Can We All Get Along? The Importance of Unity

Host: Dr. Jamie Mitchell

Guest: Dr. Joe Stowell

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 3/24/26. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, welcome again to Stand in the Gap today. I’m your host, Jamie Mitchell, Director of Church Culture at the American Pastors Network. As we consider the landscape of relationships that you and I engage in in a given week, there’s one single quality or characteristic that is essential for health and growth, and it is unity. Someone once said that unity is the fuel that makes human existence with each other propel. Conversely, this unity has crashed many a vital relationship, destroyed businesses, and imploded a plethora of churches. The Bible speaks on this issue. The primary biblical word of unity in the Hebrew, Hakhad, means togetherness. And in the Greek, Henotes means oneness. And these terms emphasize a harmonious, spiritual bond of heart, purpose, and life among believers rather than mere uniformity. Unity is not sameness. It is that divine blending together of very different people, personalities, and backgrounds for a common good and mutual edification.

In this year’s American Pastors Network State of the Church Report, we focused on conflict and laid out why we believe there’s great tension and disharmony throughout the evangelical church. We lack the resources and the leadership to resolve things quickly. And I believe we need a reminder and some exhortation on why we need to pursue unity on all fronts. And to help us today as someone who I’ve greatly admired for years and a little trivial pursuit question, someone who donned my master’s degree hood some 33 years ago. And Joe, I think that means we’re getting old. Dr. Joe Stowell has been a pastor, has served as a president of both the Moody Bible Institute, and I’m a proud alum of. And Cornerstone University, he has authored a myriad of books. Some of my favorites for pastors is following Jesus and shepherding the church and his latest book, This Light of Mine.

And most importantly, he’s married to Marty and dad and grandpa and Joe Stowell. What a joy and honor to have you on Stand in the Gap today.

Joe Stowell:

Jamie, such an honor to be with you and thanks for the great work you do to support pastors and the Church of Jesus Christ. And thanks for inviting me and glad to be a part of this conversation.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, Joe, you heard my opening and certainly in a fallen world, unity is a challenge because of our sinfulness, but it seems harder right now within the Christian community. Do you see that? And why might that be?

Joe Stowell:

Yeah. Well, I think if I can just go back, Jamie, this unity is the DNA of our fallenness. Go back to Genesis one. God created a perfect environment with relational unity, joy and peace and love. And then of course, the adversary came, right? And immediately after the fall, relational disunity appeared. Adam Need hid from God, that wonderful relationship that they had. Then God said, why did you do this? Adam made his wife for it, so there’s this unity there. So I think we need to recognize that disunity is a part of our fallenness. It’s a banner over hell. And Satan rejoices in the victory. But I do think you’re right that in our world, it’s even more challenging. We live in a fractured world where individualism is the most important at the center of my universe. If you don’t like me, if you don’t agree with me, you can be canceled.

And so disunity is the obvious result of that. Politically, oh my goodness. We now have government by revenge where parties get back at each other instead of governing for our benefit. You have the MAGA people, the non- MAGA people, you’ve got policy differences and divisions, and then the racial and ethnic divides as well. So I think in answer to your question, why is it more difficult for us? And that is because I think that we have forgotten, Jamie, that we are citizens of a different culture and a different kingdom, a culture and a kingdom whose hallmarks are love, joy, and peace and unity. And we’re ambassadors of that and we’re called to bring that into our world. But when we forget that, then the culture, all this disunity culture fills our own souls because of the vacuum. And then we bring that into the church.

Like someone has said the problem with the church of Corinthians is there’s too much quarantine in the church. And so I think what we really need to do and what we need to preach is that we are people of a different world of a different culture and a different kingdom and that we are ambassadors of love and joy and peace. And when we fill our lives with that and that is expressed out of our lives, then we can begin to tackle this problem.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joe, someone once said that unity is a reflection of the nature of God. Is that true? And what do you think they meant by that?

Joe Stowell:

Well, it’s absolutely true. So we believe in God is one, but yet he is three, right? God, the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And they have different assignments and different things that they do, but they are wonderfully one in the mystery of the Trinity. And we’re created in the image of God because God wants us to take his image into our world. What is God like? God is three and God is one. And so the fact that God is unity created us to be that and we are ambassadors of that mission in our world, that’s very significant. And I think there’s another thing about the Trinity, Jamie. I think a lot of times we think of the Trinity as kind of like some wooden theological construct, but I love Colossians chapter one where it says that we have been put into the kingdom of God’s dear son so that within the Trinity, there is the dynamic of this loving relationship between them.

