Unity makes church

Compromise feels like a curse word these days.

Opinions are deeply entrenched. Distinctions between “us” and “them” are sharply defined. There is less tolerance for anything other than unanimity on certain issues: “If you’re not for us, you’re against us.” Many are unwilling to voice dissenting or even nuanced opinions, lest they be written off as “one of those people.” Constructive dialogue is increasingly a relic of a bygone era.

Even as I consider naming examples, I hesitate, conscious of what those might reveal about my perspective or social posture, and what impact that might have on readers who see things differently than me.

What’s more, this widespread increase in disunity and polarization has been reflected in the church. The mindset of “us vs. them” is not just “out there”—it is very much “in here.”

But I want to make the case that disunity in the church is a big deal—a bigger deal than many Christians seem to think. Unity is integral to both the identity and the mission of the church. As theologian David Fitch states, “We must first become the place the world can recognize as beyond enemies. We must first deal with our own antagonisms. Once freed, we can then enter the world in peace, opening up space for Christ to work.” 

The disunity and polarization that permeates the world is lamentable and problematic for all kinds of reasons. But it has also created an opportunity. When the church recognizes that unity does not mean unanimity, but that we are held together by something—by someone—that transcends any barrier that might stand between us, we have the opportunity to be an embodiment of God’s reconciling power. Our unity is evidence that the powers of hostility and hatred no longer hold us in their grip. 

The church must not succumb to division, hostility, and “othering” within ourselves, for to do so is to reject what Jesus has accomplished through his blood, and to turn our backs on our calling.

In the first half of Ephesians 2, Paul’s attention is on the reconciliation effected by Christ between human beings and God—transformation from death to life—but there is another aspect of this gospel, the focus of Ephesians 2: 11–22, one that many Christians attend to less often. In these verses, the reconciliation takes place between formerly hostile groups of human beings. 

This is not an add-on to the gospel proclaimed in the first 10 verses of the chapter—it is the gospel, the good news of what has been accomplished by God in and through Jesus. Through the death of Jesus, peace was made—not the peace of a ceasefire, but the peace of šālôm: the peace of the age to come; the peace that produces flourishing, abundant life.

The “gospel of peace” laid out in Ephesians 2 is the basis upon which Paul grounds the exhortative second half of the epistle. This gospel demands an active, embodied response; it is to be put into practice. Whatever else they do, the recipients of Paul’s words are to strive to live in a way that is “worthy” of what God has done in and through the Messiah Jesus. 

This is not empty moralizing. They are no longer to live the way they have been because they now know the Messiah Jesus, and the fullness of life in him.

Further, this gospel is to be embodied in the community it has birthed. The people of God in Jesus must reflect the character of Jesus in their relationships with one another, with the goal of preserving what has been given to them: the unity that is the result of Jesus’s reconciliatory, peace-making death.

And yet, Paul’s exhortation in verse 3—“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”—suggests that human actions and attitudes are not without significance. In her commentary on this passage, Lynn H. Cohick says, “While [believers] do not create unity on their own strength, they can by their own willfulness destroy it.”  

We must prioritize our unity.  

When we become polarized in our disagreements, we do so out of a desire to be faithful to the gospel, but the New Testament teaches us that it is in our unity that we are truly the church.

This is not to say that there is no place for disagreement. But there needs to be careful consideration of how we process such disagreement; the decision to go our separate ways, disengage and call into question the faith of those with whom we disagree must be taken very seriously. 

When we are divided, disunified and hostile, when we undercut, snipe at and write off one another, we betray Jesus’ victory. We fail to “walk worthy of our calling.”

What does this look like? In Romans 14:19, Paul exhorts the believers to “pursue the things that make for peace and the building up of one another.”  In Ephesians 4:2, he calls his readers to embody humility, gentleness, patience, and to bear with one another in love, characteristics of Jesus himself. Our unity will be “kept” insofar as our relationships with one another are characterized by the same mindset that we see in the Messiah Jesus (Philippians 2:5).

The cruciform nature of these actions reminds us that this will not always (or even usually) be easy; as Michael Gorman states in the book Becoming the Gospel, “Sustaining shalom—the church’s first task—requires the same kind of cruciform love . . . that created the church. Without forbearing, forgiving love, there is no hope for peace.”

But, as Mennonite World Conference general secretary César García says, “We cannot force or manufacture unity. It is a gift of the Spirit that we receive.’

This calls us to remember that the One who unifies us is stronger than anything that once divided us or made us hostile to one another. Just as Jesus is the origin of our unity, so too is Jesus the location of our unity and the means of preserving our unity. 

May it be so. 

Jesse Nickel teaches biblical studies at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, B.C. He is the author of the new book, A Revolutionary Jesus: Violence and Peacemaking in the Kingdom of God (Fortress Press, 2024).