Can The Church Find Unity?

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Ephesians 4:1-3

In these last days, I believe there is a call from the Spirit of God to his church to find unity. Paul’s plea to the church in Ephesus was that they “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Over the past 2000 years, we have failed to maintain that unity. The church is fragmented and divided. Many denominations are divided even within themselves. The Southern Baptist Convention is constantly infighting and the Methodist churches are no better.

Both of these denominations say they are fighting for truth and that there can be no unity apart from truth. And while I agree that the truth is important, there needs to be a distinction made there - not all truth is the same. Some truths are well within the bonds of unity.

I say often that there are open-handed issues and closed-handed issues. The closed handed issues are the important truths. We must hold on to these things with all that is within us. If you don’t believe in these close-handed doctrines, you simply aren’t a Christian. This would include things like the virgin birth, the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection three days later and Trinitarian doctrine. These are all critical beliefs.

But what I’ve found is that most churches aren’t arguing on these types of issues, they are splitting and dividing over the open-handed issues. People will leave a church over everything from the carpet color to speaking in tongues. And not only will they leave the church, but they will declare that the people who still attend there are not even Christians because of their disagreement.

This is a far cry from where the Apostle Paul stood. He saw disagreements in the church and he pleaded with them to find unity. Even in the church in Corinth, as messed up as it was, Paul declares, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:13).

The only exception to this unity that I can think of was found in the church in Galatia where people were undermining the gospel by trying to add circumcision as a requirement to being saved. Even then Paul wanted them to have unity around the truth of the gospel, not around the false teaching.

Today, I believe the Spirit is calling for unity in the church. This does not mean we will suddenly get rid of denominations or that we will see the end of arguments involving baptisms or predestination, but it can mean that we will be more willing to work together as a body, recognizing that each church is a part of the body of Christ and He loves them.

As we approach these last days, I think we will see more and more unity within the church and those that are false churches will quickly fall away. Jesus is coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle, but that doesn’t mean her theology will be perfect, but it does mean she will be unified around the truth and living in peace together.

Prayer - Father, unify your church. Lord, help us to overcome our differences and find unity in your Son. We love you and give you praise, in Jesus name, amen.