Foreword:
Unity has seemed to be a cry from many people, the nation, and the world. But the outcome is more and more dividing. Talking about unity now is almost offensive, and I knew when these issues started to arise I was going to be called by God to write this.
I have gone through a rollercoaster of emotions writing this blog. The thought of writing this and offending someone is dreadful to me. But.. the thought of disobeying God is worse so I must write this. I am telling you this right now so that you know I wrote this for you with a voice of love and grace. A voice of understanding and not condemning. I am writing this so that we may all be united here on earth as it is in heaven.
Unity.
Can it exist? If you were to ask me this a month ago I would’ve bitterly told you “no”. I was very upset with family and political figures. And in turn, this bitterness affected my spiritual life and relationship with God. So many conversations with all sorts of friends and mentors and I still felt hopeless and exhausted. These problems are so big and so deep. They have lasted for centuries so why do we need to talk about it?
Well. God answered me.
His exact words were “Unity is a STANDARD of Christ, it is a STANDARD of ME.”
And with these words, I began my search for answers on Unity in the bible.
The Church
Ephesians 4:12-13
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the Church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the Church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we have come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
If you are a pastor, teacher, or prophet you have the honor of being called a gift from Christ. You are made to equip the body and show us how to do unity. So. Are you? Are you unifying God’s people? Because when I look around at the Church buildings not only do I see a divide in color but also what is up with these names? First Baptist? Second Baptist? Methodist? Foursquare? I am seeing a lot of divisiveness here. When I ask why, I get answers related to “spirituality” “leaders”... But that just reminds me we are not focused on unity or even seeing through the eyes of Jesus.
In verse 13 teachers will continue to be teachers until the body of Christ is united and have knowledge of Jesus. Paul is implying that we will become mature Christians able to feed ourselves. But I don't see people who are equipped enough ready to be released on their own. In fact, I see a business that has mastered creating spiritual babies who come to watch a show and contribute to a paycheck… Why are we not equipping our people! It’s like we want the people in our congregation to stay there forever! We have created a congregation where you only move to another church if you have become offended. So we aren’t being sent out into the world. We are choosing to go out when we don’t like something… We are expecting people to stay within our walls for their entire lives so we don’t need to equip them.
I know I have just said a lot of general statements that do not apply to every church, or every pastor. But these places exist. And the reason I am being critical is because of what Paul tells us in the verses after.
Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be like immature children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”
So why am I being so critical of the church? Because the verse above should be a warning to the body of Christ. What do you see? Do you see immature children, being tossed and blown about with every new thing on the news or social media? People who believe everything they hear without fact-checking just because a political figure said it. This is what I will say…
His grace is sufficient. And when you read all of Ephesians 4 you will read of hope, love, and unity that is possible in the body of Christ.
History
Now I know that divisiveness has existed since creation. So I started to do more research on the most beautiful love story of all. A man who died on the cross so that you and I can know him. You and I meaning, gentile. In the bible, we see a people group called Jews and the other gentiles. Jews are anyone who is a part of the 12 tribes of Israel, and a gentile is everyone else. What we find is that Jews and gentiles are completely different, from the things they eat, what they wear, architecture, social customs, and most importantly worship. Jews believe in the one true God and that they are God’s people.
Can you imagine a separation between two people groups existing for centuries being broken because a man died on the cross? Not just any man but the Son of God.
This was actually very hard to accept for some Jewish apostles and leaders. In the book of Acts, we see God literally tearing down barriers between Jews and Gentiles and creating unity. From questions like circumcision to food, it is made clear that Jesus died so that these “rules” that had become idols no longer mattered anymore. The truth is that everyone has the opportunity to accept Jesus into their hearts.
Nothing is more uniting than Jesus.
Radical Love
One of the questions I asked God often when I was a kid was why God made me brown. This was something that really bothered me when I was a kid and this shame followed me all the way through high school. I hear a lot of sayings like “it doesn’t matter because I don’t see color.” But I remember hearing this revelation that changed my life. God does everything for a purpose and on purpose. When God was forming me he was intentional with how much melanin was in my skin. He didn’t accidentally make people in different colors. He did it with purpose. But why? If He could only see how much this causes division… well, Verse John 13:34 says this,
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
So why?...
So that there would be a visual representation of the world that we are followers of Christ.
When Jesus was alive he loved in such a way that it was radical. It was unseen before to not stone a prostitute or share water with a gentile. So then how do we love one another? Radically.
Right now I see buildings we call churches with all the same people in them loving each other. I don’t see different people in one building loving each other. But can you imagine the shock the world would be in if this type of love was happening? They would be curious about what kind of people we are! Who we worship and we would be pointing them to Jesus.
But we aren’t.
Actually, we divide, hate, separate, and then point to Jesus…
Now what?
Now, I am not asking you to end the separation that has existed since creation and now exist in a new way. The only one who can do that is Jesus. And he has already won this battle because in heaven there are no dividing sections of color, baptist, etc. In heaven, we are all in unity worshiping God.
But I am asking you to pray. I am saying, your eyes are open and you don’t have an excuse anymore. I am not asking for an apology but I am asking for united repentance from the body of Christ. Because that is what it’s going to take.
We know unity can exist in heaven, the body of Christ, and even the church. But does it?
Maybe the reason it doesn’t is that people still see the Church as a building. So when we leave the building we don't carry the presence of God out of the building in us. Guys! God closed the doors to His buildings so we could realize this. We have realized this already.
Hope
Colossians 3:14
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”
Don't just wear this love in the building, but take it with you everywhere you go.
Ephesians 4:16
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Wow. Not only were we meant to be united but we were meant to fit perfectly together. Also. We are meant to look the same. I mean, the hand is meant to look and function differently from the foot. Both are uniquely important but also different. So stop making everyone be the same! Let us agree to stop making a “cookie-cutter” Christian.
My favorite part of this verse is that the body of Christ will be “healthy and growing and full of love.”
That is what makes people give their life to Jesus guys. They experience a healthy, growing, and loving place, and that just doesn’t exist in the world.
I truly believe that Paul wouldn’t have written about unity unless it was possible. God wouldn’t have spoken through Paul thinking, “this is impossible.’’ We know God’s word is true so we know this unity is true for us.
Let me end with this thought.
We will achieve this unity. How do I know?
Revelation 7:9-10
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar,
“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
That’s us. The body of Christ. United. Standing before Jesus. Clothed in the white robes washed by the blood of who is standing before us. And we will be saying One Unifying thing.
“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”