Biblical Unity:
Psalm 133:1- Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity.
It seems the church today is making great strides to unite the body of Christ. This movement, often referred to as ecumenism, seems at surface level to be one of integrity and earnest love for the risen Christ. It is a beautiful thing when brothers separated by culture and country, language and ideology can cross these boundaries, and share in the faith entrusted to us by Christ, through the hands of apostles and prophets. What, though, does the word of God have to say about seeking unity within the body?
In Acts one and two, we are given a portrait of how the early church behaved prior to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:14 tells us that the apostles "…continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…" which continued with the 120 in the upper room in 2:1, where they "…were all with one accord in one place." Unity among brethren is good. The apostle Paul wrote "…fulfill my joy by being like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."(Phil 2:2). This does not mean however, that unity within the body is something to be sought after. In quoting Phil 2:2, I have just pulled a slight of hand. Lets go back one verse and qualify the truth about biblical unity; Phil 2:1 reads "therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, then fulfill my joy"…etc. Paul was actually saying, "if the Holy Spirit lives in and amongst you, than be united." We are not called to unity, but to servitude and submission, and one of the bi-products of submission is unity among believers.
To drive this point home a little deeper, let's look at a few passages which describe the early church, all from the book of Acts.
1) 1:14 - The apostles continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. Notice the focus. They were all focused in prayer, the object of focus being God, through the resurrected Messiah.
2) 2:1 - The assembly were all with one accord in one place. The 120 were acting under the same focus, obedience to Christ's command to wait in Jerusalem until they had received the helper promised in John 14-16, and Luke 24:29.
3) 2:42-46 - The body of believers continued steadfastly under instruction in proper doctrine, with prayers, and in breaking of bread. They lived out the commands of God, and continued daily to do so, with "gladness and simplicity". These people weren't seeking unity. It was something that happened naturally because of their focus. They learned the word daily. They prayed together daily. They celebrated the resurrection daily. What's more is that they were so busy winning new converts daily, they didn't have time to theorize about the state of the fellowship among them. The growing pains were dealt with as they arose. (See 6:1-7)
4) 4:24 - They praised God in unison. Again, look at the focus. It wasn't on their circumstances, but in thanksgiving in spite of them.
5) 5:12 - They were all with one accord on Solomon's porch. This is part of the temple, where people go to study the word of God, pray, and sing praises to Him.
6) 8:6 - The multitude heeded the words spoken by Philip with one accord. What was the unifying factor? It was the word of God and the obedience to it. Note that verse 8 adds that because of it, there was much joy.
7) 15:25 - The apostles assembled with one accord. The uniting factor again was the Holy Spirit and the word (see verse28).
It is the focus on, and submission to God, that united the early believers. It was the daily celebrations of His resurrection and of thanksgiving which joined them. It was obedience to, and study of His word and Spirit that brought them together. In the Greek language, this is "homothumadon", meaning unanimously. It is made of two root words. The first is homou, from which we get the prefix homo, meaning the same. The second word is thumos, which means fierceness and donotes heavy passion. If we are going to be like the church in the book of acts, we must exhibit the same fierceness for the word, and in obedience to the Spirit.
This means more than just Sunday church and Sunday school. This means more than just a chapter a day to keep the devil and guilt away. It means more than praying just when things get tough. It means taking up our cross daily. If we lived our Christianity like this, we wouldn't have time to theorize about uniting the body, and that's if people's assumptions are correct about the body being disjointed.
The role of the word and doctrine in church unity
Many people today say that doctrine divides. To an extent, I agree; it divides those who are following the truth from those who are following teachers, opinions, lusts of the flesh, and falsehoods. As far as the body of Christ is concerned, true doctrine unites us. Part of what the ecumenical movement teaches is to ignore our differences in doctrine as believers, and focus on our similarities. This is in part because of the postmodern influence on the modern church, though ecumenism is clearly wrong taking the verses from Acts into account. It also ignores important teachings from the epistles and letters. Read 2 Peter 3, it tells us that we are to be encouraged, to "be mindful of the words which were spoken before by holy prophets, and of the [commandments of] the apostles of the Lord and Savior." The chapter tells us that scoffers will come denying the creation, and the global flood. In Titus we're warned to "rebuke [false teachers] sharply, that they may be sound in the faith"(1:10-16). We are also exhorted to speak things which are proper for sound doctrine. These are not the only places where we are warned of false teaching, or we are encouraged to hold to sound doctrine. Paul told Timothy to command that people stop teaching other false doctrines or following fables and endless genealogies (1Tim1: 3-4). Doctrine is a good and important part of the faith. Read 2 Thes 2:15, Gal 1:6-10, Col 2:8-10, and 2 Pete 2:1-2.
