“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Ahh! Easier said than done. (Psalm 133:1-3)
“Have you ever been through a church break-up? For years you met together on Sundays, wore out each other’s carpet, cooked meals for those who were sick, told one another how much you loved each other and how much Jesus loves us. And then you found you disagreed on something vital, and everything started to crumble. Suddenly, arguments became the order of the day. Finally the congregation split in two. Those you considered your best friends didn’t want to speak to you anymore. Resentment and unforgiveness ruled supreme and you couldn’t even seem to sense Jesus’ presence anymore. And the pain was overwhelming.” (quoted from “In Defense of the Gospel”)
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
What is the church? A club? An organization dedicated to a particular interest or activity? My father faithfully attended both the Lions Club and church. As a child, I did not see much difference between the two. Thankfully, Jesus knows the difference. Jesus considers His Body, the church, so significant that one of His final prayers is for the future church: “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:20-21) How the Lions Club interacted within itself did not make anyone believe God had sent Christ. It was just a club. Church, as designed by Christ, is to be marked by unity.
CHURCH IS NOT A CLUB
Christ’s concept of unity is a miracle, utterly unique from anything offered by our world. Without the magnificent work of the Holy Spirit actively empowering how believers interact with other believers, we miss the target by a mile. We become only an organization, a club.
IN UNITY, DISAGREEMENT IS POSSIBLE
In biblical unity, believers can disagree. Remember the sharp disagreement between Barnabas and Paul over the issue of John Mark recorded in Acts 15:36-39? John Mark previously deserted Paul and Barnabas on a missionary trip. Barnabas wants to give the young man a second chance. Barnabas and Paul come to a compromise: Barnabas leaves on a missions trip with John Mark and Paul departs on his journey accompanied by Silas. The plus is that they ended up making two productive trips instead of the sole one previously planned. Furthermore, notice Paul’s attitude. He continues to praise Barnabas (I Cor. 9:3-6) and at the end of his life, Paul thinks so highly of John Mark that he requests a visit from him (II Tim. 4:11). Barnabas and Paul disagreed, but they never slammed the door on their relationship. They maintained unity even though they had disagreed.
LIVING IN UNITY LEAVES A MARK ON THE WORLD
To live in unity with believers matters to Christ! Tristan Wax observes, “In the end, the goal isn’t papering over differences and finding surface-level agreement. Church unity matters because (1) our unity is connected to the unity of God himself (and thus our disunity is a scandalous affront to the gospel), (2) the world sees a reflection of God’s inner life in our fellowship when we participate in his divine love, and (3) it’s the means by which we withstand the pressures of the world that rage against God’s truth.”
Does your unity with fellow believers mirror God’s glory or do you just consider church a club? Are you ready to obey and to “withstand the pressures of the world that rage against God’s truth”? With the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, living in unity with believers is our deepest reflection of God’s glory.
Click to read further: Christian Unity Is Deeper than ‘Getting Along’