They value each other. They are dear to one another. And what a great picture that is of the unity of God’s people. It’s just not like something we have to do, but our brothers and sisters are dear to us and we value them and we work together with them. And so it certainly is true that there is a deep theological reality and drivenness really to our desire to be one as God is one. And if I might, just I don’t want to run away with this, but I think the whole thought of unity is important for not just that reason, but a lot of reasons. I love Psalm 133: one where it says, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It brings joy. It brings peace to us. It’s an answer to Christ’s prayer. I think maybe some of us who are listening say, “I have so many unanswered prayer.” Well, guess what?

Jesus had an unanswered prayer, right? And that is in John 17, he prayed that his followers, all of us who believe in him would be one as he is one. It strengthens our testimony to the world. Jesus went on to say in John 17 that if when we are one, the world believes that he was sent from the Father. So it gives us power in our testimony. It’s a living out of the body metaphor in one Corinthians chapter 12, where we are one body, but a lot of different parts that do different things, but they all cooperate toward one end. It’s the outcome of our obedience that we are to love one another in John 13. And here’s what I really love about the undrivenness to unity. It’s a preview of the ultimate redemptive purpose of Christ to unite all things to himself. As we said- Hallelujah.

Everything was dislocated, but Jesus Christ Colossians one, Ephesians one, Ephesians two. He is going to unite all things and we need to be a sneak preview of that really big.

Jamie Mitchell:

Hey friends, don’t go anywhere. When we come back, Joe and I will discuss unity in the hope. Well, you’ve picked a great day to join us on Stand in the Gap. Dr. Joe Stowell is my guest and we’re discussing what all of us need and that is to pursue and achieve unity with each other. Joe, I know that the family and your family is so important to you. I’ve heard you speak with joy and pride about your wife, about your kids, about your grandkids. We’re talking about unity today. I was wondering a word about encouraging families today, but here’s the issue, Joe. Growing up a family, raising a family today is much different than both you and I experienced. What word of encouragement about unity in the home? What are some of the keys that you’ve learned that you think would be important for people who are listening today and wanting to find unity in their

Joe Stowell:

Home?That’s a great question, Jamie. And I think one thing we have to do is adjust our expectations. I mean, there’s no way that five humans living under one roof are going to escape some kind of relational chaos, right? I mean, that comes with the territory, but there is a way to minimize that and maximize the spirit of love and peace and joy in the home. I remember in our marriage, Marty and I were blessed to go to a conference where over a three-day period we were taught biblical principles on finance, on child discipline, basic theology. And at that point, Marty and I actually walked out of there with an agreement on those kinds of things. So we were, in terms of the big issues that deal with family, we were one. So I think step number one is that mom and dad have to be one on the big issues.

Once the kids see that mom and dad are divided on the big issues, the big issues have some serious problems in their own hearts, right? And they are far more open to compromise on the big issues. Also, when mom and dad are one on the big issues, Jamie, then there is peace and harmony between mom and dad. And so I would say that step number one is for mom and dad to establish agreement on fundamental family issues, finances, child discipline, the importance of the word of God, spiritual disciplines, those kinds of things. Then they bring that oneness into their children’s lives and their children are always going to test the limits. I think we have to realize that getting our kids to be one among themselves especially is always an ongoing challenge, but I think there are some principles that we can do to help settle that child disunity and disunity family.

And that is that mom and dad never belittle a partner, never speak ill of a partner. I mean, you don’t ever want your wife to say to your kid, “Hey, your dad’s an idiot.” That does not help because immediately the kids know how to choose upsides, right? For mom and dad to settle big disagreements in private, not in front of their kids, for mom and dad to admit they’re wrong when they are wrong and seek forgiveness. Always present to your child a united front together. But on the other hand, there are some differences and disagreements that are not critical. They’re not major, are they? So celebrate the differences of opinion when they’re not critical and say sometimes we agree to disagree. And I think too, that moms and dads that show affection, Jamie, it’s like the I saw mommy kiss in Santa Claus kind of thing.

