The Call to Unity

Intro

So I really like to travel, and I’ve been as far north as Alaska and as far south as the Dominican Republic and something that Stands out to me everywhere I go, is the interaction I have with other Christians.

And maybe you’ve had similar experiences where you go somewhere and find someone else who’s a christian and immediately it’s as if you guys are family.

What an amazing feeling that is, and it’s one of the beautiful parts of Christian Unity, and it’s what Christ’ hope for us is. In fact in John 17:20-21 that’s what Jesus prayed for...

John 17:20–21 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

So this was something that was deeply personal to Jesus, in fact he compares the unity he wants to see between those who believe in him to be similar to the unity that can be found in the trinity.

So that’s what we are going to talk about today, Unity and what that looks like for us in the church.

The Trinity

So I want to start talking about Unity by talking about the Trinity. Now what is significant about the Unity of the Trinity? Or what was the defining element of the Trinitys Union?

I remember an article that one of my college professors wrote in which he addressed the question, “what was the trinity doing before creation” and his answer was simple, the essence of God is love, and so the trinity was loving.

So It was this love that was the base of Unity. And what does Jesus tell us? He desires for our Unity to be like that of the Trinity.

Let’s read Philippians 1:27-30

Philippians 1:27–30 ESV

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Now in verse 27 we read “let your manner of life be” now this whole phrase comes from one greek word, πολιτευεσθε, which refers to citizenship. and what we know about being a citizen is that being a citizen means that we live according to the thing we have citizenship to.

So as citizens of the gospel of Christ, what are we to be doing? As we continue this passage it says, “I may hear of your standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.”

So we need to be united in one mind and one spirit, united in love. And we are united by this similar faith, a faith that allows us to stand courageous in the face of our enemies.

I remember a conversation I had with someone recently where they were talking about the end times and how they were scared because the end times were near, and she asked me if i felt the end times were near and I said yes, and in which she responded “isn’t that scary?” and I said not for me. because we don’t fear the things that nonbelievers fear, and we know that in the end we win. because we have this faith that we share.

So we are to share in the faith with the same unity that we see in the Trinity. And don’t overlook how amazing that is, a unity that is like that of the trinity, Imagine every Christian standing together in perfect Unity, building one another up, encouraging one another, truly loving one another. Could you imagine how that would change the church, how it would change the world?

It Starts with Repentance

So where do we start? How do we bring Unity to the church?

Would you be surprised if I told you that unity in the church begins with Repentance? That’s right in order to achieve true unity we must first repent. What do I mean by this? many times we blame others for the division of the church and think that we are free from the blame.

I mean after all you didn’t bring the division, you didn’t go and start your own denomination. however I want you to take a moment and think, what Unity have you desired when coming across a person of a different denomination?

And I’ll be honest I’m somewhat guilty of this. I remember a Church I went to while I was in college that was very charismatic.

When I went to this Church I remember the pastor calling up a lady who claimed to have had a vision. and she proceeded to tell us that she saw 2 angels standing in the front of the sanctuary with swords, and she told us that they were there to break our chains, and so people started getting up and lining up in the front of the room to have their chains broken. And I mean everybody went up to the front, even me and some of my bodies and we all felt really uncomfortable. and I never went back to that church.

However, this is what I failed to do. I failed to recognize their love for God and their desire to be freed from their bonds to sin. and so because of how I felt I allowed division to come between myself and them. and on top of that I went to school with a few people that I disagreed with on some theological points and so I avoided them.

You see we have these disagreements with people and in response we separate ourselves from them. Now when we do this are we encouraging Unity?

Now I still disagree with a lot of people but it is no reason to divide the church. For example If Ron thinks that the story of Genesis was metaphorical and each day represented a time period rather than a literal day, and I believed that each day was literal that’s no reason for division. I’m not going to start the Christian Church of New Earth Creationism.

and Why is that? because we both still love God and desire to follow his word, and that’s something we can be united in. That’s why being united in love as the trinity is, is so important, because love, True Christian love, is unconditional and it calls us to overlook others faults.

So here’s the thing I can have an argument with someone about something that we strongly disagree about but at the end of the Day I still need to respect that person as a brother in Christ and love them.

And this is because when we look at Philippians 1:27 it tells us...