Where then do these struggles come from? James 3:13-4:10 is a great passage to answer this. 4:1-2 tell us that the fighting amongst us comes from the desires for pleasure, and the lusts within us. In verse 4 the writer calls the audience adulterers. Remember that this letter was written to believers. Chances are, if there is a dispute between brethren, it is not the body that is divided, but it is the result of 1 or more of the parties involved who is unwilling to conform to correct doctrine, or obedience to the Spirit. Phil 3:17-4:2 gives us an example of this. There are some, we are warned of, that are part of our congregations who are walking with earthly things as their focus. After stating this, Paul writes that he implores 2 such people to be of the same mind in the Lord. So how is this accomplished? Turn back to James 4:7-8. It reads; "therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded." Again this was written to the believers. How many times we quote the resist part, but we seem to forget the submission first. If we are using our energy to submit to God, the resisting comes quite a bit easier. Try fighting for one thing rather than against many and you'll see the focus will make it much easier to accomplish the task at hand.
So what exactly is the role of the bible among believers then, if doctrine unites us? "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work", (2 Tim 3:16-17). If there is a dispute, opinions and philosophies can't solve them (Col 2:8), the word does (1Tim 4:6-7, 6:1). Heb 4:12 confirms that if some one has improper motives or an impure heart, the word reveals it. We aren't supposed to just shrug our shoulders when we disagree about doctrine or lifestyle. Go to the bible and study it thoroughly. How else can we obey the command to use the word against those who contradict? (Titus 1:8-9). See how Heb 12:11 fits into all of this. If a brother is wrong, and we use the word under the direction of the Holy Spirit, it may not be taken willingly at first, but eventually it yields peaceable fruit of righteousness.
In short, it is not the word or doctrine which divides, but it is our response to the truth as it is presented to us which causes the division among believers. 1 Cor 8:1 tells us that knowledge causes pride, but love edifies. Chapter 13:6 tells us that love rejoices when truth is spoken, even if our knowledge is being challenged. Love and truth are inseparable. We must not love at the expense of truth or else it is no longer the love of God which is being spread, but the love of something else. Any lack of unity about doctrine among believers is solely due to the fact that some or all in each dispute is not willing to drop their preconceptions or knowledge to submit to the authority of the word and Spirit. If we are unwilling to accept the truth, we will be forced to accept a lie in its place (Rom 1:25, 2 Thes 2:11-12).
As a last comment, no matter what there are always going to be people who infiltrate the body, seemingly as one of us, who will lead people astray with false teaching. It's only going to get worse as well (Jude, 2 Peter 2-3 for example). Not until the millennial reign of Christ and the eternal state will we as the true body of Christians be free from it. Being tired of all the infighting amongst believers, true or false, is perfectly understandable, but that is no reason to give up the fight for pure faith and cave in to something easier, which today is the love at all costs doctrine. 1 Pete 1, Phil, and Rev 2-3 tell us to perservere, and then we will receive our rewards.
Unity under the Holy Spirit
2 Cor 3:17- "Now the Lord is the Spirit…" We must understand that the Holy Spirit is the third member of the triunity, and that He is an autonomous sovereign being (1 Cor 12:6,11). We can have fellowship with Him (Phil 2:1), He can be grieved (Eph 4:30), He can be lied to (Acts 5:3), and He has opinions (Acts 15:28). He however is also fully God (Acts 5:3-4), eternal (Heb 9:14), omniscient (1 Cor 2:10-11), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-13), and omnipotent (Luke 1:35). Following the direction of the Holy Spirit is following God, as is obeying Him. It is important to understand this for a few reasons.
First off, the Spirit of God moved men to write the scriptures (2 Tim 3:16). Therefore there can be no contradictions in what its claims are, nor can there be any with what we believe His leading to be and what is recorded in that word. He is called our Teacher and the Spirit of truth (John 14:17+26, 15:26, and 16:8-13); we need Him in order to understand doctrine. Secondly, Jesus taught that no house divided against itself can stand (Matt 12:25-32), and then leads from there into the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In other words, if we're in submission to the Holy Spirit, we will automatically be in unity with one another instead of following our fleshly lusts (Gal 5:16). Lastly, if we are searching the word and obeying the Spirit of the Lord, we are told that it produces the fruits of love, joy, and peace, among others, in our lives (Gal 5:22-26, Rom 14:17). If we are to strive for unity, then let it be the unity of the Spirit as we submit to His Lordship, so as not to be contentious (Eph 4:3, Gal 5:22-26).
The Body and Unity
To start with, what exactly is the body of Christ? The body of Christ, or the church, is made up of those who have willingly submitted to Jesus as Saviour of the world, and it's upon this confession of faith that the Holy Spirit places us into this body (1 Cor 12:12-14). There are not many bodies (Eph 4:1-14). This is one body, which is being knit together by way of the Spirit, and in knowledge of the word (Eph 4, Col 1:24-2:3). We may be comprised of many members, but we are one just the same (Rom 12: 3-5, 1 Cor12: 1, and Heb 13:3). As individual members of this body, we do not all have the same function, but each one of us has our own place, and we each have our own job. Though there may be some dispute over this, the end result is not to make it to heaven, but to be like Christ, and our individual functions are placed in us by God to achieve this (Eph 4:11-14, 1 Cor 12:27-31). This will not, unfortunately, reach completion until we are each individually transformed at His coming, and we are clothed with incorruptible flesh (Rom 12: 5-8, 1Cor 13: 9-12, and chapter 15, Phil 3:7-4:2).