When your kids realize how deeply you are one together and how deeply you are one together with Christ, that’s magnetic. That draws them into that wonderful oneness. And so discovering ways to show emotional, spiritual and physical affection is critically important. I think there are a few things more deep in a child’s heart than wanting their mom and dad to love each other. My son, Matt, when he was a little boy, his best friend’s parents were getting a divorce, was sitting on Marty’s lap and Marty said to him, “I love you more than anything else.” And this little kid says, “Mom, I want you to love daddy more than anything else.” And so I think the real key is mom and dad being one on the big issues, the major issues, loving their children, never demeaning their children. When their children do something wrong, you forgive and you forget, you don’t keep bringing it up like, “You always do this, you’re always wrong.” All those things just begin to break down a child’s heart.

So anyway, just some thoughts about what Marty and I have learned on bringing a good measure of unity into our home.

Jamie Mitchell:

You know, Joe, one of the things as a pastor, I ended up having a lot of conversations with families, couples, parents, is that for parents especially to understand the differences of your kids, even if you have one or two or three or four, even as you have multiple children, it’s important to understand and appreciate the differences. When God gives you number of kids, note to self, they’re not all going to be the same. And so you are given an opportunity to demonstrate how to blend those differences together. And boy, that is so, so important for parents along with everything you’ve said to understand. Joe, we’re looking at threats to unity. What are the threats on the family today? As you peruse the landscape, you look at your own family, you look at your kid’s family, but also the family in general. What would you say are maybe the one or two major threats facing a family’s unity today?

Joe Stowell:

I think one of the major threats is how open the culture is back into the safe territory of our families. It used to be, Jamie, back in the good old days, we were growing up, you lived in your house, you had very little external influences, even your influences at school, basically were Judeo-Christian influences. Today, kids have a phone, so that’s a wide open door for phenomenal influx of secular and even wrong and evil kinds of things to come into their heads and into their hearts. They have the school system that’s purporting horrible non-biblical human sexuality, gender issues. You’ve got friends out there on social media, and one of the great difficulties today is the intimidating reality of social media in our kids’ hearts and giving them anxiety, the suicide rate is rising dramatically. So I think that’s the real danger is how wide open the door of evil and wrong influences are to the hearts of our kids.

So I would say, especially if we’re talking about social media, we know of a family that doesn’t let their kids use their cell phones for social media until they’re 16 years old and that families that can begin shutting the doors of these outside influences and then families that discuss their biblical convictions and their biblical commitments and the joy of the Lord when you walk in obedience, it’s very important to actually help counter some of these kinds of influences, I think.

Jamie Mitchell:

So when you’re talking about all those different voices, they’re all trying to demand the attention of our family members, but more importantly, they’re trying to take over the authority. They’re trying to gain that kid’s ear, that spouse’s ear and become an authority. And we know that forced compliance will not achieve genuine unity, but like you just said, obedience and respect in a family order is so essential. In the last couple of minutes here, about a minute or so, how do you strike that balance of pursuing unity, but also invoking some authority or respect in the home?

Joe Stowell:

Well, I think that has to come within a spirit of love. A child needs to know that you love that child more than anything else. And it’s just not on the other end of a spanking spoon. I guess maybe people don’t use that anymore, but it’s rather that they feel wonderfully loved and their hearts are open. And whenever you do the authority, the authority comes because I love you, I want what’s best for you. So I think that when a child really believes that their parents love them unconditionally, regardless of the love of Christ, that they’re far more willing to open their hearts to that authority.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, I think you’re exactly right, Joe, because I remember many a time when our son began to mimic or say things that he had heard outside of our home. I reminded him, I said, “You know, Alex, there are plenty of people out there and they all seem like they’re your friends and they all are trying to influence you. But at the end of the day, the people in this house are the only people you can actually count on. ” But I had to back that up with the love that was shown to him, that extraordinary, extra grace required love that is really the foundation of finding unity in the home. And probably we could spill that over to all of our relationships. We’re going to talk about the church in a moment and in the community.

You can see unity happen, but it’s not going to happen unless there is love flowing in all of those relations. Listen, friends, you can find harmony and love and unity in the home, but it doesn’t happen by accent. We have to be intentional about it. And that’s what we’re trying to do today, help you understand how to be intentional about unity. Well, when we return, Joe Stowell and I are going to talk about unity in today’s evangelical church. Is it even possible? Don’t go anywhere. Stay with us here at Stand in the Gap today. Well, welcome back. And if you’re just joining with us, our guest today is Dr. Joe Stowell, who is the past, and the past have served as the president of Moody Bible Institute. He was there when I was there, and now he’s returned to Moody, serving as a special assistant and advisor, but today he’s serving as an advisor to us on the discussion of unity.

