Church Organization Part 1

I would like to study with you some very basic teachings in the Bible about church organization. You might think what we are going to study does not have anything to do with church organization, but it does. I think you will see in the inspired writings how it is related to the subject of church organization.

There are few chapters in the Bible that have the pathos in them that John 17 has. This entire chapter, except for the first few words of the first verse, is a prayer of Jesus. There were twelve human beings present when this prayer was offered. Judas was already down at the High Priest’s palace and they were preparing to arrest Jesus. The other eleven disciples were with Jesus. They were not in the upper room any longer; they had left and were on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. They were just outside the garden on the other side of the Brook Kidron. On the way, Jesus had talked to them about the true vine (John 15). Now, Jesus is offering this one last prayer before He goes to offer His life for the sins of the world.

You will notice this prayer was not for the world. Jesus wanted to save all the world, but verse 9 says, “I pray for them. (That is, the ones You have given me, in verse 8.) I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” So this is a prayer that Jesus prayed specifically for His disciples. This prayer is not for the world and it is never going to be answered in the world, but it was prayed specifically for Jesus’ disciples. This prayer was not prayed only for those eleven disciples that were gathered around Jesus. John was there and he heard it and wrote it down many years later. This prayer was for you. In verse 20 the eleven disciples are gathered around Jesus. He is in the middle and is praying for them. It is just a few minutes now before He is going to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Notice what He says, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.” Do you believe in Jesus? Then this prayer is for you. Why do you believe in Jesus? It is because of the testimony of these men kneeling around Jesus that night. They were the ones commissioned to tell the whole world the story of Jesus. If you believe because of their word, then this prayer is for you.

When Jesus prayed for you, before He went into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray before He was to be scourged and crucified, do you suppose He had something of extreme importance on His mind? This is a prayer the devil claims cannot be answered and is determined it will never be answered. He is working with all of his power to see that it will not be answered. Notice what Jesus was praying for in verse 21, for you and me as well as His disciples gathered around Him, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

What did Jesus want for His followers? Did He want them to be fighting and scrapping with each other? No. He wanted them to be one -- one in spirit, one in character. He wanted them, as the apostle Paul later said in his epistle to the church in 1 Corinthians, to “be of one mind and one judgment.” This is what was uppermost in Jesus’ mind just before He went into the Garden of Gethsemane, and the devil is determined that it will not happen. If you study church history you will see how the devil has stirred up people so they get to fighting about theology and all sorts of things. Are you aware that in the last several hundred years, the greatest wars of all time have been started and propagated by people who claim to be Christians? The Civil War in the United States, World War 1, World War 2, the Vietnam War, all of our great wars in the last hundred years have been started, not just by independent Christians, but by organized bodies of Christians -– churches. Most people are not aware of that, but I am not talking unadvisedly. I have the books that will detail every statement I have made.

Christianity has come into disrepute. People in heathen and Islamic nations and people who worship the eastern religions do not believe in Christianity because they look at Christians and say, “They are worse than we are.” The devil is determined that this prayer of Jesus will never be fulfilled. In every church, institution, ministry and home, the devil is constantly at work to try to stir up strife so this can never happen. We need to think about this when we are all riled up, when our passions get at a white heat and we are upset at all the awful things other people have said or done. We need to think about what we are about to say or do. Are we going to help this prayer to be answered or are we getting farther and farther away from the answer? 

Notice what Jesus says here in verse 22: “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” The Bible is very clear that the Father is one, I will use the word “intelligence.” God the Father is an intelligence. God the Son, Jesus, is a separate intelligence. When Jesus was here in this world, His Father was in heaven and Jesus prayed to His Father – two intelligences. There are many, many evidences of that in the Scripture. Matthew 3:17 says there came a voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” On the Mount of Transfiguration there was a voice from heaven. Jesus was standing there glorified and a voice from heaven came out of that cloud saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Matthew 17:5. In the temple, just a few days before His crucifixion, there was a group of people who heard a voice from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again” John 12:27. Some thought it was thunder (evidently it was a loud voice), and others said an angel spoke. It was the voice of the Father answering Jesus’ prayer.

