The Importance of Unity for the Church
by Joel Stephen Williams
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when people live in unity!” (Psa. 133:1). How wonderful unity, peace, and harmony are, and how discouraging division, discord, and conflict are. The apostle Paul begs us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Jesus prayed that his followers “may all be one” (Jn. 17:21). Unfortunately, it has not always been that way. Paul, for example, had to struggle with the problem of division in the church at Corinth. In the early church there were disagreements over the Gentiles and salvation. There were also disagreements due to personalities. Since there are sinful human beings who make up the church, sadly, divisions and disagreements are going to always be present. But that does not mean that we should sit back in apathy and indifference and fail to promote unity.
What are some things that cause division? Some division is over doctrine. If division comes because of error, the truth must prevail. But between brothers and sisters, usually division is the result of other causes. Sometimes it is the result of personalities. This was the problem at Corinth. Some liked Paul the most while others liked Apollos or Peter (1 Cor. 1:12). Paul was horrified by this division. He wanted all of them follow Christ rather than human beings. It was Christ who was crucified for them. They were baptized in the name of Christ (1 Cor. 1:13). Therefore, Paul appealed to them to all “agree” so that there would be “no dissensions” among them (1 Cor. 1:10). Even today some Christians who should be friends are not unified, because they are lined up behind various personalities, namely, this preacher or that preacher. Let us line up behind Jesus Christ and repledge our mutual loyalty to him! If we are all following Christ, we will all be in line together.
At other times division results from hurt feelings. Sometimes one person has wronged another person. At other times someone has gotten their feelings hurt even though another person has not really done anything wrong to them. We need to learn to be forgiving toward one another. If we Want God to forgive us, we need to learn to forgive others (Matt. 6:12–15). Paul wrote, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). God through Christ has forgiven each one of us of many terrible sins, so we need to be forgiving of others, especially our brothers and sisters.
At still other times division is due to jealousy. Sometimes preachers or churches get in competition with one another. Instead of working together, we work against one another. We need to learn to be humble and put God's glory first in all things, not our own selfish desires. Instead of trying to make a name for ourselves, let us be concerned with making the name of Christ widely known. His name will save; our names will not save anyone (Acts 4:12). We should seek the kingdom of God first (Matt. 6:33). As Paul taught, “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:3–4). If we are only interested in pleasing God rather than pleasing mere mortals, competition will cease between us and unity will ensue (2 Cor. 10:18).
Another cause of disunity is a lack of love in our hearts. Jesus said that love would be the means by which “everyone will know” that we are his disciples (Jn. 13:35). The kind of love we should have, for our brothers and sisters in Christ is not merely a passing friendship. We are to have love “as” Christ loved us when he died on Calvary (Jn. 13:34; Eph. 5:2). If we. do not have a love for our brethren, then we do not really love God (1 Jn. 4:20–21). Peter told us to “love the brotherhood” (1 Pet. 2:17).
In what ways do we have unity? We have unity in a common faith and doctrine. We agree on basic truths about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible (1 Cor. 1:10). We have common practices such as worship on the Lord's day and partaking of the Lord's Supper and we live a similar holy life. We have unity in that we were all baptized into Christ (1 Cor. 1:13). We have unity in that we wear a common name, Christian. Paul summarized some of the “one” things around which our unity is centered: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6).
Finally, how can we show our unity? We do it by partaking of the Lord's Supper together (1 Cor. 10:16–17). We do it by supporting one another in good works like gospel meetings, feeding the hungry, and caring for orphans. We do it by praying for one another. We do it by speaking of one another in complimentary ways (Rom. 12:10; 2 Pet. 3:15–16). We show our unity by rushing to the aid of one another in times of tragedy (Rom. 12:13, 15; Gal. 2:10). Obviously, we are not able to show our unity if we sit back in separate groups frowning at one another. Instead, we show our unity by standing side-by-side, arm-in-arm, as brothers and sisters in Christ.
How wonderful and desirable unity is. Let us all work toward more unity in the church, so that an admiring world will say, “My, how they love one another!” The world is a place of hatred, hostility, and division. Let the church be a refuge of love, good will, and unity. Let the world know that we are Christians by our love one for another.
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Note: This article first appeared as Steve Williams, “The Importance of Unity for the Church,” Progress 2, no. 2 (November 1989): 10–11, in a paper published for preachers in India.
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