Genuine Unity

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 4:4-6

In these seven elements is found the nature of authentic Christian unity. It is not a union to be manufactured by our effort, but a unity which already exists, created in us and through us by the Spirit of God. These seven facets of unity are not articles of theological agreement. They ought never to be put into a creedal statement as though agreement with these is what endorses someone as a Christian. No, it is the other way around: becoming a Christian ultimately brings agreement on these points. They are areas not just of doctrine, but of mutual experience. They are experiential truths which lay hold of us, not truths which we are to lay hold of.

The seven elements of our unity are not debatable. If anyone disagrees with these, he is simply manifesting the fact that he is not yet a Christian. When he becomes a Christian he will experience and therefore understand these things. He may not be able to articulate them clearly, but he will recognize them when they are described. Therefore, the way to create unity is simply to bring men and women to Christ. The unity of the Spirit will be produced in them by the Spirit. It is impossible to achieve any meaningful union apart from this unity which is produced only by the Spirit.

Putting it in another way, there are two kinds of unity: an external unity without internal agreement, and an internal unity which manifests occasionally in external disagreement. The first is called union. The very nature of those who seek external union rather than true internal unity is to attempt to impose union by control and direction. These are the church bosses who have to be at the top of the pyramid, imposing their vision of how their Christian union should function from the top down. Their power is measured by how successful they are in getting the conglomerate to follow them.

I remember well the first time I ran into the second kind of unity, the true, Spirit-created, internal kind of unity. As a boy I had two friends who were brothers, only a year apart in age. One day we were out playing and these brothers began fighting. I thought that one was a bit sarcastic and unfair so I chimed in on behalf of the underdog. To my amazement he didn't welcome my help. In fact, he turned on me! And then his brother joined him and both jumped on me!

I discovered I had made a very shallow judgment. I felt the differences they were airing represented a fundamental disagreement between them — but I was wrong! Underneath the disagreement was a fundamental unity: their brotherhood. The moment I attacked one of them, that unity manifested itself and they closed ranks against the outsider — me! This incident illustrates the unity of the church, an internal unity with an occasional external disagreement.

Lord, thank you for the fundamental unity we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. I am grateful that it is not based on behavior but is created by the Spirit.