Fighting in the Church

In an interview with Leadership Journal, Bill Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, with a 17500 congregation weekly, and who at age 52, leads a network of 10,500 churches and trains more than 100,000 pastors each year, has this to say about fighting in the church.

Bill Hybels: Unity isn't the word we use to describe relationships at Willow Creek. The popular concept of unity is a fantasyland where disagreements never surface and contrary opinions are never stated with force. We expect disagreement, forceful disagreement. So instead of unity, we use the word community.

The mark of community—true biblical unity—is not the absence of conflict. It's the presence of a reconciling spirit.

This was one of the quotes that inspired and challenged me early in my ministry.

Today, I strive to live by this biblical principle. In the words of Steven Covey: High courage, High consideration.