Thank God for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Swindon Chinese Christian Church retreat from Monday to Wednesday last week, where I served as their speaker. They set the theme for this retreat as “Unity,” which I believe is a challenge currently faced by Chinese churches in the UK. Over the past few years, most churches have experienced rapid growth, with numbers increasing by 3 to 8 times. Besides coping with the sudden increase in congregation size, they also have to deal with the complexities that come with it.
Although most of the new members are Christians, we should not simply assume that everyone coming together will naturally live in harmony, becoming something good and pleasant. When people come to church with different expectations—like some hoping to sing traditional hymns, others preferring lively band worship—it is very difficult to satisfy all these diverse and sometimes conflicting expectations. In addition to expectations, there are also the unconscious differences and potential conflicts arising from each person’s faith traditions and experiences in their home churches. Even if there is no intention to compare or judge, the struggle can come from not adapting or being accustomed to the new church atmosphere or model.
Whenever I meet pastors or believers outside of MAC, they inevitably ask about our church’s attendance and whether it has been challenging to handle the sudden increase in numbers. My immediate response is always, “It’s not just me doing the work; we’ve hired quite a few pastors to share the load.” (They interject: “But isn’t the number of pastors still insufficient?”) … “We do what we can, and if we can’t, there’s nothing we can do about it!” Of course, achieving unity among all church participants is not easy, but I thank the Lord that at least our pastoral team in MAC is united.
For this retreat, I chose the Book of Philippians as the scripture for my sermons because when Paul wrote to the Philippian church, he was addressing issues of disunity and lack of harmony within the church. For example, some were preaching the gospel out of different motives—some out of envy and rivalry, others out of goodwill and love (see Philippians 1:15-17). Additionally, Paul specifically mentioned two sisters who had worked with him, urging the church to help them be of the same mind, indicating that there was a need for reconciliation due to their disunity (see Philippians 4:2-3).
The essence of the entire Book of Philippians, which helps believers achieve unity, is the humble example of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5-11 is the famous “Kenotic Christology,” where Jesus Christ, though in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be exploited. He did not seek His own interests and glory, nor did He compete with others or even with God the Father. This humble attitude is precisely what Philippians 2:3-4 describes as the attitude believers should have towards one another: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Church unity requires this attitude and the mindset of Christ.
“ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5, NIV)
Rev. Chiu