Striving for Christian unity isn’t just a modern ideal. It’s quite biblical. The epistles, which are God-breathed letters to churches, abound with the goal of unity:
- “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no division among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
- “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith…” (Ephesians 4:11-13)
- “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind.” (1 Peter 2:8)
- “[I urge you to be] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3)
- “I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:27)
- “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2)
The aim exists in the Old Testament, too: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). And it’s one of the petitions Jesus made for the church right before he went to the cross: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…” (John 17:22-23)
But how do we attain this Christian unity?
We can assume the answer is plain: we should focus on being more unified; we must spend time, energy, and planning with the goal of church unity in mind.
But what if this isn’t the best answer, nor the answer that makes the most sense?
“Unified” and “Same”—About Something
We can begin to show this probably isn’t the best answer by simply focusing on the idea of unity itself. When people are unified, they aren’t merely unified. This can’t be. The term “unified” necessarily implies there’s something else involved, namely, that which you’re unified about. So, our “unity” just cannot come from trying to be unified. It implies something that which we’re unified about.
This is even clearer shown with the word same. People who have “the same mind” and “the same love” aren’t vaguely just the “same.” This also can’t be. Rather, people are the same because they agree on something. It’s that something that then leads them to being described as the same.
So we begin to answer the question of Christian unity by realizing that talk about “unity” or having the “same” mind must point us elsewhere, namely, to the thing we’re unified about, on the same page about.
What Do We Unite About? Two Main Options
What then is our something? What do we unite about? There’s two main options.
Option 1: Try to Focus on Unity Itself
First, we can say we just want to attain unity, and so our something is unity itself. But as we showed above, a group cannot merely be unified. There must be a something they’re unified about (and “unity” cannot be the something, because it always implies something else). So, such mere unity-focus cannot exist.
When happens, then, when people say they just want unity for unity’s sake? When “unity” occurs in a general way like this (such as many liberal denominations), they’re still unified about something, it’s just that the something they unify about is not the gospel (with it’s distinctions); the something rather becomes avoiding all distinctions and maintaining a veneer of “peace” (meaning, non-disagreement).
In this way, rather than drawing biblical, gospel lines, such unity is merely avoiding disagreement, rather than unity in the gospel. This is what they have the same mind over: non-disagreement (not the Bible, gospel, or Christ).
Such “unity” is not a general unity, it simply has replaced what we’re unified about: from unifying around the gospel to unifying around non-disagreement.
Option 2: Focus on Christ and the Gospel
The better route can be seen in the verses above which describe the goal of biblical unity. We obey the biblical commands to have the “unity of the faith” not by being vaguely “unified.” Instead, we attain true unity when it’s, as the verse says, the unity of the faith. It’s truths about “the faith” that unify us (Ephesians 4:13). The objective Christian faith is our something.
Similarly, we have the “same love” not by generally being people united around undefined “love.” Instead, we have a specific love for God because of the gospel (1 John 4:10, 19); and we have a specific faith-fueled, gospel-centered love for people (Galatians 5:6). It’s a love for these things which makes our love the same love.
And we can continue: We have the “same mind,” the “unity of mind,” and the “same judgment” as we think the same things about Christ and this gospel. We “strive side by side” not by vaguely living as the church together, but by having a common purpose: “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27)
In other words, Christian unity is a by-product. It derives from Christ-centeredness and from gospel-focus. That is our something that we agree on, our same. Because we’re all focusing there, we’re unified.
Tuned Pianos
A.W Tozer summarizes this well,
“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier.” (The Pursuit of God, 90).
This is a picture of Christian unity. We’re individual pianos needing to be tuned to the same fork. The object of our unity isn’t unity, it’s Christ. Trying to unify around unity doesn’t work. As Tozer said, “one hundred worshippers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”
The only way, then, to obey the commands listen above is to focus carefully on Christ, the Bible, and the gospel. If we don’t, we may think we’re unified but we’ll simply be settling for avoiding disagreement. If we do, Christian unity will be a glorious by-product.
We unify together around the faith—the Christian message which centers on God, Christ, the gospel, our trust in him, and the priority of his glory. If we want to be unified—if we want to be “tuned to each other”—me must focus together here.