Notice what Jesus said about these two intelligences in John 10:30. His Father was in heaven, He was on the earth, but what does Jesus say about He and His Father in this verse? “I and My Father are one.” What does that mean? When I was a boy I used to wonder what statements like that meant. People would say, “Jesus and His Father are one,” and I would think, “What are they talking about? People would make statements like, “A husband and wife are one,” and I would think, “What are you talking about? They are two people.” What did Jesus mean when he said, “I and My Father are one”? His Father was 615 light year away, which is how far it is to Orion. Jesus was here on earth and He said, “We are One.” What does that mean? They were one in Spirit, one in character, one in purpose; and they worked in perfect harmony.

Does the expression “perfect harmony” have a good sound to you? Would you rather have perfect harmony or perfect discord? They worked together in perfect harmony. Heaven is a place where there is perfect harmony. Do you want to go there? Friend, if we want to go to heaven where there is perfect harmony, you and I have to ask ourselves a question. “If I was to go to heaven, would the harmony be disrupted?” Do you think God is going to take someone to heaven that would disrupt the harmony?

There was someone in heaven once who disrupted the harmony. You can read about it in Revelation 12. That someone was Lucifer. He persuaded a group of angels to rebel with him and the harmony was disrupted. There was an argument over who should be boss, who should have the authority to rule.

If the argument was over who should have the authority, then the argument is immediately over the government and the laws of the government. Ellen White says the great controversy, from its beginning, was over the law of God (GC 582-584). The Bible says Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven. Today, everyone in heaven keeps the law of God. Did you know that? There is no one there who has a problem with that, no one that is not convinced about it. The whole universe is finding out what happens to people when they decide not to keep God’s law. We have a mess here on earth when we decide not to keep it. In heaven, they all keep it and have perfect harmony.

Do you see why the Sabbath/Sunday controversy in Christendom today is so important? The real issue is not a matter of a day. The real issue is, who is going to be God? Who owns the authority to say when we go to church and when we worship? Who do you suppose should have that authority? Do you think you should? Or your preacher should? Or the head of your church should? Or do you think God is the only One who should have that kind of authority? In heaven that question is already solved. Not everyone here has it solved. But before anyone is taken to heaven, they are going to have to have it solved, because if they do not believe in keeping God’s law, they would disrupt and ruin the harmony there. Just one person who did not believe in keeping God’s law would disrupt the harmony of heaven.

Now the devil is determined that on earth we will not learn this lesson Jesus was talking about. Notice what Jesus says further in verse 23: “I in them and You in Me that they may be perfect in one.” Does the subject of unity have something to do with Christian perfection? Yes, it does. I will never have a perfect character and be ready to go to heaven until I understand this subject of being in harmony, in unity with God and His law and with all the rest of the people, His disciples who keep His law. Remember, this is not talking about the world but about Christ’s disciples, those who follow Him. “I in them and You in Me that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved Me.”

What is the strongest proof that can be given that Jesus came and He is the Son of God? The strongest proof is a body of people joined together in harmony and unity. Did you know that? That is the strongest proof there is. Do you see why the devil is determined that it will not happen? Do you see why he sends elements into every church, ministry, and institution all over the world to try to disrupt them and get things all stirred up? That is why controversies, discord and disunity arise and heresies come in. The devil is determined that this unity will not happen.

Let me ask you a question. Do you think God the Father is ever going to answer Jesus’ prayer? The uppermost thing on His mind was that His followers would be in harmony, in unity. How is it going to happen? When you look at churches, institutions and various ministries; when you travel and visit others who have television programs, schools, hospitals, sanitariums, ministries with a mission in the world to carry the gospel to different groups or segments; you find that in all these ministries there are all kinds of strife and trouble attempting to be created from within. The people who are leading out are often in terrible perplexity wondering how they are going to deal with all the strife? What is going wrong? The devil is trying to keep unity from ever happening. Well, is it going to happen? We believe the Father is going to answer Jesus’ prayer.

