Church Unity part 2

I received a question regarding what is meant by "unity?" Certainly the church is made up of individuals, people who are different in many ways, in how they think, their opinions and ideas, and their understanding of the Bible. But when we look at the teaching of the New Testament, we see that we are still taught to be "one" people.

When Jesus was about to leave this earth, He prayed in John 17 that His followers would be one, "that they all may be one." Jesus knew that there is a natural tendency to divide, to disagree, to argue. He wanted better than that for His people.

Paul said in Philippians 2:2, "fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." This doesn't mean we lose our individuality; it means that we pull together, we work together, and we strive to follow God's word as it has been given to us. But Paul was already seeing trouble when he wrote the first Corinthian letter. Instead of just being Christians and being unified, the people were forming factions. 1 Corinthians 1:12 says some were saying they were "of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas or I am of Christ." This is the attitude, that of division, that Jesus and Paul were trying to head off.

If you look at the history of the forming of denominations you will see that most were created because of disagreement, contention, and strife. This is not what the Bible teaches us as Christians on how we should act. We must work at unity in Christ Jesus. Thanks for reading!