In the days ahead, " We will see church unity like never before, when combined with deeper unity with Christ and individual believers, the world cannot help but believe."
" The Lord is not just looking to bring unity between churches. He is looking to bring unity between the church of the ages."
" Unity does not mean slowing down down for other to catch up. Many forerunner ministries think they have to back away from the "edgier" things God is doing, in order to preserve unity. This is not true. If we set high standards, others will follow. God wants us all to run full throttle into the calling He has released into our lives."
"However unity does not criticize those who do not run as fast as I do, or those who do not meet my standards. Unity respects every believer where he or she is, and trust God to lead them without judgement. Unity also is receptive to the gifting and ministry of others who are different from us. Unity does not require conformity of style or function. It requires perspective change, in which we value a brother with the eternal worth of Christ that has been placed upon them. Unity is achieved only through love for one another. Unity is not the ultimate goal. Love is the goal. Unity is just the fruit of love. We may completely despise one another's calling, function, and ministry tactics, but if we have love for each other anyway, we can still achieve unity. We must learn to prefer one another, despite our differences. Consider how how Abraham preferred Lot. There was no competition or selfish ambition in Abraham. He let Lot choose the choices, fattest portion of the land without the slightest argument. And God blessed him with an eternal covenant, giving him spiritual land and blessing that far outweighed Lot's acreage."
"Most divisions come through envy over one another's gifts, blessing, callings. And this is rooted in a slavery mentality. It is a form of spiritual poverty,... We become jealous when He favors someone else."
"We need to be creative and blaze new trails. Envy and jostling for position only breeds copycats, look-alike, and drones. True unity is found in diversity."
"The tribes of Israel were different, but still, they each word together to help one another take their inheritance. The 'unity of the faith' is not uniformity, but it does pack exponential power that no one man or ministry could accomplish alone."
John Crowder, The New Mystics
