How to Pastor a Divided Congregation to Jesus: 5 More Steps

God called you to pastor a sometimes divided congregation for such a tumultuous time as this. And by his Spirit he will give you the courage and wisdom you need to lead right now.

Last week we began exploring what to do if you are leading a congregation that is split along political lines, or if the congregation you serve is way more conservative or way more progressive than you are.

We looked at two steps you can take right now. I list them below by way of reminder before moving on to the other five.

1. Fast and pray.

2. Return to the creeds.

3. Remember Simon and Matthew.

Everyone knows that as a tax collector Matthew bore the reputation of a turncoat, a Jewish man who had sold out his fellow countrymen for his own financial gain, a man whose mindset apparently had been, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

But we may overlook a lesser known disciple, Simon the Zealot. The title does not refer to the results of his StrengthsFinder assessment. The Zealots were a Jewish political group who sought the overthrow of Roman dominance.

A turncoat and an insurrectionist.

Jesus picked both to be part of his Twelve.

So don’t be surprised if he picks both to be part of your church. And don’t be surprised if the one is wary of the other.

It is as it was meant to be.

4. Expose contempt and judgment.

No one needs to command me to eat ice cream. It’s part of my nature to like it, to want it, to enjoy it.

I have to be told to stop eating ice cream.

There’s a lesson here for reading Scripture: when we’re told to stop doing something, the reason is that my nature inclines me to do it.

It’s not a matter of if I’m doing it. That behavior is my inclination. Which is why the Scripture tells me to stop.

So when Paul tells biblically-convinced vegetarians not to judge meat-eaters (“How dare you violate the Scriptures! Have you never read Daniel?”), he’s saying it’s in our nature to wield our biblical convictions as an instrument of judgment.

It’s not a matter of if. It’s my inclination.

And when Paul tells meat-eaters not to hold vegetarians in contempt (“Man, can you believe those people think they understand the Bible? They don’t get the gospel at all! We’re free to eat whatever we want!”), he’s saying it’s in our nature to use the gospel to belittle others.

It’s not a matter of if. It’s my inclination.

That means we are to assume contempt and judgment are in your church because they’re in our nature.

We are to assume they’re in your heart because they’re in your nature.

So we need to become experts at recognizing both contempt and judgment, at recognizing that any one of us could be guilt of both sins at the same time: “I thank you, God, that I am not like the rest.”

And when you see it, you need to call it out.

5. Lead to Jesus.

This is less obvious than it sounds. Of course we’re supposed to lead people to Jesus, right? What else could we possibly lead them to?

Here are some leadership destinations that we often mistake for Jesus:

Principles — “do what God expects of you”
Tradition — “look at how our church has historically done things”
Logic — “don’t you see how fruitless this argument is?”
Denial — “surely Jesus will get us out of this mess any day now”
Shame — “you know better than that”

I’m not saying that these are all bad and that you should never say these things.

I am saying that we can and do mistake these things for Jesus.

We satisfy ourselves with restating ethical norms or developing airtight arguments or entertaining anger fantasies, any of which we expect to end in a mic drop. Boom. Nothing more to say.

And our people walk away without encountering the Risen Jesus.

In your teaching, in your discipleship, in your worship, be relentless in getting them to Jesus.

Show them that he lived in their place, that he did what they could not do, and that he did it for them.

Take them to the cross where all of their sin and guilt and shame is undone by the death of the Messiah.

And point to the empty tomb where the King emerged victorious to begin the restoration of all things by the power of the Holy Spirit in them.

Get them to Jesus.

6. Lead to good works.

Beloved of the Father, united to the Son, and empowered by the Spirit, we were made for good works.

For all the ways we can devise to heal a divided congregation, this might be the most easily forgotten.

Find a needy group of people in your community and strategize new and creative ways to serve them.

The pandemic has given us no shortage of opportunities. Consider all the different types of people your church can help right now:

The sick and dying
The lonely elderly in nursing homes
The lonely incarcerated in prisons
The unemployed
The underemployed
The food insecure
Doctors, nurses, and hospital workers
Grocery store clerks

The list goes on and on.

For Advent this year pick one and lead a four-week project to show the love of Jesus to them.

Serving together is one of the best ways to unify a congregation.

7. Wait.

Your church is precisely the context where God is making a new humanity out of the shards we created by our sin.

But God’s work is not fast and simple. Because he is sovereign he can afford to be patient. Time is on his side.

He’s going to make the two one, initially and ultimately by virtue of our union with Jesus, slowly and experientially (and often painfully) in the context of a church.

The division is in your church because God intends for it to be there. It’s his appointed place of healing.

Resist the urge to paper over the division. Give time and space for the Spirit to work and bring deep healing and genuine unity on his timetable, not yours.

You are pastoring in tumultuous times. God knew you would.

God is playing the long game.

Which of these seven steps most surprises you? How do you plan to pastor your divided congregation? What are your takeaways?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Share them below or send me an email.

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