It is a sad thing when congregations
experience turmoil. It is painful when
brothers and sisters in Christ do not have the same mind and are not in full
accord. It hampers the ministry of the
church when our hearts are not united in God’s purpose.
That being said, should we then hold to
unity as our highest goal? Do we
tolerate all things in order to be united?
Looking at the wider view of scripture, the answer is; no. Paul and Barnabas, after all, went so far as
to part ways over a conflict regarding who should come along on one of their
missionary journeys.
The key to understanding the
manifestation of Christian unity is knowing that in Christ – who humbled
himself, even to the point of death to save us from sin – all Christians are
united. We are baptized in one
baptism. We live in one hope. That unity is real and is the root of all
expressions of the oneness we have in Jesus.
This is important to keep in mind, because within that unity we
Christians still look like a rag-tag group of squabbling sinners.
Paul exhorts us to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling. This
is high and holy stuff we are dealing with.
As we live our lives we become very circumspect to make certain that our
doctrine is true, that our motives are pure and in alignment with God’s Word,
and that our focus is exactly where it belongs; on Jesus our savior. At the end of the day it is not us who does
the work, but God works in us, “both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.”
The desire to be in unity is a gift from
God in us. The desire to do God’s will also
comes from God in us. Our ability to
turn from sin; the strength to share the faith we’ve been given; the power to
live for Christ; all flow from God Who works in us through His Word and
Sacraments forgiving, transforming, and unifying us in Christ.
Father in Heaven, You have united your
children in the hope of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Unite us in our doctrine and actions as
well. Lead us to the day when there will
be no division among us, and we will all believe what You teach in every matter. Help us to joyfully conform our lives to Your
will. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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