Church Unity

The Bible is clear that the Lord always expected His people to be one, to be unified. It seems only human to want to divide. We see division occur in all aspects of our society; and certainly we see it in the creation of denominations. Even the word "denomination" shows the recognition of division. But it was never wanted by our Lord.

Just before His death, Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17 a rather long prayer calling for unity of His followers. Note John 17:11: "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one." He says this several times in this prayer, "that they be one as We are one." Unity was very important to Jesus. Shame on us for dividing.

Paul taught about this in 1 Corinthians 1. Note verse 10: "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you , my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Cephas,' or 'I am of Christ.' Is Christ divided?" Division had already started in the early church. It should not be so among us.

One might say, "What is the solution?" The only solution is to follow God's Word, the Bible. We have a great pattern to follow, showing us what the early church was taught to do. We should be doing the same, following that same pattern. Every one of us needs to read, understand , and follow the Bible. Only in doing so are we able to unite in one teaching and one purpose.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.