The Church is Called to Unity

Psalm 133:1,3b: "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! . . . . For there the LORD bestows his blessing even life forevermore."

If there is one evidence of the spiritual sterility of the Church, it is found in the constant feuding and bickering among the supposed saints behind the church doors. How many times have we heard about factions being formed within the church over trivial matters like the color of the carpet, or the style of worship, or the length of the services?

We must understand that if we have been redeemed by the Lord, we no longer are our own . . . but we have been "bought with a price" (I Corinthians 6:20). We have become "servants" of the LORD, ready to do His bidding rather than seeking our own selfish wills. We are called by the Almighty to "live a life worthy of the calling (we) have received . . . Being completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love . . . Making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Disunity certainly will not be blessed by the Lord; rather He will withhold His hand of blessing from those persons and churches that would seek their own selfish desires over the will of God. One must wonder just how many churches are dying (or have already closed their doors) because they have seen their "church" as a means to seek their personal agendas for control, power, recognition, etc.

This topic reminds me of a church in which I served as a college student many years ago. This particular church during the 1950s was one of the largest churches in the city. Their worship building could seat over 500 people; and during that era, it was filled to capacity. When I was called to serve there in the 1980s, the church had dwindled to about 30. Most of its attendees were older, and often they reflected on the "good ol' days." They also wondered why their church was not still the flourishing church of yesteryear.

Just before my arrival, the church had called a 40-year-old pastor, and he was rather passionate about witnessing to the community and inviting people to come worship at the church. Sadly, the members were philosophically against such notions, believing that those invited would upset the "system" that they had greatly influenced over the years and had come to enjoy for their own personal benefit. Since the community was seeing more ethnic diversity, some of these church members were concerned that the invitations by the pastor for these people to worship with them would present a level of racial diversity that was quite uncomfortable for them. They too were concerned at the loss of control of the church, since some of these people being invited to the church might join, thus being given opportunity to vote for change.

I still remember as the 21-year-old college intern being approached by one of the deacons, who told me, "I've paid my tithe for over 40 years to this church! This is my church, and I'm not going to let some young preacher change that!" The pastor had made great strides in connecting with the community; but the personal desires of the church's members brought that to an abrupt end. Certain types of people were welcome, provided that they understood that they must adhere to the routines long established by these founding members.

Shortly thereafter, the church asked the pastor to leave, and they replaced him with an older pastor. Sadly, the church never saw the blessing of lives being changed for Christ. I had heard that the church eventually sold their property and merged with another struggling church and built a building in the suburbs for worship.

This is a perfect example of selfish, egocentricity that breeds quarrels and divisions that are not unlike a cancer that eats away at the vibrancy of a church and its effectiveness for the kingdom of God. Paul in his letter to the Romans identifies these people rather well as people serving themselves over the One True Lord: "I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned . . . . such people are not serving our Lord Christ but their own appetites" (Romans 16:17-18).

May we never be instruments used by the Evil One to cause divisions within the church. May we never let our personal agendas become so preeminent that we war against others in order to gain our way. Scripture calls us in view of God's grace lavished upon us, to be people of humility and graciousness. Whereas we may have differing opinions about various non-essential matters of the faith, we always are called to be people who are patient and loving. This is the way that the world will know that we are true followers of Jesus Christ (see John 13:35).