And Joe, you have served as a pastor and over the years, I know you probably have spoken literally to thousands of ministers about their churches and about being a pastor. And I guess that unity or the lack thereof has been on the top of the list as you’ve interacted with pastors. I know this could be an endless answer, give us an endless answer, but why is it so hard for the church to get along? And why is it so hard for us to find unity?

Joe Stowell:

Yeah, that could be an endless answer for sure, Jamie, but I’ll try to package it into our brief conversation together. I think, in fact, I know just from the word of God, that in a deeply divided world where people are fractured, where people are canceled, where there is so much hate and division, that the church, that your church and your community, people should know that that’s a safe place where anyone who enters finds the warmth and peace and love of Jesus. If we live in a fractured world, if my church is fractured, if people walk into a church where people are gossiping and grumpy and there’s divisions, why would they want to go to church? They can get that in the world in which they live. So I think it’s very critically important. And it’s not just important for that wonderful outcome that our church is a safe place where people can enter and sense the warmth and love of Jesus, regardless of who they are.

But I think we have to remember, as we said earlier, that when our world fell, this unity came, and Jesus in his redemptive purpose is not just redeeming souls to go to heaven. He’s repairing everything that’s broken. And one of the wonderful things about eternity is that he’s going to redeem the disunity and make it one. And our churches ought to be a sneak preview of that really big show to come. In fact, that’s why Ephesians 3:21 says that Christ needs to be glorified in the church. And since it’s his ultimate purpose to unify everything, then his glory shines like that in a church that is together. So how does that happen? That’s the big issue. Well, I think Philippians two, Paul, makes it very clear that we should live to honor Christ in others and not ourselves. Remember that, Jamie, he said, “Count others as more important than you that gets you out of the individualism trap, live as a servant to others.” Interesting, and the Book of Philippians, I really think is about unity and the joy that comes from it.

And Paul starts it out by saying, “Paul and Timothy’s servants to the saints.” So here is Paul, the biggest figure in the power structures of early Christianity, and he counts himself to be a servant. And I remember too, when James and John’s mother came to Jesus in Matthew 20 and said, “Grant that these my two sons may be to the right and the left of you when you come into your kingdom.” And they were asking for the big shot spots. And when the other 10 heard about it, they were moved with indignation, automatic disunity when we try to power over each other. And then Jesus said, “It shall not be so like you in the world, but in my kingdom, if you want to be in a great place, you need to be a servant. The way up is down and to live to love one another.” John chapter 13, I think that’s a very important part of bringing unity.

And I always thought that church would be a great place if it weren’t for people. The problem is with the one anothers, but thankfully those one anothers have value to Jesus and we have to love them. Watch what we say about each other. And I think too, I was thinking the other day that we ought have a great big garbage bin at every church front door. And when people walk in, they throw their personal preferences there. I’m a little tired of hearing people say, I don’t old people saying, “I don’t like this worship music. I want my old hymns, but guess what? I’ve had my years at church. I don’t need to be grumpy about that. This worship music is the worship music of a new generation. I should rejoice in that. ” Tired of people saying, “Well, I didn’t get anything out of that sermon.” Well, maybe it wasn’t for you.

Maybe it was for Bob at the other end of the pew. And so not being grumpy all the time and our personal preferences that just get in the way, our political preferences to throw them there. I think it’s really interesting that in Jesus’ discipleship group, there was Matthew the tax collector. He belonged to Rome. He was a part of the governing establishment. And then there was Simon the Zealot. He was going to overthrow Rome. Like Simon the Zealot shows up with a MAGA hat and Matthew shows up with a Biden in 2024 button on him, but yet they’re one because they’ve discarded those preferences and received Christ. So I guess what I’m really saying is that when we do church, Jesus is the main feature and he is the uniting power. We may not always like the music or the sermon or somebody else’s politics, but we love Jesus together and that brings us into a beautiful oneness.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joe, let me go off script for a second here because I just had a thought and I’ve been battling this thought in my own mind and grappling with it. As going through ministry, there’s always been theological differences and philosophical differences and programmatic differences. And then we fought generational … There’s always been these differences within the church, but recently it has struck me that one of the things that Jesus really went after was the self-righteousness of the religious people who always thought they were right. And at the core of it, Joe, as I’ve looked at the 45 years that I’ve been in ministry, that’s kind of the infection that brings about disunity, isn’t it? This self-righteousness that invades our heart. Have you seen that or am I kind of making something up as I’m thinking about it in my own mind? No,

Joe Stowell:

