What is Unity?
By Timothy Glover
God desires that all believers be united (John 17:20,21; 1 Cor. 1:10; Eph. 4:3). The result of unity would be that others would be convinced that Jesus is God’s son and we are his disciples.
Still, what is unity and what would it take for all religious people to be united? First, we should note that unity is not union. If we were to tie two cats’ tails together, we would have union, but we would not have unity. Union seeks to bind people together despite their differences in faith and practice. Christ came to bring peace through the preaching of the cross and that peace is found in the church that is composed of both Jew and Gentile. The strongest of animosities existed between these two and Christ brought them together in one body (the church). When men and women submit to Christ, this unity can be realized.
Unity is first realized with God (1 John 1:1ff). If our priority is unity with men, we run the risk of being united in error rather than in God and his Son Jesus Christ. To illustrate, recall 1 Cor. 1 where Paul chides them for acting carnally minded and calling themselves after men (1 Cor. 1:12,13, “I of Paul, I of Apollos; I of Cephas ...). This is the seed of modern denominationalism. In denominationalism, we see groups calling themselves by different names, teaching different doctrines, and practicing different rites and ordinances.
The basis for unity is not agreeing on fundamental issues. For, the splintering question arises, “What is essential?” In practice, this question has been the basis for division. Others conclude that all who are baptized are brothers and unity should exist on this basis. Still, others argue that unity is based on the common heritage with the Reformation or the Restoration Movement as their point of origin.
Historically, unity has always been a problem. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther challenged the corrupt practices of Roman Catholicism in Germany. Others called for a reform in other countries such as Zwingli in Switzerland. Still, those who advocated a reform held no common position. Creed writing was expedient to set forth matters that were essential and to distinguish themselves from other reformers who were not members of their particular fellowship. Again, new denominations are yet divided upon the same basis of some person or group announcing a new statement of faith that separates them from other religious bodies. This is not unity! This is division!
Jesus did not built denominations. He did not shed his blood to establish denominations. Humanity has invented denominations. My plea to all is that we submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. We can speak the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10) if we will “speak as it were the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). We can be of the same mind and judgment if we will have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5).
Look at the practical application. If we would let Christ be the head (Eph. 1:22), there would be no pope or man-made office to guide the church. If the bible would be our only guide, we wouldn’t need creed books (1 Pet. 4:11). In the first century, sinners believed Christ, repented of their sins, confessed Christ, and were baptized in water for the remission of sins by the authority of Christ (Mk. 16:16; Rom. 10:10; Acts 2:38). God added them to the church, not to some denomination (Acts 2:47). Under the apostles’ teaching, these saints worshiped God and worked with local churches without church creeds, and denominational differences. We, too, can sing with our hearts, give on the first day of the week, observe the Lord’s Supper , pray to our Father and study his Word.
We can obey the same gospel and form local churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16) without calling ourselves after some man or method to distinguish ourselves (the only distinguishing mark was the town or city in which the church lived. Ex. “Church of God at Corinth”). We can worship according to the Bible pattern without inventing denominations. In this way, the authority of Christ would be lifted high as he would be glorified as Lord above all.
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