each other (Rom. 13:8). Yet it seems we invest far more time in learning than loving. Honestly evaluate the amount of time you spend acquiring information compared to the amount of time you spend asking God to increase your love for His children.

We have been treating our divisions like our national debt. It worsens every minute, but it doesnt affect our daily lives so we dont feel an urgency to change it. Thats at the root of the problem: we cant stop thinking about ourselves. We have forgotten how our divisions affect God and an unbelieving world. Our casual, dismissive attitude toward unity is incredibly dangerous for three reasons:

1. 1. God is disgusted with it.