Heated arguments and debate seem to be the norm today. As ministry leaders, it should be a no-brainer that these types of things are damaging. Unity is the key to extinguishing the fires of disagreement among us. Getting your team on the same page is incredibly powerful.

Unity is a valued Kingdom principle. It was on the lips of Jesus when He prayed for His disciples and for all future believers in John 17 (verses 11,20-23). And it is what will fuel our Kingdom work together.

In Psalm 133, David sings to God about the great power of unity. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” This unity is described as “precious oil” because it is so highly valued. It’s an anointing oil — in the Old Testament, for anointing priests, but in the New Testament, it is poured out as the Holy Spirit on all flesh.

Unity is a blessing from the Lord, David says. It should be prized and protected.

Unity holds no value for the world, though. It is not politically expedient or profitable. Cable news outlets bank on their audience being divided. Politicians prey on the lack of unity across the United States. Social media is full of extreme opinions feeding off of each other, people fighting over who is right and who is wrong.

Pick a topic, any topic, and you can find two people angrily disagreeing over it.

But the Church should be different. We hold higher standards and value greater things. When we are Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, we can see the great value in unity. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t struggle with it.

Building Unity, Not Uniformity

Being on the same page as a team does not mean being the same. You can have unity without uniformity. Each person on your team has different styles and preferences. Not everyone will eat the same exact food as you, wear the same clothes or like the same sports team. Some of them won’t even like sports! But that doesn’t mean you can’t foster unity.

A team is made up of individuals all headed in the same direction. As the leader of that team, there are two important things to understand. First, unity means that everyone has the same goal.

First Corinthians 12 is a beautiful blueprint of unity in the body of Christ. In fact, that metaphor of the Church as a Body comes from this chapter. And it begins with reinforcing that we all serve the same God together.

When we are Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, we can see the great value in unity.

Verses 4-7 tell us that we all have “different kinds of gifts,” but they all come from the same Spirit and the same Lord. We’re all striving for God’s work, and that means the common good of the Church. Unity means we all have the same goal, and we can accomplish incredible things. Unity over uniformity recognizes we are still all different.

The second lesson about unity is that everyone has his or her own role. Paul makes it clear in verses 8-11 that the Holy Spirit distributes specific gifts to each person so that we may all work together. Unity doesn’t mean eliminating our differences. It’s about leveraging them for a common goal.

Your team will have individual opinions and emphases. But that doesn’t mean they are not united. Rallying around the same goal with individual roles takes teamwork. And that involves humility. Arguments and disagreements come from a place of pride, but humility allows us to chart a course for unity.

What’s Most Important?

There is a long-standing creed of Christianity, attributed to different people over the years, that reads like this: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in everything, charity.”

You need to have agreement on the things that really matter, give space for disagreement on things that aren’t vitally important, and love each other no matter what.

To fully implement that idea, you must first agree on what is essential. There are certain doctrines of the Christian faith that are nonnegotiable. These are the starting points for any true unity. And as a team, there are certain ideas and values that are also essential.

You can never compromise on the core vision of your church. You may disagree on best practices or even individual philosophies of ministry. But everyone needs to be on board with the broad vision of your church if you hope to have a unified team.

How do you bring about unity without uniformity? It involves telling a story everyone can buy into. It’s about showing team members the end point of your vision and how you will get there. That means you lay out a journey in front of them that they can all rally behind.

But you also need to include the great wins along the way, how lives will be transformed and brought into the kingdom of God, how families can be put back together again, and the church can grow as long as that vision is kept in the middle.

It’s difficult for people to get behind an idea in their head or a thesis written on a whiteboard. It’s something else to want to be a part of a great story. When we know our roles, we can all share credit and support each other. Create that story, and help each team member find their part in it.

Next week, we’ll consider some very practical ways to foster unity on your team. Meanwhile, take some time to evaluate your staff. Are you unified behind a common vision, or are you struggling with division? Are your meetings focused and direct, or full of petty arguments and constant debates?

Begin to pray that God would get your whole team on the same page and give you, as the leader, clear direction and vision to lead in unity.