JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Q1. Humility and Unity - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

Q1. (2:1-4). To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary? Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church? What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

Humility is the most important thing for unity. It is being humble enough to put others before yourself. If we are always thinking about ourselves and the other members never enter our mind how can there be unity. We must really care about the other parts of the body. A body will not function at its best if it has a hurt part. We are called to be humble because Christ humbled Himself and became a servant. Part of our being in the body of believers is to serve each other with our different gifts.

Not lately but there was a time when within my congregation there was a lack of humility. Certain members would be jealous over what another member was doing, yet these jealous members never had time or enegy to do these things. I have also attended a church where the deacons wanted to be over the Pastor, this is not showing much humility. They were more concerned about being in the spotlight than serving others.

In my own congregation I have started a small Bible group. We get together once a week to study God's Word and to pray for the other members of the church. I try to be friendly to all when we meet to worship. I can testify of many times when I would be feeling down and just a smile from another in church could lift my spirit. If they were only concerned with themselves I would not have received such a blessing. We try to put others first and to be concerned what they are going through. If I know another member is going though some trials I try to send them a card of encouragement, to let them know I care.

In my church we had a few years of utter up-heavel. It seemed that ego got in the way of seeing Jesus. Some wanted to have every thing their way. They made life misarable for every-one else. It got to a point were you did not want to even go to church.
Then something happened. They left and went to another church. On there own. Now my church is filled with Spirit driven people that want only what is best for the church, and not themselves.
We have developed a fellowship of unity, and faith, that is growing in the knowledge and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ for guildance.
What a difference it has made in our church when the focus shifted from self to Christ. HB

To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary?

Humility is defined in Webster’s as: the quality or state of being humble. I agree with Randi, humility, "is the most important thing for unity." It points to a level of servanthood that Jesus taught us when He was with us. Everything He did was about His Father's business. Everything He did benefited someone else. Mark 10:45 states: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (NIV)


If we are to model Him as His disciples, we must learn to put others first. This means that we are second. He has prepared us for this servanthood, 1 Peter 4:10 states: “Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. (HCSB)

Sometime ago I attended a class that spoke of Jesus and His role as a leader. The title of the book was, Jesus on Leadership, Becoming a Servant Leader, by C. Gene Wilkes. This book teaches that we all have a model for servanthood and humility in Jesus Christ. One of the key elements in Jesus role was that He humbled Himself daily. Everything He did was in direct service to the Father’s will.

If we could maintain that attitude in our congregations, the only product that it could possibly reap is love. That product is in direct line with what John 13:34 states: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (KJV)

What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

The answer to this question is individual and can only be answered in and through Jesus’ influence in your life and the leading of the Holy Spirit. One thing I know from my own life experiences, it is the application of what you learn through God’s word of His life that allows you to answer this.

I believe each of us is accountable to others within the body of Christ. No one of us is greater than another or more important than another. We are all part of God’s plan and each of us has a specific role. If we can remember that, we will never put ourselves over someone else or think we are higher or more knowledgeable than someone else. Romans 12:3 states: “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (KJV)

When we do this, we are not individuals but instead we are part of the body of Christ. 1Cor 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 1 Cor 12:14: For the body is not one member, but many.

Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church? What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

I think that the above answers this question. Division in the church is caused by people who are not about the Father's business. If you look at what Jesus says and teaches us, learn from His example, correct your life, and apply all that you have learned, there will be no lack of unity. There will be one body, being used to the benefit of all.

1 Corinthians 12 is a great chapter to read about the body of Christ. I urge eveyone of you to reread it. When you do keep in mind our subject, achieving unity. God bless each of you.

Lesson 3 Q 1
(a) Humility is necessary to achieve unity in a congregation because humility means absence of pride, therefore we have to let self go and let Jesus Christ be our life, our example. We need to humble ourselves. When we do this we will have the same attitude of mind, same love, same spirit and same purpose bringing unity to our Churches.
(b) An example of how lack of humility caused a division in my church:
When a person or number of persons runs the church and have a say in everything but do not let their pride down or be Christ like dividing the church into two groups. One group who runs the show with no respect for others, the other group who helps and pays the church trying to live for Christ and is always in the background. This is division and eventually causes everone to be jealous, angry and a lot of tension forming. The love of Christ is lost. So sad!
© To bring unity into the church I try to set an example. If anyone confides in me I do not talk about it to others. I try to avoid gossip, bringing others down. I pray my love for Jesus is seen by others in the church. I want to be a Christian, that carrys Christ everywhere I go. Amen?

