Challenges To Unity
By John Hendrix
Our Lord prayed fervently that His followers be united:
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 also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (John 17:20-23)
We must admit that among all those who claim Jesus there is a lot of division. If many do not believe that God sent Jesus, division is certainly one thing to blame.
So, from where does this division come? The scriptures are not silent on this.
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)
Of course, not all Christians—or those who claim Christ—are actually at war with one another. On the other hand there has been plenty of war and murder in history. Yet even the lack of murder does not constitute peace. Where there is hatred and strife there is warfare, whether declared or not.
James teaches us that this comes from the warfare that is, in fact, occurring in our minds. It is not some failing of Jesus or His doctrine, it is a failing in our own hearts. Lack of unity—in a congregation for instance—can be directly traced to the hearts of at least some of the Christians in the congregation. A group of people who are not individually fully dedicated to Jesus will not be united. A group of individuals that are each fully dedicated to Jesus cannot fail to be united.
So where there is disunion among brethren, there are people who are not fully devoted to Jesus. A true disciple of Christ must forsake the world (James 4:4), abandon his mortal life (Galatians 2:20) and turn with full submission to God. Worldly goals and aims must be given up. Life must be entirely about pleasing God:
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:7-10)
Paul called this problem “carnal mindedness.” This plagued the church at Corinth:
… for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4)
Let us make no more excuses for division; Division is the result of carnal—as opposed to spiritual—mindedness. We have room for one goal in our lives: pleasing God. We must “deny ourselves” (Matthew 16:24), forget about pleasing men (Galatians 1:10) and focus on pleasing God.
Pride is one way that carnal-mindedness shows itself and causes division:
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. (3 John 9)
A great deal of division results from the desire that some have for honor and influence. Such desire cannot “coexist” with full submission to God. I cannot humble myself to God while exerting superiority over others.
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
Humility is an “all-or-nothing” proposition: It does not yield first place and then demand second.
What do we have to be prideful about? We are the debtors of Jesus’ parable in Luke 7:41-42; none of us has anything to pay. Without Jesus we are hopelessly lost. With Jesus we are children of God.
Carnal-mindedness is a characteristic of spiritual immaturity:
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
Christians should “outgrow” this immaturity rather quickly. This is not the immaturity that comes from lack of knowledge (which requires time to attain). This immaturity little becomes even the newborn Christian who has turned from his old life and begun a new:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)
Jesus encouraged His followers to “count the cost,” not committing to Him unless they appreciated the price of discipleship (Luke 14:25-33). It is high time for us all to “grow up” spiritually and humble ourselves in our own minds.
Immaturity may show itself obviously in pride, but pride is not the only sign of immaturity. Impatience is often close at hand.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
The impatient may not seem to exalt himself. He may appear humble and quite spiritual. Yet the impatience is itself an unchristian attitude, and often leads to division among those who should be wholly united.
We betray impatience with our brethren in many ways. For example, I may have little patience for the scruples of other Christians:
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (Romans 15:1)
The context of this scripture is Paul’s exhortation for us to accept the “weak in faith” (Romans 14). These are Christians who have qualms about things that are, in fact, acceptable. A newly converted Jewish man, for example, may refuse pork because of years of training against unclean foods. I should be patient. I know that pork can be eaten by Christians. I know that the Old Law was “nailed to the cross” of Jesus (Colossians 2:14). But I also know that a Christian’s conscience is a precious thing. I know that Christians must act in faith or not at all (Romans 14:23).
I can wait for the other Christian to grow.
I can wait for him to grow in knowledge. It is hard, at times, when my understanding is clear but someone else cannot agree with me. Perhaps this is but pride in disguise. Obviously I am right. If you disagree you must be hard-headed or just foolish. Teaching takes patience, because learning takes time.
But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient…. (2 Timothy 2:23-24)
Be willing to wait for God’s word to work its work—in yourself as well as those you try to teach. Time may come when we cut off the obstinate (Titus 3:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:20). But do not be rash in this, rather be patient.
We should not be impatient even with the faults of others. We all continue to struggle with faults (James 2:2). It is easy to think that my faults are minor while yours are major. This is but pride again.
Consider how Jesus continued with the disciples. They often made mistakes. Jesus rebuked them often, but He did not give up on them. Let us not be quick to give up on each other. Let us be patient, and many divisions can be averted.
Division results from worldly attitudes in the hearts of Christians. If we discipline ourselves, putting away pride and impatience, we will be doing our part to fulfill Jesus’ desire for unity.