Words have power! “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21). The words that flow from our mouths have the power to create unity or division. Have you ever said or posted something that you wish you hadn’t? Words spoken can’t be taken back.

A friend recently told me about his family’s Thanksgiving Day dinner table “blow up.” The family was equally divided about the status of the current head of state as well as the nation’s political differences, so you can probably guess what the blow up was all about. An older brother, who had earlier given the Thanksgiving blessing, got up from the table and announced he would never return to his younger sibling’s house. The animosity will probably blow over eventually, but even when the words we speak may be forgiven, they are not easily forgotten.

Why were Jesus’ disciples arguing with the teachers of the law in Mark 9:14? Why do we argue with those with whom we disagree? We argue because we want to convince others we stand on the side of truth. The disciples wanted to let the guardians of the law know, with no uncertainty, Jesus was on their side. They were technically right but relationally wrong. God is a God of relationships, as revealed in the oneness of the Trinity. Jesus prayed for our unity: “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 sent me” (John 17:20-21).

Right relationship wins over right argument! John Wesley described God’s missional purpose as: “To spread the fire of heavenly love over all the earth,” affirming that “Love is the end, the sole end, of every dispensation of God.”

I am convinced we are living in a time of seismic spiritual transition in the church. God is doing a new thing! Old institutional religious systems of governance are passing away. Denominational walls are falling down. Christ will be seen in the midst of a countercultural community, emptied of self, living immersed in God’s love.

*Excerpted from Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus