Navigating Our Fractured Reality

As we noted in the last article, there is a deep fracturing in the evangelical church that can lead people in the pews to suspect those sitting next to them of not being sufficiently Christian (if they are Christian at all). That fracturing makes it difficult for churches on a renewal path to find a way forward in ministry and mission that doesn’t rub one group or another the wrong way.

• Max De Pree once wrote, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” For church leaders, this means navigating this difficult time starts with naming what that reality looks like in their own congregation.
• Naming reality is not about putting people in boxes. It is about making room for conversation about our differences (and our points of agreement).

The goal is not uniformity, but unity. Jesus’ words and the example of the early church point the way forward (John 13:34-35, Acts 4:32-34).

• Practically speaking, what does this look like today? Here are a few ideas:

Six ways to pursue unity in a fractured Church

1. Pray for unity

• Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17 needs to become part of our everyday praying as we seek to create communities of faith that reveal that Jesus really is God’s son.
• Jesus prayed, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20–23, NIV 2011). Unity is not a nice “extra.” It is central to our witness.

2. Name your own reality

• Where are you in the scheme laid out by Graham and Flowers? Has your place in that scheme changed in the last five years? The last ten?
• Honestly locating yourself helps you understand what is most important to you, what you tend to fear, and what you bring into conversations about ministry and mission. It also gives you humility as you realize that your own position has shifted over time.

3. Name your congregation’s reality

• Where are the people in your congregation on this same spectrum? How many are 1s, how many are 2s, and so on? Has this changed over the past five or ten years?
• This is not about pinning labels on people, but about getting a clearer picture of who is actually in the room. When leaders can name this reality, they can make room for conversation about differences and agreements, and they can begin to shape ministry that takes those realities seriously.

4. Discover your congregation’s news sources

• Graham and Flowers remind us, “We are what we eat.” Much of the extremism that defines today’s information media may not match the day-to-day reality on the ground, but it still shapes people’s imaginations and instincts.
• Increasingly, it is not surprising to hear Christians repeat the talking points they consume and be formed by the underlying beliefs. The amount of time spent with secular messages overwhelmingly exceeds the time the average Christian spends in the Word — personally, communally, or ecclesially. Wise leaders will gently surface where people are “feeding” and invite them into practices that immerse them more deeply in Scripture.

5. Learn More about and use mental models

• Mental models are the ways people see and interact with the world, formed by our experiences, education, culture, and sources of information. They are powerful predictors of how we will act and react.
• The challenge for leaders is to unearth people’s mental models — usually through patient, curious questions — so that deep, substantial conversation can happen. When we understand the lenses people are using, we can better invite them to see and follow Jesus together.

6. Create space for conversations

• Healing fractures requires more than good ideas; it requires real, embodied conversations. Find ways to host God-honoring conversations among people who stand in different places on the Graham/Flowers spectrum.
• Use trusted resources, such as materials from the Colossian Forum, to guide the process and help keep Christ at the center. These spaces allow us to tell our stories, listen well, confess where we have been shaped more by cable news than by Scripture, and practice loving one another even when we do not agree on everything.

Taking on a fractured reality is never an easy task, but it is a critical one if we desire unity and a wise path forward in renewal. As we learn to name reality, pray for unity, and create space for honest, Christ-centered conversation, we will no longer shout, “I’m on the inside; on which side are you?” But instead, we will begin inviting one another to walk together through the one door who is Jesus.