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Why Does It Matter If We Pursue Unity?

November 10, 2008
John H. Armstrong

I have argued that relational unity is the central point of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20–23 But why is this so important? In the prayer Jesus plainly says that his mission hangs upon our becoming the corporate answer to his prayer. The mission of Christ is so closely linked with the church relationally that the world will not understand and experience God’s love until we are “brought” to experience this unity.

Given what we have seen I have to honestly ask, “How has the church survived in the world given our egregious schisms, faithlessness and corruption?”

Historian Clyde Manschreck suggests that the message of the early Christian Church has been “abused, institutionalized, abandoned, [and] rationalized.”¹ But the church is still here, sometimes in poor health and occasionally pulsating with power and great blessing, as in China today. More often than not the church is in a “lukewarm” state, alive but in obvious need of divine judgment (Rev. 3:16) so that we will repent and experience renewal.

It is my thesis that every single church should regularly ask: “What does Christ really think of our church?” Such a question is genuinely troubling but really and truly honest. Asking it may actually prompt more repentance and less boasting about our importance.

The church began to first express visible life through Peter’s confession of faith in the divine revelation that Jesus was the Christ (Matt. 16:13–18). Then the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the earliest disciples (Acts 2) and the festival of Pentecost became a birthday celebration. These disciples did not bear the sword, or engage in the politics of the day. They very simply loved all people everywhere, caring for those in need and serving wherever possible. Congregations grew in the face of great opposition. Not even the powers of hell could stop the mission of these congregations.

From that day to the present the church has marched like a mighty army across the globe. From the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7), through the massive waves of slaughter brought about by Roman persecution, through Muslims hordes attacking Christian lands and twentieth century Communist opposition, the church has still grown. This is happening today in the churches of China, India, Africa and Latin America. The church can not be stopped. Why? It is God’s church. There have been times when it almost seemed like the light would go out. But God has kept his promise and his church continues to grow even when he administers corrective discipline to his people (cf. Rev. 2–3).

But what exactly has kept the church through all this suffering and trial? I believe the real story shows that it was not a vague belief in the concept of God but a living active faith in the God who is love (1 John 4:8, 16). The very substance and nature of God is love. If this is true then all of his activity in this world comes from the loving heart of the living and true God.

This “new religion” of love was not “an external system of ritual sacrifice . . . but an internal flooding of the mind and spirit with divine love and understanding.”² The power of God’s Spirit transformed these first believers resulting in an incredible joy and peace that came from God. In addition, the early church “understood itself for what it was intended to be: a spiritual kingdom sharing spiritual truth with a troubled world.”³

What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love

The Beatles sang it and my generation rejoiced in it. What the world needs now, they said, is: “Love, sweet love.” Sadly, much of the church in America missed it. We reacted against the immorality in the culture and forgot the love. But the world deeply craves love as much or more as ever. This has been said so many times, and in so many different ways, that I fear it has far too little impact upon most of us.

This Jesus prayer for unity, understood in the right way, is really about God’s love. Jesus prayed: “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:23). This theme of God’s love for the world is so strong that one can say it is the special emphasis of the apostle John in the fourth Gospel and his letters.

Have we become so comfortable with the idea that God loves us (John 3:16) that this no longer moves us? Have we been so conditioned to accept this love that we do not see what it means for a congregation or for the whole church? Sadly, I believe this is so, at least in much of the West.

The New Testament churches were made up of people from many backgrounds. Their diversity was striking when you consider the Roman empire of the time. But Christianity was a religion with a universal scope. It was truly a faith that welcomed everyone into a family where relationships mattered profoundly.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26–28).

Unity in Christ—rooted in the triune love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is clearly a major theme in the New Testament. In fact it was this theme that created both a new (Christian) ethic and a new (Christian) community. Paul says that ethnicity, gender and social status were no longer determinative. Everyone who was in the church was “one in Christ Jesus.” This reality came about because of the divinely infused love of Christ poured out into the hearts of all who believed.

John said that this is why “we love” both God and others (1 John 4:19–21). This is also why Peter wrote that “above all” we should “love each other deeply” (1 Peter 4:8). And this is why these early believers were urged to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Love is the whole point.

But the church began to experience the loss of shared love before the first century ended. In the last book of the New Testament we read the words of Jesus to the church in Ephesus. Here we encounter a great sea-change. I find this deeply convicting.

To the angel of the church at Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place (Rev. 2:1–5).

Here is a church that is praised for keeping its faith strong. These Christians worked hard, persevered in their faith and rightly dealt with false teachers. Plus, they were not weary in doing well and suffering. But they lacked something vital. What they lacked would eventually lead to their congregation’s death. You may have sound doctrine and great ministry but if you become a contradiction to love and divisions and quarrels mark you then the end is in sight. This is exactly what Jesus spoke about and this is why his prayer for unity was so vital.

Conclusion

Because of the Jesus prayer for unity I have resolved to build no barriers between myself and other Christians. Those God accepts I will accept. I resolve to never give up where love can and must prevail. You cannot understand either my theology or my mission unless you know that this really, truly matters to me in every possible way.

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The Mission of ACT 3  Act 3 is a ministry to advance the missional mandate of the Lord Jesus Christ in the third millennium, through the witness of Scripture and the wisdom of the Christian tradition. Act 3 Weekly is part of the writing ministry of John H. Armstrong and the ministry of ACT 3: Advancing the Christian Tradition in the Third Millennium.

 

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