Here is something I have been considering over the past few days: Every one of us acknowledges there is a lamentable lack of unity among Christians today. Yet none of us seems to consider that we ourselves may be the cause of that disunity, or at least contribute to it. In our minds, it is always other people who fracture the peace and disrupt the harmony. But sometimes I wonder: Could I be one of the bad guys?
God created us as social beings. God, who is himself triune and who has enjoyed perfect and unbroken communion within the godhead, created us in his image as beings who are communal. Yet because of our fall into sin, what should only ever have brought joy now brings pain. Where we should be displaying the kind of unity that pleases and imitates God, we now display the kind of disunity that displeases and grieves him. Sadly, this is true even in the local church and even in the wider community of those who have been redeemed. In fact, sometimes it seems easier to see evidence of disunity than unity, of fighting than harmony.
Yet we cannot allow ourselves to be content with this sad situation. Rather, we must learn to exist in harmony and to genuinely love one another. This is true of the relationships between individual Christians, true of the local church, and true of the church across the globe. This kind of unity is the subject of Conrad Mbewe’s book Unity: Striving Side by Side for the Gospel. It is a simple and brief book, but one that is both important and badly needed.
Mbewe begins where any call to unity must begin—with “the simple fact that unity is something already secured for us by God. Strictly speaking, our role is not to become united but to remain united, not to attain but to maintain unity.” When Jesus died for his people, he died not only to reconcile them to God but also to reconcile them to one another. Whatever divisions may have stood between God’s people have been negated as legitimate causes of disunity—gender, racial, national, financial, tribal, and so on. Where God’s people had once been one nation, they are now one body called “the church” and “everyone comes in on the same terms—repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This means that our goal as we consider unity is not so much to create unity or demand it of ourselves, but to acknowledge that it already exists and to simply live it out. We can do this boldly and confidently because we know Jesus longs for it and has prayed to the Father about it. Unity is dear to the heart of our Savior.
After explaining how unity is accomplished in Christ, Mbewe explains how unity is applied by the Spirit—how the Holy Spirit “takes what Jesus Christ has done for us and applies it to our hearts.” He unites us to the one body, he dwells within us, and he guides us into the truths that make us value unity and pursue it.
With those two indicatives of unity in the background, Mbewe turns to two imperatives—two specific ways Christians are to foster unity. First, he shows how it is to be jealously guarded by believers. We guard unity by understanding the gospel and knowing who rightly professes it and who does not. Once we have ascertained who is rightly professing the gospel, we carefully ensure we are not allowing secondary differences to drive us apart, even as we may need to value different doctrines or worship in different contexts. The second imperative is to evidence unity in gospel endeavors. These are ways that Christians can actively and proactively display their unity in either the local church or in ventures that involve multiple churches or traditions (e.g. book publishing, training institutions, and fighting social ills).
In all of this, Mbewe shows that the stakes are high. “Jesus is saying that when the gospel reaches societies and the church is born, onlookers will be amazed at how people from diverse backgrounds have genuine love for one another. They will notice that these people come from different tribes, ethnic groups, and nations, and yet they are united. They will notice that they gladly worship and work together for a common cause. They will have to admit that something extraordinary is happening. They will be forced to give the claims of Christ their attention. How else can they explain the unity among God’s people? Where does this love come from?”
This book made me ponder whether I am increasing the unity that is so meaningful to God or if I am hindering it. It also gave me specific ideas for fostering it—specific practices I can embrace, implement, and pursue. I am confident the book will do the same for you if you read it—something I highly recommend.
