Mark recalls: “I came to the disheartened realization that I wouldn’t live long enough using a church planting strategy to see cities change.”
These feelings of desperation and disillusionment provoked a paradigm shift in Mark. His desire to see the city change remained. What he needed was a new strategy. The strategy, however, came at a cost.
“During that time, God changed my paradigm of what it meant to be salt and light in the city. I had been guilty of trying to make kingdom impact alone. God convicted me. If I was going to be a part of a biblical city transformation movement, I would need to repent and change my heart toward pastors and Christian leaders in the city who had reached out to me over the years, but to whom I had shown little concern. Truth be told, I believed they were part of the problem.”
We felt a somberness between pauses on the call. Mark’s vulnerability transformed a mundane conference call into a holy moment.
For the next 12 months, he met one-on-one with pastors in his city asking for forgiveness for his individualistic ministry mindset and methods. At the end of the 12 months, Mark received the lesson he had been seeking: If biblical city transformation is to take place, it will require the whole body of Christ, not just one pastor. Impact in the city will be in direct proportion to the willingness of Christians to become the answer to Jesus’ prayer for unity (John 17).
Why does unity in the citywide church matter? Because it matters to Jesus. And, because it works—cities change when churches work together.
Like many popular ministry terms that are tossed around, there is more to “unity” than meets the eye. Unity is not cheap. Jesus purchased it for His followers with His own blood. It is often slow—too slow for many leaders. It can feel like an uphill battle wrought with misunderstandings and one too many no-shows. And yet, we are convinced that unity between churches in the city is the single most significant determining factor of the impact Christians have in their city.
Read Mark’s own words on his love for the citywide Church here. Or learn five must-have ingredients for strong church unity to see cities change, click here.
