Called to Unity

I’ve been part of the church for as long as I can remember. My parents took me long before I had any opinion in the matter. And as I’ve grown older, I have found stability, love and peace inside the church. But I’ve also seen the ugly side of church where friends turn on each other and leave rather than confront their problems and come to solutions.  We are called to unity, yet we act more like enemy combatants than the family of God.

Called to unity. Prone to disunity. 

Jesus had a lot to say about unity. But His disciples struggled to get the message. They all wanted lofty positions in the Kingdom. Who can forget that James and John enlisted their mother to plead their case. Martha whined about Mary’s decision to listen rather than help with the dishes, and others tried to get Jesus involved with family disputes. These arguments sound familiar to us today.

But Jesus refused to involve Himself in petty disputes. Instead, He encouraged them to put others first.  In fact,  He told them that their gifts to God weren’t acceptable until they had settled matters with others.

Unity brings blessing

Psalm 133:3 tells us that when God’s people live in unity, God’s blessings follow.  When Jesus ascended, He sent His followers to Jerusalem to wait for His promise.  And they were in one accord when the Holy Spirit came.

A community in crisis

In August of 1727, a Christian community was in serious trouble. The Moravians had fled their home country because of religious persecution and had settled on the estate of Count Nicolas Von Zinzendorf. At first the refugees were grateful for the Count’s generosity and went to work building a settlement.

But soon, they began to argue about a variety of issues, and theological disputes threatened to destroy all they had worked hard to build.  Some even took aim at Zinzendorf, going so far as to call him the Antichrist. 

Word soon reached the Count. He left his duties in the court of *Saxony and returned to his estate.  Instead of expelling the troublemakers, he met with the leaders of the various factions and determined what the issues were. 

Committed to unity

Several weeks later, Zinzendorf and the Moravian leaders signed the Moravian Agreement of 1727. This covenant established the framework of Christian community.

They set Wednesday, August 13, 1727, as a day of celebration. That morning, they gathered in the village church to sing hymns and take holy communion.

There are no detailed accounts of the meeting that day. But the Holy Spirit honored their unity.  This day is now known as Moravian Pentecost, a time when the Holy Spirit’s power was expressed in the village of Herrnhut. Participants later wrote that this was the day they “learned to love one another.” 

 

Called to Unity. Called to power.

The revival that started August 13, 1727 continued for over a century and it was arguably the most powerful movement of God since Pentecost. The Moravians decided that for the next 30 days, they would be in continuous prayer. Teams of two or three agreed to pray throughout the day. That commitment continued for over 100 years.

During that century of prayer, Moravian missionaries traveled to all the known corners of the world with the gospel. Their commitment to simplicity, unity, and prayer was a catalyst for fulfilling Christ’s command. Like the men and women in Acts 2, the Moravians determined to live in unity. 

A church divided

Today, Christians are more divided than ever. Just scroll through Christian content on YouTube and you will find dozens of videos of influencers building their brand by questioning the faith of others. 

There is nothing wrong with defending sound theology. Jude tells us to contend for our faith. But that is not permission to be contentious. Cancel culture tells us it is acceptable to block those we don’t agree with, and to only allow those with similar views to have influence in their lives. This kind of exclusivity creates a narrow worldview. 

A tale of two brothers

Steve Brown is one of my favorite Christian speakers. He has a unique spin on a lot of issues, and he isn’t afraid to answer tough questions. A staunch conservative on most issues, he had a surprising close friendship with Tony Campolo, though they disagreed on most issues. In fact, Steve said they disagreed on everything but Jesus. 

When Campolo died this past year, Brown wrote a tribute that talked about their unusual friendship. Brown surmised that their relationship worked for two reasons. First, both men knew they were sinners, capable of being wrong and failing badly. Second, they each knew that having Jesus in common was more important than any issue they discussed.  They started and ended with Jesus. Everything else was secondary.

As Christ followers, we have been called to unity. And yes, we are failing. 

 

Practicing Unity

Are these just stories from the past? No. I  believe we can learn from men like Count Zinzendorf, Tony Campolo, and Steve Brown. As Christ followers,  our commitment to Jesus should come first, before opinions about anything else. When we break off fellowship with others who think differently, worship differently, or vote differently, we are forgetting how much Jesus sacrificed for us. 

For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  This is the crux of our message: that God loved us and refused to abandon us to our sin. What if we treated others as people of infinite worth, as individuals worthy of the death of God’s only Son?  

CS Lewis remarked that “there are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” Yet we treat one another with contempt instead of awe or love. 

Next, we should walk in humility. When we are aware of our own sinfulness, we should be more willing to forgive others and to consider other points of view. Paul commended the Bereans for their habit of checking his words against scripture.  We should be willing to discuss our differences without rancor. 

But, most important, we are to live and walk in love.. Paul described Christian love in I Corinthians 13. The Corinthians were intelligent and gifted. But they fought over everything. Among other things, he told them love is not provoked, nor does it take into account any wrong suffered. When we act in love toward one another, unity will follow.  In Steve Brown’s tribute to Tony Campolo, he writes, “One of the things Tony and I often said to each other and others was that we both wanted the same thing – what Jesus wanted – but we just disagreed on how to achieve that. When we start with Jesus, it’s amazing how the conversation turns positive and love happens.”

Unified without uniformity

We are called to unity. That doesn’t mean we all think alike, nor does it mean we can’t take a stand for issues that matter to us. There are issues that require us to stand against culture and the majority opinion. But we can disagree without dishonoring or demeaning someone else. Our love should be our calling card, not our anger. 

When Christians live in unity and love, we send a message to those around us that we are Christ’s disciples. When we choose to put aside our differences for the sake of the gospel, the Holy Spirit will empower us to change our world. 

 

• Saxony, once an independent Kingdom, is located in Eastern Germany.