This Book is such a wonderful part of GOD's Word. Thank you, Pastor Ralph for helping us go through it.

2:4 "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

If we focus on the abilities of others instead of our own abilities there will be unity in the church. If we think of how they are blessing us with their abilities and thank GOD for them we will appreciate what they do in the church. We need to remember to give a word of praise or thanks to our Pastors and all who have a part in the church.

Humility honors God first and others second (the two greatest commandments). Anything short of that is putting self first. This means self-minded vs. Christ minded. There's no humility in self mindedness thus unity isn't achieved. Those that put self first disrupt unity because they expect others to take their eyes of Christ and look at them.

There's no visible divisions in my church that I am aware of. We do confess our sins and pray for each other. I'm sure we're not totally honest and open about all of our sins, but those that are confessed are prayed for.

Q1. (2:1-4). To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary? Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church? What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

In any church there will be many personal viewpoints, individual preferences, personalities, and styles of operation. This can lead to differences of opinions. We need discretion to know which of these differences are really important to take a stand on and which of these we need to humbly defer on. There are times, when in humility, we must not push for our preference to maintain unity. This is not always easy - remember Paul's prayer for discretion between what is good and what is best. Often we have tunnel vision about the wrong things.

Praise the Lord, we have not really had major divisions in our church. But, we did have a few families leave a few years ago because of a difference in opinion with the pastor at that time. Both sides were not willing to back down on a situation which amounted to personal preferences, not violation of scriptural truths. As a result, a disagreement escalated and these families left.

What can we do to promote unity? Pray, pray, pray. Ask for discretion to know what is worth standing for and what is really just a matter of personal preference. The holy wars of church music have caused many divisions in churches today. For the sake of unity, I've come to accept other styles of music and have learned to use them to worship the Lord, even though these styles aren't my personal preferences. Our battles need to be against Satan, not against our Christian brothers and sisters.

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[color=blue]1a.) Paul's exhortation of doing nothing our of self ambition or vain conceit; reflects an attitude of self exalting and not God exalting. It is our purpose to be worshippers of the Almighty, not worshippers of our selves.[/color]
1b.) (2:1-4). Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church?
[color=blue]1b.) From the church we left, yes. A personal dislike of the pastor, the attitude of this is MY church and you are not changing it. A church that had a trustee fund of almost a million dollars yet could not meet its financial commitments. All of these ills reflected the lack of spiritual maturity, selfishness and confusion.[/color]
1c.) (2:1-4). What are you doing to bring unity in your church?
[color=blue]1c.) Service in various ministries to help others grow in spiritual maturity and prayer (prayer being first and most important). Our present church is a praying church and it reflects the humility of Christ. I have heard a quotation that prayer does not change the person you are praying about, but it changes the pray-er (me).[/color]

[font="Geneva"]Biblical humility really says “you before me”. To achieve unity in our congregations, we must set aside our petty egos and focus entirely on honoring and glorifying God. We must rise above our distrust of others and skepticism about their motives as we serve Christ. We must love our brothers. In the absence of love, the church will breakdown amid individual quarrels and strife.

Satan is very much alive and delights in dividing the church, whether over denominational differences, or redefining sin (for example, the entire homosexual issue has many parallels with “the fall”…. “did God really say that homosexuality was sin”… ).

Fortunately divisions within my church are rare and minor in magnitude. When they do occur, they seem to be more about someone “having to be right”.

Personally, I try to set aside my own biases when dealing with others, and seek a solution that exalts God and benefits our church. Sometimes that’s more difficult than I care to admit.
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Humility is a requirement for maintaining unity in any group of people. You must care about and respect each other. In the church, you must each first have a true understanding of personal unity with Christ, and then because of that common factor, each person is called to humble unity with each other. (I certainly know that’s the ideal, not the usual reality!) I really appreciate how the difference in negative humility and genuine Christian humility is explained in this lesson.