One way we could learn a little about how this prayer is going to be answered is to find out how it was answered the first time. Just a few days after this prayer was given, it was answered. Acts 2:1 says, “Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Did they have unity and harmony among themselves on the Day of Pentecost? The Bible says they did. Do you know, friends, very soon God is going to have a group of people who will have this same unity, this same harmony that the apostles had on the Day of Pentecost. You can read about it in Early Writings, page 15. Ellen White says she saw that the 144,000 were perfectly united – that is perfect unity.

To be part of that group it is important for us to learn how this perfect state of unity is achieved. Let’s look at how this came to pass the first time. If we understand how it happened the first time, we will understand how it can happen again.

A statement on the subject of unity is found in The Desire of Ages, page 296. I want to be sure we have the correct context of this statement. The chapter title is “He Ordained Twelve.” This chapter is about the ordination of the twelve apostles. Do you think that the ordination of the twelve apostles has anything to do with the subject of church organization? Yes. Does it have anything to do with the subject of Christian unity? It most certainly does. “The apostles differed widely in habits and disposition.” Do you suppose there are people in the church who differ widely in habits and disposition? I think that is true in every church. Have you ever been in a situation when you looked at certain evidence and said, “This is what I think,” and your wife or husband said, “This is what I think?” You both looked at the same information and found your conclusions were exactly the opposite. That is the way it was with the apostles. They differed widely in habits and disposition and could look at the same thing and draw completely different conclusions. Does that present a problem for gaining unity? It certainly does.

“There were the publican, Levi-Matthew.” Were the publicans rich or poor? They were rich, so we have a rich person in their group. “And the fiery zealot Simon.” The zealots were those who hated Rome so much they wanted to stir up an insurrection, a civil war, a rebellion, and topple the government so they could establish their own government. To get the Romans out of Judea was their stated goal. They were haters of Rome and believed in driving the Romans out with the sword. They were not interested in talk, they believed in war. One of these zealots was a disciple of Jesus. Ellen White calls him the fiery zealot. Have you ever had to deal with a fiery zealot? There are people who do not like even being around fiery zealots. She says he was “the uncompromising hater of the authority of Rome.” He was a dangerous person for Jesus to associate Himself with.

There were some disciples you know a little better, like “the generous, impulsive Peter.” However, it was dangerous for Jesus to associate with him also ,because he was always sticking his foot in his mouth. Then there was “the mean-spirited Judas.” Do you see as you read through this list how they had cause for a lot of contention? As you read the gospels do you find they had contentions? They had a lot of contentions. At times, when traveling. Some of them would fall behind so they could argue and disagree with one another. They did not want the Lord to hear.

“Thomas, truehearted, yet timid and fearful, Philip, slow of heart, and inclined to doubt.” Have you ever had to deal with someone who is just plain slow? There are people in the world that are just slower than others. Philip was one of these slow people. Have you ever worked with someone who is fast and whatever you can do they can do in half the time? There is nothing that tries the patience of a really efficient, fast person more than to have them work beside someone who is slower. Philip was slow and was also inclined to doubt.

Then there was “the ambitious, outspoken sons of Zebedee.” It is interesting that the three leading disciples all had a problem with being outspoken, or what you would call rash and impetuous—all three! That has been an amazement to me. You would think Jesus would pick someone who could put on the brakes a little as one of the leading disciples, but that is not the way it was. James and John were ambitious and outspoken.

“These were brought together, with their different faults, all with inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil; but in and through Christ they were to dwell in the family of God.” Out of the twelve, eleven of them are going to be saved. They are going to live in heaven throughout eternity and never fight again. Isn’t that a miracle! Just think about it. These different kinds of people are going to be in heaven and live throughout all eternity and never fight again. The reason they will be in heaven and will never fight again is because they learned to live here on earth in unity (Acts 2:1).

