I read this week what is perhaps the best article I have ever read on disunity in the church. The title of the paper is Disunity in the Church and the Credibility of the Gospel, by Bruce D. Marshall. You can access the article in its entirety with the following link: http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1993/v50-1-article8.htm.
Marshall centers his comments primarily around John 17:16-21. You will recall, this Scriptural passage is where Jesus prays that we would all be one as Jesus and the Father are one, so that the world would come to believe in Jesus Christ. What I found particularly helpful and insightful in the article was the emphasis on VISIBLE unity being a necessary component of church life. For example, take at look at this one short quote from Disunity: "The world, so this passage suggests, can see the unity of the church; since it is the church's unity that leads the otherwise unbelieving world to believe in Jesus's saving mission from the Father-that is, to believe the gospel-the church's unity cannot itself be accessible only to believers (as, for example, the invisible and perhaps not yet extant object of their faith and hope) but must lie open to the apprehension of all, outside the church as well as within."
The previous quote is as encouraging to me as it is discouraging. I am encouraged to think about the power and influence that unity in the church can exert for good in this world. I am discouraged when I think about and witness so much disunity in the church today. To be honest, when the world thinks of the church today the word, unity, is not the first word that comes to their minds. To be blunt, unity is not the first word that comes to mind for most Christians when thinking about the church.
Over the years, I have taught several classes on unity in the church. One question I typically ask is, "What do you think is more miraculous, that the church could be one or that Jesus rose from the dead?" Usually, without being at all facetious, brothers and sisters in Christ will say being one is more miraculous than Jesus rising from the dead. Why would so many in the church today think unity is more miraculous than resurrection? Perhaps one answer is that we have seen church unity less than we have seen people raised from the dead? We believe Jesus was seen risen from the dead, but who has ever seen the church remain unified? So we may think, "Well, one man rose from the dead at least once in human history, but when has the church of Jesus Christ ever been completely unified?"
Brothers and sisters in Christ who have especially been members of the church for most of their lives, or a good portion of their lives, have typically witnessed much disunity. I personally have had my fair share of witnessing the ugliness of disunity in countless "men's business meetings," and "congregational meetings." The sad reality is that most members who have a long duration in fellowship with the church will experience a church split, or at least a hurtful disunity in the church. I think it would be a fascinating research study to tally the percent of Christians just within the Church of Christ who have experienced division and disunity. I imagine, if you have never experienced a church split, or a destructive and disruptive disunity in the church, then you are the exception rather than the rule.
What has happened to our passion for unity and our hatred for disunity (John 17:20-21; Prov 6:16-19)? It seems to me we have a growing tolerance of disunity that borders on apathy. As a result, we often settle for shallow notions of the "universal church" being one, and abandon notions of the local body of Christ being one. In other words, unity is more of a mystical concept than a concrete reality. I may have oneness in my heart with brothers and sisters across time and space, but disunity with the brother or sister sitting in the pew across from me. However, unity that is not local, visible, and concrete is a fantasy and not a reality. The cost of unseen universal unity is virtually nothing, but unity with the brother and sister I see will cost me time, effort, energy, and sacrifice. Yet, Jesus died and rose from the dead, so that we may be one with God and one another, so how can we expect anything less in our pursuit of unity?
In closing, if we settle for a tolerance of disunity and an apathy for unity, then what are we to make of Jesus prayer that we would all be one as He and the Father are one? Where has all the love for unity gone? Has the prayer of Jesus fallen of deaf ears in the church? How many congregational splits could have been and be avoided if we would but have a conscious and sensitive awareness for the unity Jesus desires for us? Have you been scarred by the evil spirit of disunity? I have. Disunity is a darkness I care not to see again in my life. What are your feelings about unity? How has disunity affected you? Who is listening to Jesus pray for unity?
Over the years, I have taught several classes on unity in the church. One question I typically ask is, "What do you think is more miraculous, that the church could be one or that Jesus rose from the dead?" Usually, without being at all facetious, brothers and sisters in Christ will say being one is more miraculous than Jesus rising from the dead. Why would so many in the church today think unity is more miraculous than resurrection? Perhaps one answer is that we have seen church unity less than we have seen people raised from the dead? We believe Jesus was seen risen from the dead, but who has ever seen the church remain unified? So we may think, "Well, one man rose from the dead at least once in human history, but when has the church of Jesus Christ ever been completely unified?"
Brothers and sisters in Christ who have especially been members of the church for most of their lives, or a good portion of their lives, have typically witnessed much disunity. I personally have had my fair share of witnessing the ugliness of disunity in countless "men's business meetings," and "congregational meetings." The sad reality is that most members who have a long duration in fellowship with the church will experience a church split, or at least a hurtful disunity in the church. I think it would be a fascinating research study to tally the percent of Christians just within the Church of Christ who have experienced division and disunity. I imagine, if you have never experienced a church split, or a destructive and disruptive disunity in the church, then you are the exception rather than the rule.
What has happened to our passion for unity and our hatred for disunity (John 17:20-21; Prov 6:16-19)? It seems to me we have a growing tolerance of disunity that borders on apathy. As a result, we often settle for shallow notions of the "universal church" being one, and abandon notions of the local body of Christ being one. In other words, unity is more of a mystical concept than a concrete reality. I may have oneness in my heart with brothers and sisters across time and space, but disunity with the brother or sister sitting in the pew across from me. However, unity that is not local, visible, and concrete is a fantasy and not a reality. The cost of unseen universal unity is virtually nothing, but unity with the brother and sister I see will cost me time, effort, energy, and sacrifice. Yet, Jesus died and rose from the dead, so that we may be one with God and one another, so how can we expect anything less in our pursuit of unity?
In closing, if we settle for a tolerance of disunity and an apathy for unity, then what are we to make of Jesus prayer that we would all be one as He and the Father are one? Where has all the love for unity gone? Has the prayer of Jesus fallen of deaf ears in the church? How many congregational splits could have been and be avoided if we would but have a conscious and sensitive awareness for the unity Jesus desires for us? Have you been scarred by the evil spirit of disunity? I have. Disunity is a darkness I care not to see again in my life. What are your feelings about unity? How has disunity affected you? Who is listening to Jesus pray for unity?
