why is unity important in the church?
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why is unity important in the church?
As previously explained, the importance of unity in the church is of great importance and value to Jesus and thus, should be the same for us. But why exactly? When we’re unified as a body of believers, we reflect and give witness to the world of the love that motivated Jesus.
Our divisiveness feeds straight into Satan’s schemes. What’s important and close to Jesus’ heart is pretty much guaranteed to have a bullseye on it for attack.
To look around our world today and see the disunity among not only the church, but marriages, families, relationships, and communities is heartbreaking. But don’t let this lead you to defeat!
This passage from John 17 is so special because it also shows Jesus praying for our protection from the evil one in verses 11 and 15. To see how that protection goes hand in hand with the sacredness and value of protecting the unity in the church affirms yet again its value and importance.
To take it a step further, Satan knows this too. As followers of Jesus, we need to be aware of this and be on guard against it.
It is theologically crucial.
Jesus passionately prayed that his followers would be one and “may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21, 23 NIV). Why? “So that the world may believe that you have sent me,” he prayed (v. 21). Their unity was rooted in Christ’s own unity with the Father, an idea Paul picks up in his own writings about unity and oneness, for example Ephesians 4:4–6: “There is one body and one Spirit . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Paul had much to say about the importance of unity as product and proof of the gospel, and he underscores it in his regular use of sibling and family language when he’s dealing with divisions in churches, whether it be the Jew-Gentile divisions of the Roman church or the status divisions of Corinth (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:10–11; 6:1–8; 2 Cor. 8–9; 13:11). As Joe Hellerman notes, “If there was one place in the ancient world where a person could expect to encounter a united front, it was in the descent-group family of blood brothers and sisters.
For Paul, the church is a family; as such, unity must prevail.” One way this is practically embodied is in material solidarity (e.g., 1 Cor. 16:1–4; 2 Corinthians 8–9; Rom. 15:26–27). For Paul this is a tangible expression of the uniting of Jew and Gentile as “siblings in God’s eternal family.” And “alleviating a brother’s poverty is, first and foremost, a family responsibility.”
Unity is necessary for the power of God.
Chronicles 30:12 “Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.” When God’s hand is on a church or a group of people his power rests on them. This power is necessary for the unity of mind and purpose that is needed to follow the word of the Lord.
It is critical to elevate the mission of bringing God glory through our obedience to the highest level in order to have this kind of unity. In other words a church must not focus on the minor things but on the major thing! Too often we divide ourselves over things that do not matter. Don’t mistake diversity for disunity. We can be wonderfully diverse while being totally in harmony over who we are in Christ. If God created over 400,000 species of beetles why would he not want churches with unique personalities and abilities to reach people!
There is a common enemy.
Highs and lows in the history of church unity tend to correspond to the presence or absence of persecution. When things are comfy for the church, it finds reason to squabble and divide. When persecution arises, unity takes on a bit more urgency. As American society secularizes and conservative faith communities become more marginalized, I hope we see a more unified remnant emerge. I’ve witnessed this a bit in my involvement with religious freedom challenges facing Biola University and other Christian colleges in California.
During the intense fight to ward off a particular state legislative bill, I was part of meetings and strategy sessions with black and Hispanic pastors, Catholic leaders, and others from the diverse cross section of the Christian church. Even though it shouldn’t have taken this sort of “foxhole ecumenism” to bring us together, these gatherings were beautiful reminders that we are ultimately on the same team. There is one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. The challenges we face, the spiritual battles we fight, demand that we embrace the truth that we “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
Unity in the Church: Speak in love, live in love.
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:15
I want to share Paul’s prayer from Romans 15:5-7:
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
The picture of unity among believers joining together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is breathtaking! It is the Father’s heart and so must be ours as well.
The Word “Church”
It’s interesting to me that occasionally I will hear Christians say that the Greek word “ekklesia” (which we translate “church“), means “called out.” This, of course, would imply separateness. But the definition of words must be determined by how they were actually used, not by their etymology. The
word “ekklesia” was not used to emphasize separateness, but togetherness.
The word “ekklesia” means “gathering” or “assembly.” It is about individuals being called together. Yes, of course, we are coming out of the world, but that is not the emphasis of the word. The word emphasizes our being brought together under the banner of King Jesus.
When we think of “church” being about separateness, then we tend to think it is a good thing to separate ourselves from everyone with whom we disagree. Ironically, the word “Pharisee” means “one who is separated.” The emphasis needs to be put back on togetherness, rather than separateness.
Maintaining Unity
We do not create Christian unity. Unity was created when, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). But even though we don’t create unity, it is our responsibility to eagerly “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
Here are some things we need to do to maintain unity:
- Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:1-3).
- Hold fast to the word preached by the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:2).
- Remember that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus are the matters of “first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
- Do not quarrel over opinions (Romans 14:1).
- If you are strong, “bear with the failings of the weak” (Romans 15:1).
Maintaining unity is relational and it is doctrinal. We must be humble, gentle, patient, loving, and kind. And we must be unified in doctrine. We must only teach as doctrine what is truly taught by the New Testament. Anything beyond that is “opinion” and speculation; we can certainly discuss our opinions, but we must not quarrel and divide over them.
Do we have unity in the church today?
When we look at the number of churches and all of the splinter groups, the answer to this question is clearly, No.
The church for all the good it does or can do is not unified. There has been infighting between factions in the church for hundreds of years. And worse, even within some churches there is infighting between the factions of that specific church itself.
This should not be so. Fighting and arguments will not lead us to the kingdom of God.
The true church of God must be unified. Think about this for a moment. We are being called to
eventually enter the kingdom of God. Do you think that God wants a divisive, argumentative and non-unified people in His eternal kingdom?
Of course he doesn’t. He wants His people to be as one with each other, with Jesus Christ, and with God
So why is there no unity in the church today? Why is there such disparity of beliefs and opinions within the church?
There are several possible answers to this question. But I believe the root cause is a failure to seek and follow the truth of Jesus Christ.
Do we have unity in the church today?
There is so much false teaching and error in the doctrines of the church that many have gone astray. Divisive preachers driven by the guile of the devil have led the church astray causing divisions. We have even seen wars waged over differences in religious beliefs with both sides claiming to serve Christ.
If this is ever to be rectified then the church needs to go back to the fundamentals. The church needs to return to the scriptures with prayer to seek the truth.
We are meant to live together as one. This is why unity in the church is important, so that we can all be of one mind and heart in Christ.
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