How is this going to happen? “In and through Christ they were to dwell in the family of God, learning to become one in faith, in doctrine, in spirit.” They were to become one in three ways: in faith, doctrine, and spirit. That is the condition the 144,000 are going to be in before Jesus comes. Wouldn’t you like to be part of it? It will not be one person physically, but one in faith, doctrine, and spirit.

“They would have their tests, their grievances, their differences of opinion.” Christian unity does not mean that all of a sudden our minds all think the same. When you look at the information you may come to a different conclusion than someone else. Notice it says they would have differences of opinion. They would think differently about different things. Christ does not take people and just refashion their minds so they are all like robots and when you show them something they all respond in exactly the same way. That is not Christian unity. Christian unity does not take an extrovert and make him an introvert. It does not change your basic personality structure. They would have differences of opinion but, “While Christ was abiding in the heart, there could be no dissension.” Isn’t that exciting! When you come to Jesus, when a group of people come to Jesus, they will have differences of opinion but there will be no dissension. This really is a miracle. People who are as different as Jesus’ disciples and yet have no dissension.

How does this happen? “His love would lead to love for one another.” Does Jesus love you? Jesus loves you more than your spouse, your father, your mother or anyone who has ever loved you in this world. Ellen White, trying to describe the love of God, talked about all the love that had been between man and woman, parent and child, from the beginning of time. She said that all of this is like a little trickle compared with the ocean of God’s love.

When you get close to Jesus and see how much He loves you and begin to receive His love, and then you look at your brother or sister and start to realize that Jesus loves them as much as He loves you, it affects the way you treat them. “His love would lead to love for one another.” When I receive the love of Christ in my heart it will lead me to love my brothers and sisters because I will realize that He loves and died for them the same as for me. “The lessons of the Master would lead to the harmonizing of all differences.”  What a miracle! Harmonizing how many differences? All. Doesn’t it sound wonderful?

If the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, let me make an appeal to you. Are you tired of the strife in this world? If you are, the only permanent way out, unless you want to die, is to receive the love of Jesus into your heart; the love that will bring unity with other people who have the love of Jesus in their heart. It is the only way. It will result in the harmonizing of all differences. “Bringing the disciples into unity, till they would be of one mind and one judgment. Christ is the great center, and they would approach one another just in proportion as they approached the center.” So, as I get closer to Jesus and you get closer to Jesus, what is going to happen? We are going to get closer to each other and there will be a harmony and fellowship among fellow Christians that many people have been strangers to, and some have never known in their whole life.

Did you know a part of Christianity is to have fellowship with the saints? That is one of the reasons for the church, so Christians will have fellowship together as they do God’s work, if we are drawing nearer to Christ, we will be drawing closer and closer to each other.

The same time we are coming closer to each other, we will be getting farther away and more out of harmony with some other people. John 17:14 says, “I have given them Your word; and the world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” If you get close to Jesus, who is going to hate you? The world. There is going to be increasing unity among those who are drawing closer to Jesus, taking them more and more out of touch, out of harmony with this world. Jesus was out of harmony with this world. You remember in John 7:7, he said to the sons of Joseph, those who were called his brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but me it hates because I testify of it that its works are evil.” If you get close to Jesus and in harmony with his saints, you are going to be out of harmony with the world. Jesus said the world will hate them because I have given them My word. They are out of harmony with the world; they are not part of the evil of the world. So, at the same time there will be more and more harmony among God’s people as we come closer to the end, there will be more and more disunity and disharmony between God’s people and the people of this world.

Some people do not understand that, in addition to loving, God has given us the ability to hate. The Bible teaches we are to both love and hate. When one person loves what another hates and hates what another loves, those people are not going to have unity. We find the Old Testament says, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” Psalms 97:10. If you love the Lord you are going to hate evil. That makes perfect sense. What was it that caused Jesus to go to the cross? It was evil. He died for our sins. If you love evil you hate the Lord and if you love the Lord you hate evil because you hate that which sent Jesus to the cross.

