Why is Christian Unity so important?

Unity with God and one another is how we were created and although marred by the fall Christ has come to restore this flourishing life of oneness and one day we will experience this in fullness, for all eternity.  Until then it is necessary to be in loving fellowship with Christians from other traditions if we truly want see and know the manifold wisdom beauty, and fullness of God.  And we need an exchange of gifts with one another if we want to be built up into the fullness of Christ.  Pope Francis puts it this way, We need to realize that, to plumb the depths of the mystery of God, we need one another, we need to encounter one another and to challenge one another under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who harmonizes diversities and overcomes conflicts," There were periods in history when, in the name of the truth of the Gospel, Christians became divided.  Today, on behalf of the truth of the Gospel, we would like to do everything possible to become reconciled.  We cannot pass on Christ’s message to those around us unless we are together.  When Christians are separated their message becomes inaudible.   LET US DARE TO HEAD TOWARDS VISIBLE UNITY.   It is up to us to create places where this unity can emerge and be made visible.  It can start with a simple meal together with Christians outside of our own tradition and this can lead to serving together and also gathering together to pray and worship. 

The unity of the Christian church is not based on human unanimity of spirit, but on divine unity of Spirit          
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

When it comes to the call to Christian unity we live in the tension of already but not yet fully. It is, in Christ, already a fact, a given.  At the same time it is a command: 'Be one!'  The unity of the Body of Christ, not only lies before us as a goal, but already exists in God.  The Church is divided, but in its depths it is undivided.  In the heart of God it is one.  We are called to be one as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one.  In Christ we are brought into the unity of the Trinity, which provides the foundation and model for our unity with our brothers and sisters. Yet we live in day where the body of Christ is deeply divided.  How bad is it?  We have, to some degree, perfected the schism, we divide from one another over worship styles as well as because of bruised egos.  It would not be too hard to find a church where you can hear a pastor from the pulpit say something like ‘if you don’t like this ‘damn’ church then go start your own.’

Being divided is not just unfortunate, it is sin!  I heard one leader say that, “Our divisions are a monstrous act of disobedience.”  God’s heart is broken around our divisions and He invites us enter into this grieving with Him, to feel this pain deeply, to sit with it and allow it work on us.  This can draw us in humility, to own our sinful attitudes and actions that deepen existing divisions and even create new ones.  God is waiting to pour out His Spirit and grace so that we can confess and turn from our sins and experience His forgiveness, cleansing, refreshing and renewed energy to, “Make the unity of the Body of Christ our passionate concern.”  As God’s people increasingly become reconciled and united in Christ and this grows in visibility, it will also grow in influence. It will foster the healing of human divisions. And mankind will know that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

“Love—and the unity it attests to—is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world.  Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.”      

-Francis Schaeffer

In Jesus’ last recorder prayer we hear his deepest cry is for us to be one.  "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity"  

In the letter of Paul to the Ephesians he gives a list of exhortations and again we see the priority of Unity given.  Paul also introduces to us that Christ-like character is necessary if we are to be faithful in this call to unity.  He finishes with a confession of the essentials of the Christian faith that appears to be an early creed that provides some limits to unity. We cannot be in Christian unity with those who cannot affirm the Trinity and the essentials of triune, Christian faith.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:1-6)

In Ephesians 4:3: Paul calls us to the urgency of unity “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” This phrase can be rendered “take pains to keep the unity!”  It calls forth painstaking effort and passion of the whole person, mind, emotions, and physical strength.  Why don’t most Christians take this exhortation by Paul seriously?   Part of the problem is that most of us do not feel the full weight and evil of our divisions. Brother François of Taize writes, Between Christians of different denominations we have already accused one another a great deal of all the evil that we could have done to one another through violence and contempt. But another evil needs to rise into our consciousness, a deeper evil, at first sight one that is less cruel, but in reality more insidious – the evil of division itself.  It can appear that, across the centuries, Christians have become used to being divided, as if this were something normal.

What would happen if we stopped thinking that divisions were normal and to be accepted and instead made it our main goal to work and pray for reconciliation and unity in the body of Christ.  Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople (†1972) had thought that if we brought together theologians from all the Churches on an island in the Bosporus and they were told, “you cannot leave until you have achieved unity,” they would have done it. In saying this, he was not denying all the problems that exist; he was merely expressing his conviction that the solution to these problems depends on the urgency we attribute to the requirement of unity.  Today is the day to repent of this lack of concern and effort and declare with humble dependence upon God that things must change! 

Below are practical steps in making every effort to keep the unity and becoming reconciliation people

1.      Allow Christ-like character to be formed in us through a life of discipleship.  This alone allows a genuine, humble, forgiving and loving heart to be formed in us that is necessary

2.     Follow Godly leaders who by their example and anointing can impart truth, open eyes and doors that were once closed.

3.     Get in touch with and enter into the pain and grief that our Triune God experiences over our divisions

4.     Confess and repent of our own sinful attitudes that have led to wounding and division and when appropriate confess on behalf of our ‘families’ ‘people’, and ‘Christian tradition’

5.     Make friends, pray and serve with others outside of your own church and tradition and learn to experience an ‘exchange of gifts.’ This exchange happens when we learn to emphasize the best of the different traditions, and share what we have received form God, and also receive the gifts that God has placed in others. 

a.     We will widen our vision of the Church by opening ourselves to the gifts of faith, hope and charity lived by Christians of other traditions.

b.    We must move towards others, often empty-handed, listening, and committed to trying to understand one another.

c.     Person-to-person encounters are irreplaceable as well as smaller gatherings around prayer and a meal together

Prayers for the Journey

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy catholic (universal) Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; Where it is in error, direct it; Where in any thing it is amiss, reform it.Where it is right, strengthen it; Where it is in want, provide for it; Where it is divided, reunite it; For the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen

-Book of Common Prayer-page 816

"Living God, at times we are strangers on earth, disconnected by the violence, the harsh oppositions. And you breathe upon us the Spirit of peace like a gentle breeze. Transfigure the deserts of our doubts and so prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us, until a hope of peace arises in our world"

-Brother Roger

Lord, hear the prayers of your people and bring the hearts of believers together in your praise and in common sorrow for their sins.  Heal all divisions among Christians that we may rejoice in the perfect unity of your Church and move together as one to eternal life in your kingdom.

-Liturgy of the hours

**these thoughts have been shaped by journey with God, but I owe much to my Antioch Network Family, especially George and Hanna Miley.  I have also been impacted by the Taize community and their founder Brother Roger and am thankful for my new friendships that are emerging through my involvement with the John 17 movement.