Philippians 1:27 (ESV)

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

If I say that Jesus Christ was God incarnate and the true son of God is anyone going to disagree with me? If I say that Jesus performed many miracles is anyone going to disagree with me? If I say that Jesus lived a perfect life and sacrificed it on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, is anyone gonna disagree with me?

We have a common faith, yeah we may have disagreements on the little stuff but as long as we share this common faith we should be able to overlook that. Now if anyone disagrees with those things then they don’t have the unity with Christ in the first place.

So I want you to ask yourself, how have I allowed division to come between me and the Church. Maybe someone did something to you or someone you care about that you just can’t bring yourself to forgive, maybe you disagree with someone so strongly that you can’t bring yourself to be in fellowship with them.

It breaks my heart to realize that every single one of us have allowed things to divide God’s church. That’s not what Christ wanted for us, he prayed that we would be united, he asked that all we do is love one another and come together on the common ground of faith.

So we need to repent. Repent for being a part of the division of God’s church.

The Body Of Christ

I want you to imagine the Church as a whole, every denomination, every person of faith as the body of Christ.

Now we know that the church is the body of Christ, and is called to be united and working in harmony with one another. So let me ask you is the church as a whole acting in harmony today?

The Church today reminds me more of Frankinstine’s body, It’s kind of doing what it should but nothing is really working together nicely and it struggles to get things done and most the time it just ends up destroying things. So Christ says, “hey be a light in the world, be like salt and preserve it, go and share the gospel with all nations” and then we see how well the Church is actually doing in America.

People have substituted truth for lies, they have rejected God and taken on a life controlled by emotions, and we ask ourselves where is the church? Oh that’s right many Christians are too busy arguing and can’t bring themselves to sit in the same sanctuary let alone stand together against a common enemy.

Are you beginning to see why Christian unity is so important. now let’s go back to Philippians 1:28

Philippians 1:28 ESV

28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

This Unity that we should have should be this sign that we will have salvation from God. The atheist should see us as a grand army that stands together ready to take on the world.

So let’s review a bit. We need to be united in love, We must repent for the harm we’ve done to the body of Christ.

But what do we do? That’s what it comes down to. Who here wants unity in the Church? okay so I assume you want to know what it is that we can do to bring this unity? We can start Small.

Start Small

Now I have 4 steps for you and I want you to write them down. 4 Steps to start small...

Step #1 get yourself right with God, ask him to open your eyes to how you’ve caused division in the church

Step #2 Ask God for forgiveness, truly seek repentance for your part in the matter

Step #3 Ask God to allow you to see other people through his eyes. We tend to see the flaws in people but God sees a persons heart and a persons faith. look at the good qualities in those around you rather than their flaws.

Step #4 Love your brothers and sister in Christ!

That’s all we have to do to start moving towards Christian Unity, it’s not that hard, and once we come to that basic foundation we will find that we are beginning to seek the unity of churches, we no longer will go to those who disagree with us and only see them for their view of scripture but rather for their love of scripture and the lord.

Think of what the church is capable of if we just came together in Unity.

Conclusion

I want you to do something, close your eyes, and imagine that you are standing before God on the day of judgement. what will he say to you, Will he say to you welcome good and faithful servant or will he say, why have you allowed yourself to be divided.

Seeking unity may mean that we distance ourselves from those who are trying to separate us from fellow Christians, and it might mean going to those who we have something against and righting those wrongs, but regardless of what we do we need to seek Unity. It is the only possible way that the Church will survive.

We need to have a childlike mindset. Sierra works at a daycare and it’s fascinating how the kids will fight one day and the next day they’re best friends again. and It’s because they don’t hold anything against one another. It’s because they realize that they are both children and make mistakes.

They have faith in that which is unseen. Let me close with a thought and a challenge. How would the world be different, how would the war in ukraine be different, how would America be different, how would 3rd world countries be different, if the Church United?

And here’s my challenge for you. And it may be the hardest challenge I’ve ever given you. Think of someone that you’ve allowed division to come between you and them, and right those wrongs. Just call them and let them know that you are thankful for their faith in Christ, and that you appreciate that they are a part of the body of Christ.

Someday this Earth is going to pass away, and we will find ourselves on the new earth shoulder to shoulder with all believers, so why wait when we can start now. Seek Unity Church! Let’s pray.