One Another Series - Be Likeminded Toward One Another

 This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders. This year, in these podcasts, I am focusing upon the “One Another” scriptures found in the New Testament as viewed through the lens of leadership.

Our verses for today’s podcast are Romans 15:5 and 6. In the New King James Version we read, “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,   that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In this scripture, the Apostle Paul is appealing to Christ-followers to demonstrate unity, and he mentions two ways in which we are to do this.

 With one mind we glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We also

 With one mouth glorify Him.

Let us explore how we do this and how leaders set the example.

“With one mind” we agree to agree on the essentials of the Christian faith. In VCP, we require that partner denominations agree with the Apostles’ Creed and the Lausanne Covenant. There are many other doctrinal positions that our partners may take; these, we feel, are the essentials.

“Unity” does not mean “uniformity”. We agree on the essentials, but we do not mandate all doctrinal positions. That would be impossible. Think with me for a moment of the analogy to a sports team. Each player, each position has a different role, and they compete together for a common goal.

Secondly, he says that with “… one mouth we glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Think for a moment with me of the global Church as a large choir. We are practicing for a heavenly worship service. There are several musical parts, and the objective is that we sing in harmony with one another. We worship with one voice, with one mouth, and our worship pleases the Lord.

Humanly speaking, what happens when someone is off-pitch, out of rhythm, or singing the wrong lyrics? It is discordant, confusing, and sometimes even painful to listen to. Paul has something like this in mind. Leaders set the example by living in unity and harmony with others in the body of Christ. We are not competitors; we are on the same team, and we need to demonstrate that.

In 2022, I was in Tanzania with VCP Supervisor Peter Baraka where I witnessed a beautiful example of this. In meetings in two different cities, we saw (in each place) over 20 bishops come together in friendship. They enjoyed one another, and they celebrated together God’s goodness to all.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.