He hates—hates!—when God’s people get their act
together, when we’re unified as a couple, a family, a local
church, as well as the global, “capital-C” Church. He hates
when we’re all praying for one another’s needs and potential
and mission and unity, going to the throne for (and even with)
those around us and closest to us.
The hallmark, the true pearl of God’s work on earth that
frustrates the enemy’s plans to no end, is this mysterious
gelling of people from various backgrounds, experiences,
personality types, races, and traditions—the kinds of
differences that should easily keep us from being able to get
along, much less to work together for kingdom purposes or to
care how one another is growing in faith and perseverance.
They’re the kinds of things that make the option of friendly fire
seem unavoidable, perhaps even appealing on occasion.
The Bible calls these natural obstacles between us a
“dividing wall” (Eph. 2:14). But the power of the gospel
changes all of that, breaking down the wall and bridging all
potential sources of division that conspire to keep us apart and
fighting. Our job now is to make sure we’re clinging to that
gospel and not letting personal, friendly-fire skirmishes hammer
away at our unity from the inside.