Can We Be Unified

One of the most often stated response when a church is looking for a pastor is, "We are looking for someone to unify us or give us a unifying direction." Congregations say they wish to be unified, with the sole responsiblity of the pastor to do so. It's an unhealthly, unrealistic expectation. A congregation is made up of individuals who have come together to worship God and be in community with one another in faith. One would think that unity would not be that difficult. The problem is that many believe unity means that each must be unified in doctrine and in belief. The desire to be as the early church was, of one body, one spirit, one mind, and one soul, is a noble and proper desire; however, is it truly possible? Can the Christian community ever truly be unified?

The beauty of the question is, it is a question as old as time. The Church has been searching for a unifying direction for centuries. Each generation before and each generation after, has or will wrestle with the question. And like all those before, each wrestling match will be fought with certaintude and little optimism. The struggle for unification within the Christian community is well documented in history and in the Scriptures. From the Ephesians letter to the Reformation under Martin Luther to today's struggles of unity, we can see clearly that this question is not a question based in certaintude or absolutism but in something completely different.

Ephesians states, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brough near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." I'm fascinated that this Pauline letter chooses to use Christ as the unifier because Christ says that he did not come to to bring peace but a sword. That he would divide families, fathers, sons, daughters, and mothers. But that's not the argument here. The argument is that Jesus is the unifier because he is the one commonality among believers.


For many, Christ is not the sole uniter. It is their stance on issues from homosexuality, abortion, social justice, biblical inerrancy, heaven and hell, women in ministry, to types of worship music/styles, preaching styles, and size of the church that unify them. Many have chosen churches based on whether or not the majority agrees on one of the above theological issues. I do not wish to take away from the theological importance many of those issues but I do wish to raise the importance of Christ as the uniter. The issues become the commonality of the church. We choose which church we attend or work at, based on whether or not the church and their staff agree with our position. We've all done it. We've all chosen a church based on music, preaching style, church beliefs, and size. If we are honest, our commonality in Christ is often the very last stance we come too.




I asked the question to my Facebook friends, "Can the Christian faith ever truly be united?" Not a lot of people responded. Perhaps they understood that the question was a rhetorical one. Perhaps, they are not as Facebook needy as I am. I am leaning strongly towards the latter. One comment concluded while they hoped we could, but the divide between demonations and politics will always keep us from true unity. Another concluded that we could if we removed ourselves. If we allow ourselves to be created through God then unity already is and is yet to come. Unity through God is possible by removing ourselves; but is it possible to remove ourself?

Removing ourself from the equation might seem impossible but it's not entirely. It would take a change in our language and in our understanding of the Christian faith. It will take something greater than compromise. When my wife and I were doing pre-marital counseling, I remember reading or hearing that couples do not seek to make compromises. Compromise means someone getting their way and in the end too much compromise leds to unrest and unhappiness in a marriage. Instead seek to create something different.  You do not compromise. You come to a conscenous. Compromise means that one person is not getting what they fully want and it can/will eventually led to a rift. Coming to a consenus means that one will come upon something greater, together. (*REMINDER: this argument needs to be flushed out more*)



In the book The Legend of Bagger Vance, Bagger, the prescient caddy to all-but-washed-up professional golfer Randolf Junah tells him:

”Love your opponents. When I say love, I don’t mean hand them the match. I mean contend with them to the death, the way a lion battles a bear, without mercy but with infinite respect. Never belittle an opponent in your mind, rather build him up, for on the plane of the Self there can be no distinction between your being and his. Be grateful for your opponents’ excellence. Applaud their brilliance. For the greatness of the hero is measured by that of his adversaries.”

Compromise removes our brothers and sisters' excellence and brillance. Working toward a compromise does not further the kingdom of God. Jesus never sought out a compromise with the Pharisee. We think love means to compromise. We think we must compromise in order to come together. The truth is, we don't. We do not need compromise, we need a consenous. That consenous is the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. Consenous is about the closest word available to what it means to be unified in Christ. Though, it does not come as close as I am searching for.

Unity in Christ, actually the writer writes, "Our peace." Our peace is Jesus Christ. Peace...perhaps that is the word I am looking for. This isn't the peace we are used to thinking about. Jesus never speaks of holding hands and singing kumbya around the campfire. The peace of Christ is a very uncomfortable, yet comforting peace. It's an odd peace. It's unsettling and settling at the same time. It causes us to argue and fight, but is still able to bring us together. The peace of Christ is the word I was looking for.