The first angel’s message says, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment has come.” Revelation 14:7 Should we fear the Lord? What does it mean to fear God? “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” Proverbs 8:13. If you love God, you will hate evil. “Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” Amos 5:15. If you want God to be gracious to you, if you want to receive his salvation, if you want to be covered, sheltered when the plagues come upon this world, you must not only love what is good but you must hate evil. You will be out of harmony with the world because the world loves evil.

In order for there to be perfect unity among God’s people, there must be organization. You cannot have perfect order or perfect harmony without some organization. In addition to the chapter we have already studied, let me share with you a statement from the Spalding-Magan Collection, page 121. “An army in battle would become confused and weakened unless all work in concert.” You cannot send a group of soldiers out and have every one just start running off through the woods, over the forest or across the plains after the enemy. You have to do something organized or you will be totally destroyed. Is that true? Yes. Some of you may have studied a little military history. I have never been a specialist in military history but I have studied history, and war is so much a part of history you cannot study one without studying the other also. One of the interesting things you find studying about war, is that wars are not generally won just by manpower. A few people like General Grant will win a war with manpower, although many are slaughtered, but the best generals in history are not those  who win wars by manpower but by superior organization and strategy. 

Are we in a war today? Oh yes, we are. Do you think the Lord Jesus would like for His soldiers to go out one at a time, one go here, one go there, wherever they think best and just see what they can do? No. You never win a war that way. Ellen White says, “If the soldiers should act out their own impulsive ideas, without reference to each other’s positions and work, they would be a collection of independent atoms; they could not do the work of an organized body.” Is it possible for a group of people, scattered and doing what they want, to do the same work and organized group can do? No, they cannot. They cannot do what an organized group can do.

“So the soldiers of Christ must act in harmony. They alone must not be cherished. If they do this, the Lord’s people in the place of being in perfect harmony, of one mind, one purpose, and consecrated to one grand object, will find efforts fruitless, their time and capabilities wasted.” Do you want your work for the Lord to be fruitless and all your efforts to come to nought? If so, try to do something on your own without any reference to anyone else or any organization. Mrs. White says your efforts will be fruitless, your capabilities wasted. Then she says, “Union is strength. A few converted souls acting in harmony, acting for one grand purpose, under one head, will achieve victories at every encounter.” Would you like to achieve victories at every encounter? If so, you have to be organized. You have to be part of an organized body with all working toward one objective. In order to have the unity for which Jesus prayed there must be an organized body. There must be what we call “ church organization.”

As we study the subject of church organization, we find very often people have gone to two extremes. The devil is a specialist in getting us to go to extremes. The first extreme was one that many people believed in shortly after 1844. There were many Seventh-day Adventists who had taken this extreme, fanatical idea. They felt that if they became organized they would become like Babylon. They saw all the other organized churches who were not teaching the truths of the bible, and did not want to be like them. By the way, is the Roman Catholic Church organized? The Roman Catholic Church is one of the most highly organized churches in the world. It is probably organized more than some secular governments by quite a bit.

Sister White said in union there is strength. Even a small group, if they are organized and moving toward an objective as one body, will have victory at every encounter. After the great disappointment in 1844, some Seventh-day Adventists took the position that being organized or having any organization would be joining or becoming part of Babylon. They retarded the coming of the Lord by taking this extreme, fanatical position, They were mistaken. Many people through the years have taken that extreme and do not want to have anything to do with organization because Babylon is organized.

