Jesus said that a kingdom, city or house that is divided against itself would not stand (Mt.12:25). Will then, a Church that is divided against itself stand? Of all the problems in the Church, the worst one is disunity.
Take for example the Corinthian Church. It was obviously a problematic Church. In no other Epistle, the apostle deals with so many problems as he dealt with in this epistle. Of those problems, the first one he addressed was disunity. If the problem of disunity can be dealt with, all the other ills can be much easily cured. Christians coming from different denominations are divided by practices, doctrines, dogmas and ideas relating to faith. Why should we have unity?
Message of the Crucified Christ The ultimate purpose of unity among God’s people on earth is to leave an impact on the world with the message of the crucified Christ. The Lord Jesus initiated it so vividly in His high priestly prayer: ‘I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be ONE, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they all may be ONE in Us, THAT THE WORLD MAY BELIEVE that You have sent Me’ (Jn.17:20, 21).
Strength of the Neighbour We should be ready and accept to recognize the strengths of our neighbour. One’s strength helps in the weakness of the other. No one in the Body of Christ is too strong to need the help of others. When Paul realized that God had primarily called him to evangelise the non-Jewish world, he recognized that Peter was specifically equipped to reach the Jewish community. Similarly, Peter acknowledged the rich teaching ministry of Paul (2 Pet.3:15, 16). Lack of such mutual recognition will lead us to overlapping, duplication and competition resulting in rivalry.
Fullness of the Gospel It is beyond any doubt that no denomination expresses the wholeness of the gospel by itself. Therefore, we need each other. Moreover, for that reason, Unity is essential for the future of the churches. Yes, the purpose of Ecumenism is to validate our proclamation that Jesus Christ is the Messiah who came from God for reconciling the world through His life, Death and Resurrection.
Diversity is the gift of God. Diversity very much exists in creation. So how can the diversified denominations come together? There have been instances in church history when churches of various denominations had come together with slogans like, ‘United to witness!’, ‘Service unifies’, etc. Unity is an attitude of mind and heart that moves us to look towards our denominational separated Christian brothers and sisters with respect, understanding, and hope because we share in one faith and humanity growing together in the Love of God. ‘Stand fast in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND striving TOGETHER for the faith of the Gospel, and not in any way be terrified by your adversaries’ (Phil.1:27).
The believers are to work also ‘with one Spirit’, i.e., with a common ardour, so that the life giving energy in each one of them may be gathered into a single force, directed to one end. Unity is a vision, a process, a movement, a theology and a way of life. At this point, we should strive for spiritual unity rather than structural unity. When we are united, with one mind, one spirit and one gospel then ultimately our concentration drives towards the mission of Christ – reign of God and life in all its fullness (Jn.10:10).
The story is told about some crewmen who were fighting against each other aboard in a ship. However, when they watched a passenger inadvertently falling into the sea, they forgot their fight and united in their efforts to rescue the man. The realization of the supremacy and the urgency of the task should make us forget our petty differences and put our heads and shoulders together to the higher calling.
Author: Mr. Joshua Das is a graduate of UTC, Bangalore and heads an NGO ‘Human Development Foundation’ working for the empowerment of gold miner’s family at KGF.
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