{"id":2813,"date":"2024-03-26T14:38:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T14:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/?p=2813"},"modified":"2024-03-26T14:38:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T14:38:52","slug":"when-unity-is-an-idol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/?p=2813","title":{"rendered":"When unity is an idol"},"content":{"rendered":"<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p style=\"padding-bottom: 0;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2186\" src=\"http:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"421\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661.jpg 640w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-140x140.jpg 140w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/640px-Star_from_the_Lizard_Constellation_Photobombs_Hubble_Observation_342807119661-350x350.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; line-height: 0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gsfc\/34280711966\/\">Star from the Lizard Constellation Credit: ESA\/Hubble &amp; NASA<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In dysfunctional churches that enable abuse, unity is an idol, where unity trumps truth telling. This explains the scapegoating of the truth teller. -Keith Ford @LarrySnodgrass1 on X (Twitter.com) March 24, 2024\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LarrySnodgrass1\/status\/1772017803434119291\">Unity as idol<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But, many will reply, what about the Scripture that tells us to &#8220;<em>maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace<\/em>?&#8221;1\u00a0 How can unity be an idol?<\/p>\n<p>In response, consider the words of Jesus: &#8220;<em>But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth<\/em>?&#8221;2 How can there be unity of the Spirit when truth is hidden?<\/p>\n<p>Or the teaching later in the same chapter of Ephesians:\u00a0 <em>&#8220;Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head,<\/em> <em>into Christ<\/em> &#8220;3. Christ is the Truth. How can unity be maintained without Truth? &#8220;<em>Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.&#8221;<\/em>4<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unity&#8221; without truth is whitewash.<\/p>\n<p>1 )Eph. 4: 3\u00a0 2)John 16:13 3) Eph. 4:15\u00a0 4) Eph. 4:25<\/p>\n<p class=\"quoteText\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Star from the Lizard Constellation&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-thought-for-the-day"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2813"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2832,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2813\/revisions\/2832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chapelhillbiblechurch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}