About 2 ½ years ago, God led me to leave the church I had belonged to all my life, and one big reason was the lack of humility in pastoral leadership and lack of unity in that body of believers. In the time since, that pastor and staff were forced out of the church, started their own, and already have split up the new church and gone separate ways. Their focus has been so much on self and not others. What a sad, sad impact on their effectiveness for Christ.

In my new church, the climate is much better. It’s a large congregation, but in my own little realm of teaching a Sunday School class and serving in the choir, I am constantly attempting to see needs in others and at least just show loving concern. A smile, a pat on the back, an appropriate "thank you", a prayer together, an encouraging card or e-note – any of these simple things can mean a lot. I try to remember that it’s not about me. It’s about Jesus and caring about what He loves - people. That will keep you humble!

Q1. (2:1-4). To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary? Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church? What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

Unfortunately, today church has become very business like and most of the time "man's agenda" comes in place of God's. Humility is necessary for unity - - because pride will not allow us to be open to God's direction. If we think it is about us, then what we do will be geared to promoting us instead of the Gospel.

Our church had a pastor that had to step down due to sin in his life. The lack of humility not only on his part, but on the part of others who were trying to take over, caused a division and people began to take sides.

to bring unity requires must prayer from the leadership of the church, and the congregation and beginning with me - - to pray and be the example of my Savior, Messiah - -

Unity means fellowship, relationship, "at one ness" with others. We can't be at one with others if our eyes oare limited to a view of ourselves. Being at one means we have to engage with the other(s) in all our thoughts, concerns, loves, cares. To do this we have, not to neglect ourselves, (for this is not loving ourselves which Jesus assumes we do), but neither to neglect any other person, therefore to be totally aware of the other as we are of ourselves. This takes a passionate interest. There are many more "others" than there are of "me". Therefore a much larger proportion of our time, attention etc is devoted to to others. I think that getting this into perspective is true humility.

Lack of humility has caused many to leave the church - "They aren't giving me all the attention I need!" "My status hasn't been acknowledged." For a "mature" Christian, the attitude might be "Have I made the best of all the opportunities I have had to be of service at this church?" List the opportunities......they are endless! Opportunities to take care of the premises (clean the toilets, do the gardening, serve morning tea, welcome newcomers and encourage many people in their efforts to overcome difficulties etc ad infinitum)

What can I do to bring unity in the church? Speak the truth. When someone denigrates, point it out and ask for a positive action plan. When someone complains, challenge them to be the overcomer and find a solution. Don't let people get away with negativity but gently show it up for what it is and ask for the constructive option. Serve people, be an example of the servant attitude, and where Christians are sufficiently mature, or should be, challenge them to the servant attitude.

To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary?
the opposite of humility is pride. pride is all about ourselves rather than GOD or others.
humility shows that we place GOD first , others 2nd and ourselves last as Jesus did.


Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church?
the lack of humility for the many children in the catholic church has caused a large division in the church.
yet people have to remember that this is the devil's work and we shouldn't leave GOD and the church because of it. if so than the devil has won.


What are you doing to bring unity in your church?
i'm trying to teach as Jesus did to the children of the community. who in turn go home from being so excited and they inform thier parents what they've learned about Jesus. i've even have had some of these parents come up to me with questions that they didn't feel comfortable going to someone else with. i answer by asking questions about the bible and let them answer thier own questions. in that way they learn more out of it than being dictated to.

Hey - It's not about us - its about JESUS.
It has been proven that we are valuable to God - EVERYONE, saved and unsaved - JOHN 3:16 - To place ourselves higher than we ought is SIN. Not to value others as Christ does - who died for them - is to be very far from God. If we would pray to see ourselves and others as Christ sees them, humbleness would prevail and pure and holy actions would follow. To do otherwise is to dwell within the sin of pride - away from God.

Unity - being of one accord - is being focused on Christ and not on petty things that distract us from that. We move forward in the power of God only when our focus is on Jesus.

Pride, especially in the leadership of a church, will always set members against each other as they seek to emulate their leader. To become better than another, we work to make others look worse than us. I learned this the hard way in a church where a false prophet rules the little kingdom he created. The Lord rescued me from there, along with many others who truly sought the TRUTH.

KEEPING MY FOCUS ON CHRIST is the greatest, most effective thing I can do to walk in unity with others in the greater Body of Christ. It helps me to discern who is walking in Truth and who isn't. We go where we are focused - if focused on Christ, we will become like Him, treating others as He would.

