Finding Unity

I suppose there are a mere few who do not have feelings on last week’s decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade. Rejoicing. Rage. Disbelief. Relief. As I have seen the various reactions from both Christians and non-Christians, my feelings are more of grief.

I am grieved to see brothers and sisters come down squarely on opposite sides publicly and without any empathy for those fellow Christians who view things differently. I am grieved that in defending their positions, people are forgetting the precious lives whom God loves—unborn children and their mothers. Both sides are willing to see each one as expendable in order to favor the other.

I am grieved that we Christians have for decades been unable to see the need to work together for the sake of women with unwanted pregnancies and the unborn rather than vilifying the other side for being uncaring murders or advocates against women’s rights. And, most of all, I am grieved at the waste of 50+ years of the Church expending its energy trying to get its way through the political system instead of using that energy and determination to be Christ in their communities.

Imagine if the Church had spent its time and energy making disciples who would be ambassadors for Jesus in their respective communities. Imagine if pastors and teachers, both local and those known across the country, put their energies and focus on equipping Christians for works of service in the Kingdom (e.g., learning to study the Scriptures and to pray, loving people, meeting their immediate needs, having mercy, and forgiving one another). Would we believers be as divided as we are today?

Imagine replacing hours in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic with befriending and mentoring young women in the community. Long term, which would have a greater impact?

Imagine using the hundreds of millions of dollars given to lobbyists and political campaigns to ensure our side wins instead to address the needs that lead many women to the decision to abort their babies. Would we be arguing over which is better—to kill unborn babies or for women to have a right to choose their unborn babies’ fates?

I am grieved because I can imagine how we the Church could have navigated the whole abortion debate, well, like the Church. Rather, we chose to handle it like the world. And they have been watching.

In his final days, Jesus prayed that we as believers would be unified (John 17:20-23). Unity of believers is his will for us. Yet, I think most of us has given up on that idea as being unrealistic in this life. We have grown quite comfortable with our divisions and our only solution is for others to agree with us. But we must ask ourselves—what do we do with his prayer? If unity is important to Jesus, shouldn’t it be a goal for the Church, regardless of how unrealistic it seems in our modern times?

I think the answer is a resounding YES! But how do we even begin? I believe Paul gave us the answer.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Unity comes from each of us fixing our eyes on Jesus, being taught the Scriptures, how to understand them, and how to obey them, particularly when they counter what we actually want to do. The more mature we become, the less influence the world will have on our thinking. We will be steadfast in an ocean of changing views and practices.

In essence, unity emerges from practicing biblical discipleship. We are where we currently are because the Church in general decided it was more important to maintain or grow attendance rather than make disciples. The great rancor and disunity in the Church today, I believe, is because we abandoned the command of Jesus before he ascended, “…make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Without discipleship, there will be no unity in Christ because we will continue to seek what we think is best and demand that others believe the way we do.

If I could sum up what discipleship is, I would say it is training in how to fix our eyes on Jesus and how to submit our wills to his in face of our own desires and those advocated by the world. Only then will we be unified because our focus is no longer on ourselves but Jesus and his commands.

If the will of Jesus is unity of his followers, let us do everything that will bring that about. Let’s take the focus off ourselves and turn it toward Jesus.

© Jim Musser 2022 All Scripture references are from the New International Version, 2011.