That’s absolutely true. I’m always a little worried. The better we get, the worst we might become, right? Because now we’re so good and therefore we can judge other people. And instead of being instruments of the mercy of God toward people who maybe are a little more fallen than we are, we become judgmental to them, which creates division, open shame. Not that by Jamie, I know you don’t mean this. We should not ignore talking about sin and caught calling people to righteousness, but we should not be so self-righteous that we judge others instead of valuing them and loving them and trying to bring them into a bigger picture of the redemptive work of Christ. I just totally agree with what you’re saying.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joe, I also think, and we probably should wake up at this because of that self-righteousness in our bones and causing this criticalness within the church. I wonder if this is why young people are walking away from the church. They don’t see a restorative, redemptive, unified body, and as soon as they can leave it, they’re saying, “Man, I’m going to go find someplace that will love me, accept me, and embrace me. ” You’ve worked with a lot of young people. Have you heard that in the halls of the colleges and universities that you have served?

Joe Stowell:

No, that’s so very true. I think when we show our young people a loveless Christianity, a graceless Christianity, a merciless Christianity, it’s very unattractive, especially to this generation. They want authenticity. They want to be loved. They want forgiveness. They want freedom that’s only found through the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ. And so when we become rigid, legal, graceless, merciless people, like I said, it’s so unattractive. The thing, what are the things, Jamie, we love about Jesus? He is so attractive, so attractive because he is a God of steadfast love and crowns us with his mercy and his grace forgives our sins, separates them as far as the east is from the West. These are freedom messages from Jesus Christ. So I think maybe we ought to think, can we be more like Christ? Maybe if we’re more like Christ, we would be more one and we would be more attractive to a watching world.

Jamie Mitchell:

Yo, got a minute left. Talk to the pastor. How does he become an agent of oneness and unity in his flock?

Joe Stowell:

Has to love his enemies because no matter how good a past After you are, there’s always going to be a few that don’t like you. These are God’s little spies that keep you blessedly insecure and keep you on our knees singing. I need the every hour. Love your enemies. Forgive quickly. Love all the flock. Love the children. Love the parents. Love the disabled. Love the wanderers. Let people see your expressed love to them. And I think once you can live those kinds of things out, Jamie, you have the right, the permission from your people to preach on the values of unity. I think if there’s a lot of disunity in the church, probably ought to be taught about, but people will feel spanked and they’ll resist it. But if the pastor’s been expressing a unified love, then he can teach on these things and bring people along and that he would speak well of others.

I know you said we just had a little second here, but I pastored in Detroit and followed a pastor that had been there for 40 years. He’d gone through terrible … His wife actually went to a church down the street. He was accused of an immoral activity that wasn’t true. And his executive assistant said to me, “You know when Pastor Coltman was here, I worked with him for 40 years and I never heard him say a bad word about anybody.” And I thought, wow, no wonder. Here’s a pastor who has loved his flock completely regardless.

Jamie Mitchell:

Amen. Hey, when we finish up next segment, how do we encourage unity in the community? Stay with us. Well, like always, this hour has flown by. Joe Stowell has graciously given us an hour of his time to encourage us about unity. Joe, I looked across the catalog of your books and resources. I could name a number of books that might address the issue we’ve been talking about, but from the author. Which of your books would you encourage believers and pastors to get some further help in this discussion and study of unity?

Joe Stowell:

Well, this is kind of a moment of shameless self-promotion right now, Jamie. But I think three came to my mind. My most recent book, This Light of Mine, which talks about bringing the attractive love of Christ into a deeply divided world and a hostile world to the gospel. How can we make Jesus to be an attractive something that people will come to? And I think since this unity is always fanned by what we say, gossip, slander, and demeaning and judgmental words, then my book, The Weight of Your Words, might draw us to using our words to help and to attract instead of to hurt and disengage. And then I think to a book I wrote one of my earlier books, Following Christ is really the ultimate call of discipleship. I think especially for leaders, we think we have to be leaders. I don’t think so.

I think actually we have to be followers. And when you’re a follower of Christ, then he advises our leadership and we can become far better leaders because we have decided that first and foremost, we’re followers of Jesus Christ. So I think those are three that come to my mind.