Being humble opens up to being receptive to the needs of others. For there to bew unity in the church congregation, people must be able to earnestly seek to serve each other, rather that push their own agenda.
On a field trip last year, one family got very disturbed that they could not bring extra family and friends because the seating was limited (plus the church had had several fundraisers to pay for the trip-this family did not get involved). Tempers flared and there were hard feelings for several weeks following the trip.
I try to help foster unity in my church by being willing to serve in any way that is asked of me. I also refuse to get involved in any gossip that sometimes seems to flow freely through the church.

ONE MUST DIE OUT TO SELF AND BE SOLD OUT TO JESUS AND REMEMBER THAT IT IS NOT ABOUT US! YOU MUST BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR OTHERS. THE WHOLE CONGREGATION MUST ALL BE IN ONE ACCORD , THEIR MINDS MUST ALL BE ON JESUS AND NOT ON "WHAT'S FOR LUNCH" OR FOOTBALL OR SOME OTHER THING THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY FROM WORSHIP. IN ONE MIND & ONE ACCORD. ALL IN AGREEMENT WITH CHRIST AND WITH EACH OTHER. BE WILLING TO GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR SOMEONE ELSE, BECAUSE YOU WERE ONCE LOST ALSO. BUT ABOVE ALL KEEP FOCUSED ON GOD AND LOVE OTHERS MORE THAN YOURSELF.
A STAFF MEMBER WAS ASKED TO STEP ASIDE BECAUSE ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER WAS ALSO ON STAFF. DECISIONS COULD NOT BE MADE WISELY ON CERTAIN THINGS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS IN SAME OFFICE. THEY LEFT THE CHURCH AND ALSO SOME CLOSE FRIENDS ALSO LEFT. HE WOULD NOT TAKE ANOTHER PLACE IN THE MINISTRY BECAUSE HE WAS ALSO TREASURER AND WANTED TO BE IN CONTROL. YOUR DESC. OF A POWERBROKER..
KEEPING MY HEART AND MIND DEDICATED TO CHRIST AND TO CHRIST ALONE.

Why is humility necessary in the church? What does lack of humility in the church cause division? What can you do to create unity in the church?

Humility is necessary in the church, as we have to place others above ourselves , for he that is greatest among you must be servant of all.
Humility also will not promote pride among its members.

Lack of humility in the church will result in division in the church , members
looking down on one another, also, a lack of the members not helping to
meet one another's needs. God would not be present is such a setting where the body is divided.

To create unity in the church, we have to be all of one mind, serving one
another , praying and strenghtening one another, a genuine concern for
those who are struggling in thier faith

Q1. (2:1-4). To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary?
Without humility we are full of pride and everything is about us. If the focus is always on “our needs” instead of on Jesus, the Church cannot survive.

Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church?
There hasn’t been a division in my Church, at least not in the 4 years I’ve been a member. The only problems I have seen so far is the ego of a few people. They want to be in charge of everything that goes on. This has only caused small problems at times, and hopefully the problems will remain small.

What are you doing to bring unity in your church?
By not participating in gossip, helping those in need and lots of prayer.

Q1. (2:1-4). To achieve unity in your congregation, why is humility necessary?
We must be able to put things in the right order in our lives and in our congregation, it is necessary that we do not want glory but give out compliments to others and not seek out self approval. Jesus always put others first we are to be like Jesus.

Can you give an example of how lack of humility caused a division in your church?
When you see on that will not agree with anything that is said by the elders. One that thinks it is there way or no way not willing to listen to reason. They do not even want to take time to pray before they give an answer. This will divide a church and cause hurt feels and God never wants a person to put their feeling above those of others. We need to pray and watch our words not to cause division.

What are you doing to bring unity in your church?

I have heard so many say that they will not clean or help keep the church clean what a shame to not think it an honor to clean the place we go to worship our Lord. I make sure I tell anyone that is working to make things better for the church and look better what a wonderful thing they are doing. It take so little to give praise to others and it does make them know they are appreciated. Thank you Jesus. Never to think one is better than another be willing to help out in all work that is being done. Even if it is cleaning the bathrooms we need to not think highly of ourselves but if another is willing to do this work join in and help all I can is what I want to do.