There is another extreme some have taken. When you look at this world and its organizations you typically find one kind of organization. In fact, in any organization that the devil is running or has anything to do with, this is the only kind of organization you have. It is so prevalent and predominant today that many people think it is the only kind of organization there is. It is called a hierarchy. The militaries of all the governments in the world are organized in a hierarchical system. Labor unions, the papacy, secret societies and most secular governments and schools are organized in a hierarchical system. For most people in the world, the only type of organization they have known is based on the hierarchical principle; so many feel they have to have a hierarchy or have no organization at all. If you have no organization, that is terrible, so you have to have a hierarchy; you have to be organized.

I have met Seventh-day Adventist ministers who think that way. The only organization they have ever seen or heard of is hierarchical so they think you have to have a hierarchy in the church. A hierarchy is simply this, one man at the top. He tells the next layer what to do and the next layer tells the next layer what to do until you get to the bottom. This is commonly referred to as the “pecking order.” Have you ever heard that term? It is very common and very well understood. Corporations are organized this way and people believe you cannot have organization unless you have it this way. That is the other extreme. At Steps to Life we have been preaching against hierarchicalism ever since we started. In the summer of 1989 or 1990, my brother Marshall preached against hierarchicalism at every camp meeting he attended. He had an entire sermon on this subject.

Hierarchicalism is of the devil. What does Jesus think about hierarchies? There is no hierarchy in heaven and there will not be a hierarchy in the new earth. The disciples were very used to hierarchies. Ellen White makes it clear that the Jewish Church in the time of Christ was organized as a hierarchy. The Roman government was organized as a hierarchy. The disciples thought that was the way you had to be organized, too. This is what Jesus said about hierarchies:

“Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So he said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My father.’ And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them.’” Matthew 20:20-25.

Did you get that? The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. What does that mean? One is a lord, he is up high, and the other is beneath. A hierarchy is a layer system. “Those who are great exercise authority over them.” verse 25. One sits above another to dictate or rule over him.

Now, were the disciples to do this or not? “Yet it shall no be so among you.” verse 26. Are Jesus’ disciples to have hierarchies? They are not. This is a direct command by the Lord of glory, friends. Do not let anyone confuse you on this. If you have anything to do with establishing a hierarchy among God’s people, you are in direct violation of a command of Jesus himself. “It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” Ibid.

The question is this: If we are to be organized, but are not to have a hierarchy, what kind of organization are we going to have? Jesus said, “You are all brethren.” You are to be organized but are not to form a hierarchy.

“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.” Matthew 23:8. In the Christian church we are all on the same level. One problem we have is we elevate our preaching platforms and then people tend to think preachers are higher than other people. I found out we do not go to the extreme they used to. Last summer Marshall and I visited the church where Zwingli preached in Zurich. The church had a high ceiling and the congregation sat about 20 feet below the pulpit. The pulpit was reached by a staircase. You had to look up at the priest. Therefore, some people have gotten the idea that preachers are elevated. That is not what Jesus taught.

There have even been some military people who are more straight on this than the clergy. After the Civil War Robert E. Lee, general of the southern armies, attended church. If you study his life you will find he was a Christian. They were having communion and he went to the front where a black man was already kneeling and knelt down right beside him. There were some people present then, like now, who were very prejudice and asked him why he did that. He told them the ground is very level at the foot of the cross. That is true, friends. Preachers are not any higher than anyone else. People of one race are not any higher than anyone else. People of one sex are not any higher than anyone else. Jesus said, “You are all brethren.”

In heaven there is only one Lord. He is over everything and above everything, and everyone is going to worship him. What is he like? “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. Friends, Jesus wants to bring you and me into unity of faith, unity of doctrine, unity of spirit, unity of mind, and unity of judgment. But He is not going to do that by setting up a hierarchy and having someone from the top crack the whip over everyone. The Lord does not work that way. That is the devil’s way to have unity. The Lord says, “Come to Me.”  As we get closer and closer to Him we are going to be more in harmony with each other. One way perfect harmony is going to be brought about is through proper church organization. Jesus says, “I am gentle and lowly in heart.”  I want to be like Him, do you? We will never have the unity for which Jesus prayed in John 17 until we each one become like Him.