The True Unity of the Church

Unity is something the church has always strived for. It is a Scriptural injunction for the church to be united. Jesus Himself on the night He was arrested instructed His disciples to unite and eventually prayed to His Father that His disciples should be one (John 17;11, 22). Unity is, therefore, an ideal standard for the church. The challenge, however,  has been that the church has not paid attention to what the scriptural concept of unity is. In other words, the church has been on the pursuit of what is not the unity the Scripture requires.

Church Uniformity is not Church Unity

What some Christians consider to be church unity is uniformity. They desired that the church should look the same virtually in everything. The church should have the same liturgy, ecclesiastical modus operandi, leadership styles, and cathedral architecture. The Scriptural instruction for church unity does not require uniformity. If the church becomes wholly uniform it will become dull and boring without spices and a variation of creativity that reflects the beauty of God's creative power. The ministry of the Holy Spirit reveals the truth that the church is meant to be dynamic in its operations (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11). The Holy Spirit manifests Himself through different gifts in the church. The church can never become united in the sense of uniformity. It is not meant to be united in that sense. A local church or denomination can attain some level of uniformity and still be disunited. 

The movement of Church Ecumenism (interdenominationalism or transdenominationalism) is built on the premises of the falsehood of Church uniformity. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, defines ecumenism as:

The organized attempt to bring about cooperation and unity among Christians." On an international level, the World Council of Churches represents ecumenism when it states its purpose this way: "The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a community of churches on the one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and common life in Christ. It seeks to advance towards this unity, as Jesus prayed for his followers, 'so that the world may believe' (John 17:21)" (www.wcc-coe.org). 

The danger with this movement is that not all people who profess to be Christians are truly Christians and it is not every church denomination that claims to be a church is truly a church. Some are simply mere organizations and some are even cultic groups. So, to attempt to bring all into one body for the sake of unity is to call for the laying down of guards of watchfulness. This of course has a great potential to reduce the church to a marketplace.

Things that Unite the Church

The true unity of the church depends on the following:

God the Father 

God is our spiritual Father. All Christians, regardless of affiliation, have one spiritual Father and that is God Almighty. He is the one Who has given birth to us through Jesus Christ. We all came from Him and will return to Him. John 1:12-13 says: 

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh or the will of man, but of God.

God the Son

Jesus Christ, the Son of God is another way we are united. Jesus Christ is the means through which God has begotten us. The means itself makes us one because it is the only means that leads to God (John 14:6). This process through which we become children of God is by blood covenant. The shaded blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary is what unites us, by implication, our unity in Christ Jesus is blood abound. This is the reason why it is impossible for anything to separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). This also explains why a true Christian can't lose his or her salvation  (John 10:28-29). Our unity in Christ is beyond human comprehension.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God that dwells in every believer guaranteeing our sonship to God and helping us to serve God appropriately and effectively. The Holy Spirit is one and lives in and works through all believers. The Church is, therefore, bound by the presence of this one Spirit that works in and through her (Ephesians 4:3-5).

The Great Commission (Purpose)

Another thing that bonds the church together is assignment. The basic mandate Christ has given to the Church community is to witness Him to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:7-8). Although the assignment can be fulfilled in different ways depending on the choice of the Holy Spirit and circumstances, the Church is called to fulfill one mandate and that is to preach the gospel to the world. The most important thing is not the uniformity of the process of evangelism but the unity of purpose. The Holy Spirit can work in different ways to minister the gospel to people.

In conclusion, it is important to note that the Church is not given the mandate to strive for unity. The Church is already united through the above listed. The Church is rather called to maintain unity through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). The Church cannot shy away from the variance of operation, space, time, culture, and tradition that affect our uniformity. The important thing is that, regardless of our differences, we are one by one Father through Christ and we live for one ultimate purpose through the Holy Spirit.