Lately, unity has been coming up over and over and over. And I know that it isn’t coincidence. Instead, it is confirmation from God. Perhaps it is something He wants me to work on in my own life and then share it with others. I think that is most likely the case. After all, God has called us to be united. John 17 says this:
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Just as a reminder, this was a prayer that Jesus Himself prayed to the Father. He wanted all believers to be one. And it wasn’t some arbitrary thing, either. Please remember that for over 1,000 years there was only one church. And once that first split happened, there have been splinters popping up everywhere. Now, no one is able to list all the different denominations or theologies or practices of Christianity. And sadly, many people who call themselves Christians do so out of being raised in a house where they went to church every holiday. They don’t have a relationship with the Father themselves. Such people can be called “cultural Christians.” It is something they check off a box on a poll and that is all. And these people cannot be called saved at all, if we abide by Scripture.
Anyway, with every new division, new troubles arise. More and more, we see churches straying from the Word of God, claiming there are errors in it or that there were some interpretations that can be argued. However, we must know that this is not so. God doesn’t make mistakes so how can we say His Word is ridden with them? God also says what He means and means what He says. If we go back to the original language and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, we can get the right conclusion. But we can’t allow one person’s perspective to shape the way we look at the Word.
I know someone who had grown up in a denominational church and thought they knew the Word. It was only until they got older that they realized that all their lives they had heard the Word taken out of context and used to fit whatever the speaker’s opinion was. God warns us of adding to or taking away from His Word over and over again (Rev. 22:18–19, Matt. 22:29, Matt. 24:24, Pro. 30:5–6, Deut. 4:2). Yet, we see people doing it. And those people are what the Bible calls false prophets.
Am I saying that all disunity is called by false prophets? No. Absolutely not. But some of it is. And we, as children of the light, must be careful not to fall for it. We are warned that they can cause even the elect to stray. That is why we must be vigilant.
There are also many small factors that cause disunity. People enjoy being comfortable so they often seek out a congregation that makes them comfortable and this can lead to division. “Oh no, I don’t like their musician.” “They have too many services.” “I am not used to that style of worship.” How many times have you ever thought something similar? And while some disunity is caused due to interpretation of the Scriptures (which is understandable), we shouldn’t let how we feel about these small things cause us to leave a congregation or not seek fellowship with other believers.
As I said before, the Bible tells us to be united. Any of you who follow on IG know that I recently posted about this very subject. Unity has been coming up over and over. I hear about it on Christian Radio, I recently read Francis Chan’s Until Unity and I am seeing unity throughout all my social media timelines. It’s not just coincidence. The church is more divided than it has ever been before. It is our job, as children of the Most High, to fight for unity.
No, this isn’t a physical fight, it’s a mental and spiritual one. We have to put ourselves out there and be willing to fellowship with other believers who are different from ourselves. Focus less on the differences and more on the areas in which we agree and build ourselves up. Then we can disagree with love, kindness and humility as we are called to do in the Word of God. That means we have to fight against those in the church spreading discord (as we know that is something that the Lord hates). We have to fight against that voice in our heads that tell us that we are right and they are wrong. Or that we are better than them because we do things this way. Or because they pray that way. We have to fight against those coming against the church from the world. We have to fight against the way that people portray one denomination as right and another as wrong.
We have to fight. So that we can all be one in unity. This means acknwledging differences but loving people all the way. This means being open to new experiences that you aren’t used to. This means letting yourself be uncomfortable for the cause of Christ.
How are some ways that you can fight for unity?