The implications of this hold many problems for those who are seeking unity within the body as well. The body throughout scripture is already described as being one, which would mean that it's already unified. The disagreements would then not be ones of disjointedness, but ones of lack of conformity to the standard, which is Christ, and of disobedience by the individual members. We must not let ourselves be cheated, but we must hold to Christ, the head, who is nurturing and knitting us as a body, as new members join (Col 2:18-19). Jesus prayed for this for us (John 17:22-23), that we would be one as He and the Father are one. The apostle Paul prayed for us as well, that we through the Spirit and wisdom would know the Lords calling as one body (Eph 1:15-17).
This also leads us to understanding that there can be unity in diversity. A good example of this is also found in Rev 5:9-10. The worship here is from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Interestingly in Rev 22, during the eternal state, all the different nationalities are still discernable. As well, were not Paul and Barnabas set apart to minister to the Gentiles just as was Peter to the Jews? Yet in unity of Spirit and word they continued on in these ministries.
Unity of purpose
Not all unity is necessarily good either. In Gen 11, the people of the world assembled on the plains of Shinar. They were united in location, language, and purpose. God had a problem with this, because the purpose was to follow through on a course of action, which was solely man centered, and in rebellion against Him. Now contrast this with the unity in Acts 1 and 2. They were with one accord in focus and purpose, but not in language as those at Babel were, though the gift of tongues fell on them, undoing Babel. The ecumenical movement may look and sound real good, but if it's the focus instead of the bi-product, then Christ is not being worshipped. Satan can achieve unity as well. Read Acts 7:57, 18:12, and 19:29. At least some of the people mentioned in these instances thought they were obeying the word of God by killing the Christians, but were they? Obviously not! Some in the church may even think they are in the right and unified in truth when they are not. The Corinthian church was guilty of this. 1 Cor 1:10-13 explains it thus, the different groups were pledging allegiance to the apostles. Than one of them actually states that they follow Christ, but Paul doesn't leave them out of the loop when correcting them all. On paper and in theory people may seem like they are walking the right path, but through the word and by the spirit, we must discern and test all things to see if it so (1 Thes 5:19-20/ Acts 17:11). We aren't told why those who held they were following Christ were in the wrong as well. We can only read that they were rebuked for their stance, even though it is correct. The only assumption we can make is that it was in the head and not in their hearts. However, 1 Cor 3:1-17 does help clarify the situation.
The contentious Christian
When dealing with the unity issue, there is another myth that needs to be dispelled. When we take the side of Christ, in obedience to the word and Spirit, and speak the truth of God, we can expect to be in the center of many controversies, whether in or outside of the body of Christ. When the word says that the fruit of the Spirit is peace, it does not mean outer peace, but inner between the individual and God. It has external spin-offs, but it is an internal peace. I can think of no better example than our Lord when He overturned the tables in the temple (John 2:13-17, Matt 21:12-17). I'd think that was quite a bit controversial. Jesus was not the only one who did things that stirred the pot either. The bible from Genesis to Revelation speaks of men who created controversy in obedience to God. Elijah on mount Carmel not only confronted the prophets of Baal, but he also taunted them as they foolishly acted out to get the false god's attention (1Kings 18). Stephen, before his martyrdom spoke to the people asking, "which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?" Paul reminds the Thessalonians that he spoke the truth to them amidst persecution and conflict (1 Thes 2:2). Jesus said it best, no servant is greater than his master. If Jesus was persecuted to the point of death for being the truth, than we should expect the possibility of the same if we are to speak the truth (John 13:16, 15:20). I would contend that if neither the "righteous" nor the unrighteous have persecuted you for the faith, as Christ was, that you have not been bold enough to speak salvation through one way, Who is Christ.
Not all conflict surrounding the body of Christ is caused by obedience and preaching of the truth. We are told by Paul in Rom 14 not to dispute over doubtful things. However, if we obey the word and contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3), we must expect that controversy and conflict will be around the corner. It's unfortunate that we today ignore sound doctrine, or disobey the Spirit, because we are told to strive together for the faith (Phil 1:27), nonetheless, if something doesn't match up with the word or Spirit, we must expose such unfruitful works (Eph 5:8-11). As a body we are equipped by God for such things Christ, for at His ascension, He left some to be "apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers". These are all here today, because their purpose is to equip the body , until the day when we come to the full unity of our faith, which will happen when we are like Christ; likewise, they are also placed here to keep us in the sound doctrine, not being tossed to and fro by bologna teaching, like ecumenism. (Eph 4:10-16).
Grace and Peace,
Arron Bergeron