3 Ways To Show Unity in the Church (And Why It's So Important)

I don’t know about you but my Facebook feed is a bit obnoxious lately.

I’m guessing it’s not just me either.

Every morning I wake up and say to my wife,

I can’t wait to see how people behave themselves with decorum and decency on social media today!

Sarcasm.

Seriously though, something is off in our culture right now.

We are a nation divided.

We are fighting about everything from politics, gun control, racial violence, border walls, gay marriage, Russians, basketball referees, and Star Wars.

Yes, we’re even fighting on social media about Star Wars! (For the record, the newest movie was good!)

For whatever reason, we just can’t get along and it seems like things are getting worse.

There is a whole lot of shouting and not much listening.

We are becoming more and more divided.

The thing is, I think all this divisiveness and fighting has presented the Church with a huge opportunity.

And what is this opportunity?

Unity.

Unity

Over the last few months, I’ve joined a movement in my home city of Grand Rapids, MI called CityFest.

What is CityFest?

Well, it’s a yearlong partnership of churches across West Michigan with the Luis Palau Foundation that culminates in a two day evangelistic event in September.

If you’re curious, CityFest has taken place in several cities across the US already.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, we launched our first public event for CityFest and around 10,000 people from over 700 different churches gathered together to launch this movement.

SEVEN HUNDRED CHURCHES!

Not all these churches have the same theology.

Not all of these churches express themselves in the same style.

Not all of these churches are Caucasian, African American, Asian or Hispanic.

No, there were people from all kinds of church, ethnic and sociological backgrounds.

But, in that one event, we were unified and I’m telling you it was beautiful.

Why?

Because it was unity in the midst of diversity.

Our hope is that this is just the beginning of the Church unifying in Grand Rapids.

We have big plans for the summer.

We’ll be serving together all summer long.

Catholics serving alongside Methodists, serving alongside Reformed, serving alongside Lutherans, serving alongside Presbyterians, serving alongside Wesleyans, serving alongside Non-Denoms, all working together to love the people of our city.

It’s called unity.

It seems to me that our society has lost the ability to come together in unity.

We can’t get past our differences. We simply don’t know how.

This is where the church comes in.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:26-28

Because of Christ, our differences are eclipsed by a new unity through the Spirit.

Here’s why I’m telling you all of this.

I believe that our society is longing for unity but is incapable of finding or manufacturing it without Jesus.

I also believe that if we, the Church, were to become unified in our society that people would take notice and say,

How is it that this group of people can so easily cross the fault lines that are dividing our society?

How is it that in this community racism doesn’t exist?

How is it that that group of people can love each other and outsiders so well?

Maybe there is something to this Jesus thing.

I’m beginning to believe that the unity of the Church could be the most powerful evangelical tool available to us.

You can’t argue with unity. It is utterly disarming. It’s an insurmountable apologetic for the Gospel.

Now What?

So, here’s the problem.

The Church isn’t unified.

In many ways we are as divided and segregated as the culture in which we find ourselves.

I’m convinced that this must change.

We must become more united. We are missing a huge opportunity.

I have three ideas for how to get there.

1. Learn About Them

Over the last year, I’ve been attempting to learn about “them.”

And, by them, I mean people who are different from me or hold different opinions from me.

One simple step I’ve taken is to read books from authors coming from different perspectives.

Why?

So that I can learn and understand.

I’m beginning to realize that unity is possible, even with people that I disagree with, especially when I take into account the truth of our identity as Jesus followers.

Because of Jesus, there is much more that unites us than divides us.

I’m serious.

A republican Christian and a Christian who is a democrat have more in common because of Jesus than they have dividing them.

What would it look like to become unified in our diversity?

2. Meet with Them

I would challenge you to call up the church across town, ask for the person who holds the same job as you and ask them out to lunch.

Get to know them.

Share your story, talk about the challenges of ministry, and seek to understand.

Build unity.

What would happen if instead of isolating ourselves as individual churches, we started talking and sharing ideas?

Look, I know that you have theological differences. I get it.

I come from a conservative background in terms of spiritual gifting and yet, in the last few months, I’ve found myself working closely with pastors from Charismatic backgrounds on CityFest projects.

What I’m beginning to understand is that because of Jesus, we have more that unites us than divides us.

I’ve decided to pursue unity in the midst of our diversity.

This is the Church.

We don’t have to agree on everything as long as we agree on one thing: Jesus.

3. Do Something Together

Lastly, let’s do something together.

What if churches banded together to address significant social issues in the community in which they find themselves?

What if churches in your city became unified despite differences of theology and practice and partnered together to serve people?

People would take notice!

I believe that the beauty of the Gospel message would be amplified.

Wrap Up

Alright, let’s wrap this up.

Our increasingly divisive society has presented us with an opportunity and that opportunity is unity.

I believe unity in diversity within the church could be the most powerful evangelistic approach we have available to us.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to leave us a comment below.