I was reading the prophet Daniel’s prayer of confession and intercession (found in Daniel chapter 9) a few days ago and for some reason just found myself weeping over the lack of unity in the Body of Christ, totally contrary to Jesus’ greatest desire (see John 17:11, 21) that “they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (KJV) It seems no wonder (for instance) that there seems to be so little effect of the church in the world, if Jesus’ perception was that our unity in Him is going to be a huge factor in whether or not anyone believes the message. And is it also any wonder, then, that the enemy would work overtime to divide Christians, so that our effectiveness against his kingdom would be blunted, stifled, and quashed?!
I have to look no further than my Facebook feed, among the 300 or so of my (mostly) Christian friends, to find at least 10 issues / doctrinal points around which we seem to be divided. Or to look at the 50 churches amongst a population of less than 50,000 in this area, all more or less divided by some denominational / doctrinal issue or issues or system or viewpoint. Or to look at the grumbling in the church I attend over style of music, choice of praise songs, the style of the pastor’s preaching, or a bazillion other “things” that we find a reason to disagree with.
And I myself am not exempt from such evil. I have found myself in conversations, online and in person, where I either stopped myself or had to apologize because I crossed the line already and was participating in useless arguments about such things. Or harbored resentment and jealousy because I was “disrespected” or someone else’s (wrong in my eyes’) opinion was favored. Or turned and stomped out of the room in anger because I was corrected “unfairly”.
All of which leads to several questions:
- How much of this division and disunity is real, that is, it should be there because one (or both) parties really lack the Spirit of Truth, and therefore are not actually part of the Body of Christ (I John 4:6)? Light has no fellowship with darkness.
- How much is actually pride and self-seeking, because we naturally want to find a way to distinguish / exalt ourselves above everyone else?
- How much is due to immaturity or lack of sound teaching, so that those involved are simply ignorant of the truth?
- How much is “the blind men and the elephant”? In other words, are we “divided” because we each see a slightly different part of a much greater whole, and therefore we are all “right” in some senses, although different in our experiences?
- And how much is due to traditions of men being exalted above the Word of God (Colossians 2:8)?
- And most importantly, how much of all this is in me (and that I’m woefully unaware of or deliberately ignoring)?
It is quite true that these are perilous times. I reread George Orwell’s “1984” recently and was seriously weirded out for several days afterwards. Mostly, I think, I was shaken to my core that we are heading for / have become such a society already (well, 35 years “late” actually). “Hate speech”, “Fake news” and the like have now become almost constant topics of conversation. The truths that used to be “self-evident” are no longer so. Good is being called evil, and evil is being exalted, worshipped, and called “rights” and “health care” and the greatest good. And instead of being a voice and an example of truth, righteousness, and real love, I fear the church has become just another meaningless voice indistinguishable from all the other voices out there exercising their free speech to silence others.
There are those, however, who have not soiled their clothes, who have not bowed the knee to the gods of this world, and who will shine like the stars forever in the kingdom of God. But, am I one of them? Can I even discern my own errors?
I have several tests for myself that I often come back to.
- Am I staying close to Jesus, in that I pray about everything, I quickly confess and turn away from sin when I’m aware of it, I listen for His voice through the Scripture, and I obey what I hear when I hear it?
- Am I troubled when I sin? Do I even care if I please God or not? Do I value the opinions of men more than the righteous judgment of God?
- Am I in submission to godly elders and leaders of my local church? Am I even in fellowship with godly people? Or am I just “going to church”?
- Do I hunger and thirst for the Word of God? Do I value that in others?
- Am I seeking to “redeem the time”, to lay down my life for the kingdom and for others? Or do I just want to be entertained and comforted and validated?
- Do I even value this unity that Jesus desired? Or do I mostly want to be “right” and “correct” in my opinions?
Honestly, I fall short in a lot of ways. These tests have shown me many wrong answers. But deep down I also know that there is a Redeemer, and that if I confess my sins He is faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). I have no other real hope.
But I am also encouraged today, because I’ve seen an answer to desperate prayer last night first thing this morning. I’m encouraged because I still have breath, and today is the day of salvation. I’m encouraged because I know some other people who are also asking these questions, and really want to know the answers.
So, back to the subject of unity. Because this is where unity starts, continues, and finishes: at the cross, in Jesus, by the Spirit. Maybe it’s just because a lot of the church celebrates “Good Friday” today, as I’m writing this, but I hope we get it. I hope we can begin to see how great an offense we, as the “church”, have been to God Himself by our denominations and doctrines and divisions, and truly humble ourselves, and turn from our wicked ways, and seek His face so that He can come and heal our “land”, heal our churches, heal our families, heal our communities, and so that we who know Him can truly witness to a hurting, dying world of people that Jesus saves!