Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
The speaker’s unity model is “my way, your way, and the right way,” with the “center” defined as love that is willing to “die” (often without physically dying); what specific “deaths” (preferences, reputation, control, spending, time, privacy) are you unwilling to die, and how does that limit your church’s ability to offer a believable alternative to a “self-centered…twisted world”?
Another way to ask: What personal “death” are you unwilling to accept (like giving up preferences, reputation, control, money, time, or privacy)? How does that keep your church from looking truly different from a self-centered world?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s model, unwillingness to “die” to preferences and self-protection blocks real unity, and without that sacrificial center the church cannot convincingly display the kind of community that a “self-centered…twisted world” needs to see.
- He describes unity as movement: “my way, your way, and the right way,” and says the “battle’s always in the middle,” requiring each side to “give a little bit.”
- He defines the center as love: the “greatest level of relationship” is “Love,” and specifically being willing to “die” for another.
- He clarifies it’s often non-physical: “There’s a lot of ways to die without physically dying.”
- He questions churches that avoid commitment: “Will a church that avoids commitment and self-denying love…ever be able to demonstrate sacrificial love” to the world?
- He frames this as what the church uniquely offers: “We have a community life to offer people that we’ve been given.”