Jamie Mitchell:

Well, those are great. I encourage you to get anything that Joe has written. I know it’s an encouragement. It’ll speak to your heart. We’ve been talking about unity. We started by saying that unity is a reflection of who God is. We are image bearers of God. And so as we demonstrate unity, we’re just showing the world of who our savior and our God is. We talked about unity in the home and then again in the church and the battle we have in the church to overcome that self-righteousness and pursue by intentionality, unity. Joe, as we close, I want to talk briefly about the community in which we live. The dynamic is different in that we may be dealing with lost and unregenerate people, people who are adversarial to the gospel and to Christian thinking and to us as even as people, but unity is still needed and possible.

How can God’s people be agents of harmony and unity throughout our communities where God has placed us? Give us some insights.

Joe Stowell:

So if I can go back to what we said at the very beginning, that the problem was so difficult for Christians today is that we have forgotten that we are citizens of a whole different kingdom, a whole different culture. That is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The leading values of the kingdom of Christ are love and peace and joy. And a lot of times people teach that the kingdom will come when Christ comes back. Well, Jesus said, “I’ve already brought…” When he was here, he said, “I have come to initiate the kingdom.” And then Colossians tells us that we have been put into the kingdom of his dear son. So we right now are kingdom people and our calling is to be ambassadors of that kingdom. So embracing that reality means that I am called to bring love into every relationship that I have with people in the world.

Jesus Christ said, “Even my enemies so that I can … ” And in Matthew, he said, “You are a light of the world. So do your good works that people may see your light and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” So sometimes that love is born out in good works to people. Let’s say that you live in a neighborhood and your neighbor has all these progressive political science in his front yard, right? Well, the way to love him is not to put your magazines up because that creates disunity, but it might be to find ways you … His wife found out that she just has cancer. You ought to be the first one there with dinner, to love him and to show the love of Jesus Christ to him and to his family as just a kind of a minor illustration of how these things work.

And Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” So how can I bring peace into my relationships and how can I be peace into the place where I work? Well, I don’t gossip about my fellow workers. I speak well of my fellow workers of ways to be loving, peaceful agents of Jesus Christ. I think that I think too, Jamie, I think that we ought to so live as representatives of the kingdom of Christ that people will say, “I don’t get Christians, but this office is a lot better place because they work here.” Or neighbors would say, “I really don’t get Christians, but this neighborhood’s a really better place because they live here. Our village is a really better place because they live here.” That would be doing exactly what Jesus says. You are the light of the world. Let the people see your good works. These are good works that bless.

It’s the Greek word which means works that bless other people. Let them see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. And after all, Jesus did say that there’s only really two commandments and everything else falls into place. Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor as yourself and your neighbor is anybody who crosses your path. So I would think that’s one really good way to bring the power of unity into the world in which I live.

Jamie Mitchell:

You know, Joe, I had a friend of mine, and this goes back about 20, 25 years ago when AIDS, the whole issue of HIV/AIDS was just on the forefront. And he had a thought. He found out that there was a home that was taking care of AIDS patients. It was a secular organization. They just had a heart for the homosexual community. And he went to them and he went to the director. He said, “I know you know that I work for a Christian organization. You know I’m a Christian and I know Christians have been unkind to the homosexual community, but these people are dying and I would do anything I can to help bring them and their families comfort if you’ll give us a chance.” And you know, Joe, that organization opened their door to him and he brought a number of Christian college students in and taught them how to be chaplains for end of life situations in homosexuals lives who had HIV/AIDS.

It was one of the greatest things I ever have heard, but he went and just took the chance and said, “I know what the world has said about Christianity, but I don’t want to be that kind of Christian. I want to be a Christ follower Christian.” Boy, that’s a good word to us today, isn’t it, Joe?

Joe Stowell:

Like bullseye, Jamie. Exactly. Let the world see that we’re different in an attractive way. Jesus was so different in such an attractive way that people flocked to him. May we be able to take the character, the qualities, the virtues of Jesus into our hurting world.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joe, it has been a joy to have you with us. Thank you for being a part of this program today.

Joe Stowell:

My privilege. Thanks for having me, Jamie, and keep up the good work.

Jamie Mitchell:

Joe Stowell, it’s a privilege. Call your friend and continue to bless the body of Christ with your wisdom, your kindness, your writing. I want to encourage you friends to get ahold of any of Joe’s books. And can I encourage you today to be agents of harmony and unity in your home as a parent, as a spouse, in your church? Oh, how your pastor will rise up and call you blessed. If you will be a person who brings unity and in your community, be that agent of hope and harmony and the love of Christ. Friends, unity’s not an option. We must pursue it. And to do that takes courage. And so until tomorrow, as I always say, live and lead with courage.