Unity Is Not the Same as Total Agreement

Unity as Striving Together for the Gospel

An extreme view of Christian unity is found among those who will work together only with those with whom they agree on everything—doctrinal and practical. They often divide over styles of worship, political and social issues, modes of child discipline and education, church organization and administration, the use of social media, eschatological views, and so on. As you will notice, these are all non-gospel issues. Granted, our level of interchurch cooperation does depend on how united we are over matters of doctrine and practice, but there should still be some level of cooperation where it is evident that we stand for the same gospel. Refusing all cooperation with fellow believers is surely wrong. If such division were allowed, the New Testament church would have long split between Jews and Gentiles, because in those early days that was what largely threatened church unity.

The apostle Paul addressed this matter in some of his letters, especially Romans and 1 Corinthians. For instance, to the Romans he wrote:

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. . . .
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. . . .
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? . . . So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
(Romans 14:1-2, 5, 10, 12)

Unity

Conrad Mbewe

In this concise guide, Conrad Mbewe explores unity as a fruit of the gospel, urging believers to respond to Paul’s apostolic plea—standing together for the advancement of the gospel and the kingdom of God.

The appeal of the apostle was that the Christians in the church in Rome should remain united even if there was a difference in doctrine and practice over these matters. Not all differences are worth dividing over. On some matters, you can agree to disagree.

I recall many years ago listening to a young pastor who had been called in the middle of the night to help resolve a domestic dispute that was threatening a marriage. “When I got there and was told what the issue was that had reduced the home into a war zone, I could not believe it,” he said. “It was so petty.” The older pastors quickly told the young pastor that petty issues often fragment families. Christian couples fail to live in harmony because of minor differences. They fail to differentiate between essentials and nonessentials. Sadly, this is not limited to homes. Too many splits between churches are due to the same failure.

We should be wary of divisions over non-gospel issues. This was the apostle Paul’s message to the Philippians, as we have already seen in Philippians 1:27. Whereas his primary concern at that time was for unity within the local church, the same issues that can divide a local church can cause divisions between otherwise godly men and women beyond the confines of the church. Conversely, the same principles that cure divisions in the local church can also cure divisions between believers outside the church. I will deal with the issue of evangelical unity in the wider body of Christ. As Mark Dever rightly says:

The church is one and is to be one because God is one. Christians have always been characterized by their unity (Acts 4:32). The unity of Christians in the church is to be a property of the church, and a sign for the world reflecting the unity of God himself. Thus, divisions and quarrels are a peculiarly serious scandal.¹

We should be wary of divisions over non-gospel issues.

Two Extremes

I want to bring the full orbit of the New Testament to bear upon the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 1:27. He wanted to continue hearing of healthy unity among the believers in Philippi, despite the doctrinal winds blowing among them, some of which he would allude to later in his letter. The Philippians would need to stand firm in one spirit and one mind if they were going to strive together side by side for the faith of the gospel. Paul wanted this to be exhibited in their manner of life. That remains a huge calling for us in the twenty-first century as many of us lead the church of Christ. It is so easy to go to one of the two extremes I have described here, both of which fail to exhibit true evangelical² unity. While we resist those two extremes, we need to be clear about what the genuine article looks like. What is biblical unity?

R. B. Kuiper warns against the two extremes when he says:

Extreme denominationalism [by which he means the tendency to view your church as the only one right and therefore separate it from other churches] accelerates division and thus obscures the church’s unity more than ever but cannot destroy it. Extreme unionism [by which he means the tendency to view all institutions that claim to be Christian as truly Christian and to be brought into some form of organizational unity] spells the destruction of the church but will never be permitted actually to destroy either the church or its purity.³

Any Christian leader will face this challenge sooner rather than later. He will soon sense that he is being pulled to one extreme or the other. This is why it is important to be inoculated early in one’s ministry from both errors by being convinced concerning the true biblical balance when it comes to unity in the body of Christ.

Notes:

Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville: B&H, 2012), 16.
The term evangelical is used in various ways today. I use it, together with the other authors of this book series, to refer to those who believe in salvation by faith alone, through grace alone, and in Christ alone.
R. B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ: A Scriptural Appreciation of the One Holy Church (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1967), 49.

This article is adapted from Unity: Striving Side by Side for the Gospel by Conrad Mbewe.

Conrad Mbewe (PhD, University of Pretoria) serves as pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, and founding chancellor of the African Christian University. Conrad has authored over nine books and contributed to many others. God blessed him and his wife, Felistas, with three children and three foster children.

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Some Christians think their small group is a church. A church is, after all, a people not a place, and small groups do many of the same things that churches do.