My father gave me the essential vision of my book Visions of the Church. He felt that too much money was wasted by building and maintaining so many church buildings that are half empty (because Christians can’t agree to go to the same church). He believed the money would be far better spent helping poor people.

The early Christians found the same basis for unity.

When Paul told the leaders in Jerusalem about his controversial creation of churches composed of both Jews and non-Jews, they respected Paul’s work to establish the ministry to which he was called by God. For they could see that “God was at work in [Paul’s] ministry” (Galatians 2:1-2,6-8).

They encouraged Paul to “continue to remember the poor, the very thing he was eager to do” (Galatians 2:10).

During this terrible Pandemic, we must be even more eager to continue to remember the poor, the very thing the early Church leaders in Jerusalem, Paul, and my Father were eager to do.

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This blog is based on part of the Acknowledgements Section of my book The Promised Land, at page 14.

To read more about what unites us as followers of the Way of Jesus, please read the chapter “James, Peter and John Fellowship with Paul” in my book Lighting the World, at pages 73-82.

To read more about remembering the poor, please read my blog “Pandemic Wisdom: Feeding Multitudes”.