UNITY
Brokenness is a currency of little value in the world today, but it is being minted in ever increasing amounts all around us. The Church is called to carry on the mending ministry of Jesus, but how is this possibly achievable when we are so disjointed? How can we minister wholeness from such a pitiful state of fragmentation? Several generations of people growing up in western ‘Christian’ nations have grown sick and tired of seeking answers from an establishment that has given up even trying to agree upon them. The world sees an organisation which teaches people to love God and their neighbors, tearing itself to pieces; something must change.
The temptation for many people who have been hurt by our broken Church is to flee and find comfort in an emerging or non-traditional ‘church’; perhaps one that meets in a coffee shop for discussion and sidesteps the heartache often caused by disagreements over corporate worship styles. These can be wonderful groups, but often miss the important value that we are called to serve the Church as well as to be fed by her. If we desire to see the western Church as a place of refuge, relevance, and hope, then we must seek the way towards a greater unity.
Unity ought to be a distinguishing feature of the Christian Church, something that sets us apart from the world. It is the key prayer of Jesus for His future followers in John 17 and it is from a place of unity that the Lord commands His blessing (Psalm 133). Most churches are in favour of being united with other churches, but often the best we do in practice is to get along with each other. This is what we are called to do with people who are not yet believers! Among our sisters and brothers is there not something more to be had? Are we really proud because ‘at least we’re not at each others’ throats’?! We need a paradigm shift in the Church today to move us from viewing unity as living at peace with one another to something far greater – sharing vision and resources, coming together to bring about change in our communities, and showing Jesus to the world by the deep love we have for one another.
Can this be done? Many of the church leaders I’ve spoken with about this vision are enthusiastic about the principle, but less than confident that real change will actually happen. I see in their eyes the scars they carry from painful experiences of attempted church unity. However, the church is hemorrhaging young people, 20-somethings, and 30-somethings; and regardless of how many new and relevant fresh expressions of church are launched, we will not stop the bleeding until we patch the holes in our body. I don’t know exactly how this will happen, but I know it must.
As someone who works in a church, I am confident that any move towards real unity will need to be led by those who are not employed by the church. We need a groundswell, a grassroots movement of lay people desperate enough to break through the entrenched prejudices and peripheral beliefs that divide us. Young people will be at the forefront of this movement as a generation who care less about the particular doctrines of their churches and more about what their churches are doing – we need to encourage this. What we must discourage is an attitude that leaves brothers and sisters behind. What I mean is that we must come to the table with the understanding that no one part of the church ‘has it sorted’, but all have something to offer.
The sort of unity that we desire will not happen without purpose and vision; I dream of small groups of churches across a region coming together in prayerful action to change their communities. This would look different in each context of course, but imagine the impact of churches working together not for a one-off event but in a consistent unified effort to meet the needs of those around them.
The apostle Paul often encouraged the early Church in Corinth, one of our first examples of Christian disunity, to ‘be of one mind’. What an audacious statement that would be to make in the Church today! We can no longer ‘agree to disagree’; it’s lazy and it isn’t working. Instead let us seek the truth together in love, and in the meantime come together to get something done. A Church united in social action must resonate in the hearts of those we have inadvertently hurt, as well as those who are searching for hope in a dark and tumultuous time.