What is Water? Breaking the Spirit of Divisiveness for City-Wide Impact
By Ryan C.
Photo by Luis Fernando Estrada on Unsplash
There is a short story the writer David Foster Wallace once gave at a commencement speech.
Two young fish are swimming along when an older fish passes them and asks, "Hey boys, how's the water?"
The two younger fish go along for a while until one turns to the other and asks, "What the hell's water?".
For those of us in the West, the "water" we swim in is often a Protestant heritage of individualism and divisiveness. We have been so shaped by this culture that we are often blind to the massive emphasis the New Testament places on unity.
We tend to operate as if our specific "new thing"—our strategy or our movement—is the only thing that matters, failing to realize how this blindness hinders the very mission we serve.
Unity As A Mission Strategy
Unity is a strategic necessity for the gospel to be plausible in our cities — and a matter of obedience to clear New Testament commands.
In the strategy of God, unity actually makes the message more believable. It is far more likely that people will see Jesus as the one King when they see a visible oneness among His people.
Conversely, the more we are scattered and divisive, the less plausible our message becomes to the world. In this, in the wisdom of God, there is persuasive power in pursuing unity.
The 'New Thing' Trap
As a "DMM kind of guy," I know the temptation to look at mainstream churches and think, “We aren't doing what they're doing.”
In my early years, my voice was often strident, rough, and mostly critical, as if our "new thing" would be everything.
But we have to ask ourselves: how do we view the mainstream churches in our city? How do we talk about them to the people we are leading? Is there anything we can do to improve the perception on both sides for the sake of the Kingdom?
Poking through The Darkness
Achieving city-wide impact requires every "steeple" to unite against the darkness.
My wife, Amy, once had a vision of our city's skyline, where the steeples were poking up through a very low layer of clouds. The sense was that the church has to unite to poke through the darkness, creating holes so that the "Sun"—the Son—can come through.
Once the church does that, God pulls back the blanket of darkness over the city.
Kingdom-Mindedness Over Competition
We need to shift our perspective from competition to Kingdom-mindedness.
In UK cities, up to 95% of the people may not attend church. We are going after that 95%, while leaders of mainstream churches are often primarily focussed on caring for the 5% who are engaging with them regularly.
We aren't actually competing.
When we stop trying to "sell" a strategy and instead move toward a posture of mutual blessing, we see mainstream churches as partners in a dire situation where the vast majority of our neighbors do not know Christ.
Conclusion
We must audit our heart posture: Are we building for our own tribe or for the sake of the city?
Recognizing our cultural blindness is the first step toward finding a "mature, nuanced voice" that values the whole Body of Christ for the sake of the Kingdom.
Getting practical
As you think about God's vision for your city and/or affinity group:
1) How has the "water" of individualism shaped your view of other churches in your city?
2) In what ways could a visible unity among different movements make the gospel more "plausible" to your neighbors?
3) What would it look like to shift from a "competitive" mindset to a "Kingdom-minded" one this week?
Grounded in hands-on harvest work in the UK, Ryan C. serves leaders and teams catalytically across the United Kingdom and in Europe. You can connect with him at https://www.godmovements.uk/.
© 2026 Ryan C. All rights reserved.