Unity

 "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" I Corinthians 2:2

I see that Francis Chan has a new book on Unity in the church entitled "Until Unity". He was on someone's You Tube channel discussing the book. He acknowledged that this is a tricky subject. On the one hand, we must avoid "foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless" Titus 3:9. On the other hand, we must have "no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" Ephesians 4:11. 

Of course, the very title of his book seems to indicate Chan does not quite see the ground of unity. "Until Unity" implies that unity is something we do NOT have, but must work towards. But Paul writes to the Ephesians, exhorting them to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" Ephesians 4:3. I am not blind. Of course, like Chan, I see that the church, at least in the West, does not experience the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17, the unity by which the world would believe that God sent Him. Far from it. "Woke" churches try to rewrite the Bible, while conservative pastors often try to hit nonbelievers over the head with it. The church seems divided over major theological issues and personalities. Chan is correct to grieve this, and point out the need for unity. Yet we are not called to create unity, but to preserve the unity we already have in the Spirit. 

Somewhere lost in all this is the simple message:All we need is Jesus, keeping His Cross at the centre of all that we do and preach. CS Lewis complained that even though Jesus, on the cross, said "It is finished", the church today always is adding something to Jesus. Perhaps it just does not seem right to us to preach Jesus only, but Lewis is longing for "Mere Christianity". Not "Jesus and", just "Jesus". 

Paul was constantly defending his message of freedom in Christ. The Corinthians heard him all too well, and decided that they would be "free" and traded the grace of God for "licentiousness". Anything goes. Let's have a party. The Galatians, on the other hand, just could not get past Christ alone, and insisted on an external law to govern them. Both churches were guilty of carnal, natural, human reasoning. They were both wrong, albeit from opposite sides of the matter. 

I have a little ditty about unity. "The Christ in me is the same as the Christ in thee - Since He cannot be divided, neither can we". As long as our meetings focus on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we are preserving the bond of peace. Jesus Christ is Head of His Church. As head of His Church, He has a will for His church. If we set aside our carnal ideas, He will show us His will and He Himself will do it. May this revelation be understood and embraced in these last days.