What is unity? Can there be unity when there is so much diversity? Why did God make us different if he wants people to be in unity? What are the results of true unity? These are some of the questions that people have asked me over the years about unity. I hope to answer them at least briefly in this writing.
Unity defined
First of all, let’s look at what unity is or isn’t according to God’s perspective. Unity is not focused on conformity. Many Christians believe that unity is established when there is total conformity to a set of rules and practices that are socially acceptable within the church or Christian sub-groups of society. Conformity often causes us to look on the external behavior of people rather than understanding what is in the heart. With the conformity is unity mindset, a religious group establishes rules of conduct and dress codes and then expects the members to be in unity as they conform to those standards. The difficulty with conformity is that the rules can and do change. There are always those who feel that the rules are not rigid enough or loose enough. Then we find members judging others for disunity based on the understanding that they are not conforming. This, of course creates the need for division rather than unity.
So if unity is not found in conformity then what is it? There is an interesting story in the bible about David’s army. At the time of this story, his army was growing and many other military leaders were joining him and intended to help him acquire all the kingdom that was King Saul’s. Read here what it says was in the heart of the people.
1 Chronicles 12:38 All these men of war, who could keep ranks, came to Hebron with a loyal heart, to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were of one mind to make David king.
They were of one mind. That phrase is crucial to understanding unity. All of Israel was coming together in agreement, willing to fight for David and unified under one purpose. The purpose gave them the focus they needed to become unified.
The apostle Paul followed this same train of thought in his writing to the Roman church. He applies this thought to the relationships of the members in the church.
Romans 15:5-6 5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For the Roman church to come to be like-minded was not easy because they were quite proud of their knowledge and understandings of life. Philosophers and theorist abounded. Yet, in the church it was important that they have one mind together. Paul further exhorts that their like-minded relationship with each other would give them a focused worship and bring them to be of one mind with God. But how or in what way could they come to this like-minded relationship? This could happen only through devotion to God, focus upon the mission of God and an understanding of their unique individual service to God.
We are different
It is not breaking news to say that we are all different. We are created uniquely and beautifully different. Whether we consider personalities, talent, learning processes, or physical features, we are different. When you have all of these different characteristics of people combined in one corporate group that we call the church, life gets real interesting. I have sat on many church committees and teams and watched the interaction of the members. On one committee of eight people you may have three extraverts and five introverts. You may have five thinkers and three doers. You may have two philosophers, four realists and two practitioners. The Corinthian church was struggling to understand how to stay in unity when they had so much diversity. So the Apostle Paul wrote to them to help.
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
The church consists of many people who all are a part of the body of Christ. It is important to embrace your own uniqueness, but not allow that uniqueness to separate you or isolate you from the rest of the body. In fact, your unique part in the Body is brought together with the rest of the body parts to fulfill the purpose of the whole body. The head of the physical body, obviously determines the purpose and mission of the body. So in this way all parts work for one purpose and will meet the goal of the head. In this anatomy illustration we see the way in which diversity becomes unified. The unity is very much dependent on the focus of attention and understanding of the purpose. By way of application to the church, we are unified by mission and vision. When we see the mission we come together with all the other parts of the church to become one living and functioning body of people.
Results of unity
A unified group of people can do the impossible. When people serve together in unity of purpose they are willing to sacrifice their time and energy or whatever is needed to a project that they would not normally give. That kind of commitment brings great results. There is a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that is at the highest level. I believe this is true because of the unity they feel with each other. In sports terms you could say that it may feel good to win alone, but there is no one to celebrate it at a deep level of emotion. Team members celebrate together when they win and they share that experience in a very intimate way.
The greatest result of unity is the blessing of God on a unified people. King David understood the importance of unity and he valued the blessing of God that comes thru unity.
Psalms 133 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head,
that ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion:
for there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life for evermore
David compared unity to the anointing oil that was poured upon the priest, named Aaron. This anointing was done with quite a sizeable amount of oil so that it ran down over Aaron’s head, beard and all his robe. So all of his body was touched by the oil. Oil is symbolic throughout the Scriptures for the Holy Spirit. In in this illustration of David’s we may understand that when there is unity the Holy Spirit is poured upon a body of people. The oil was poured out to set apart and to empower the person to fulfill their destiny in God. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the church with much the same intention from God; to set us apart for a holy work and to empower us for the mission of Christ.
When members of the church recognize their own unique contribution and commit to the vision and purpose of the church then they are set to do the unthinkable. They begin to bring their diversity together to become unified for a special, holy work of God. God then, seeing their unity, pours out his Spirit on them and blesses them. The power of heaven is released upon such unity and God is glorified over and over through their works.