Unity and the Church

Unity has become the new hot-potato word. As a Christ-follower, there will always be this intense desire to have harmony with the people around us. At what cost? Romans 12 is a chapter in my Bible that has many underlined and circled words. Verse 2 starts by reminding us, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable.” Believers can never come into agreement with any form of iniquity! I love the warning God gave to Cain in Genesis 4:7. “Sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” The temptation is never the sin, so we all must recognize evil in disguise and reject it to the very core. We are not allowed to skirt around and pretend to go-along-to-get-along because it is easy or popular. Sin destroys people’s lives, so why would any Christ-follower be tempted to appease society by partnering with it in any form. It is cruel and unloving to pretend unity when you know a particular lifestyle or thought process will consume and utimately lead to hell.

So, what is unity in God’s world? I like to describe it as parts of a watch or a complex whole. Each member of the church has a role to play to achieve God’s will in society. Just like a watch, any filth can clog up the works and stop the function. Verse 9 reminds us, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” Any belief, thought, choice or action hostile towards God is evil, and God gets to decide what is hostile to Him. Going back to verse 2, we must renew our minds in God’s written word, so we do not get caught up in these bizarre conversations concerning unity. The unity in the Bible calls for all to be reconciled with God. We should have nothing to do with the world or any intertwining of our beliefs to pacify evil. If you want unity around you, then apply Romans 12 to your life. By the time you finished interceding for others, contributing to people’s physical and spiritual needs, you will prove the will of God. It is not our hollow words or bizarre posturing that brings peace but our investment of God’s love in people’s lives. Decide for yourself to stop the societal conversation of unity and start getting others into reconciliation with God, the only true unity.
Photo by Heather Zabriskie on Unsplash

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