Unity: Make us one Lord

Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel... -Philippians 1:27

In high school I played several different sports including football, cross country, and track and field. Regardless, of the sport our coach would seek to foster unity among the players. Our coach understood that if we were to be successful we had to be united towards a common goal. The goal of course being to win the game or meet. Unity is a major theme in Paul's letter to the church at Philippi. Paul understood that when the church is united; she will make the Gospel look BIG and impact the world.

Paul in 1:27 writes, "Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Paul utilizes a communication tool in which he highlights an important aspect of his letter with an emphasis on "one thing". It's as if he is saying, "if you only remember one thing from this letter; remember this." He proceeds to describe the one thing he wants us to remember which is, "live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ". When we read the one thing we should be doing is living our life in a manner worthy of the Gospel we should be asking; how? How do we life our lives in a manner worthy of the Gospel? Paul's answer is found in verse 27 b, "stand firm in one Spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the Gospel." Paul understood that the church needs to be united together under the Lordship of Christ for the common goal of working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel.

The church must be united! When individuals hear the word unity they think of one of two scenarios. Number one: we should all hold hands, sing songs, and attempt to get along regardless of our differences or number two: we only unite around people who believe exactly like us and break unity with anyone who disagrees with us on ANY issue. Both of these scenarios involving unity are incorrect. Unity means living grace-filled lives that grant patience and mercy and gentleness for the spiritual journey of others and a respect for differences we all bring to the table. When we walk in unity as a church or team the Gospel looks BIG.

There are several ways disunity can develop in a church or on a team and we must war against disunity and fight for unity. Below are four ways disunity can develop:

1) Getting closed vs. open hand issues confused: The church for 2,000 years has held five core doctrines as vital for the Christian faith. These doctrines are: inerrancy of Scripture, virgin birth of Christ, substitutionary atonement of Christ, bodily resurrection, and 2nd coming of Christ. If an individual disagrees on these five issues he or she has forsaken the faith and must be removed from the fold. Christians through the ages have held these five doctrines as fundamental for the faith. We hold these issues with a closed hand; however, there are a plethora of issues which we must hold with an open hand; these include but are not limited to: baptism, Lords Supper, women in ministry, Calvinism, age of the Earth, drinking, Obamacare, Republican or Democrat. All of these issues must be held with an open-hand. Just because someone disagrees with you on Obamacare does not mean we have to break unity with him or her.

2) Overly critical of others: Disunity grows in a church when we are overly critical of others. For example, I get up every morning at 4:30 am. I am a morning person. I enjoy the quiet and peace of an early morning. I am tempted at times to be overly critical of those who sleep in; believing they are lazy. I must understand that being a morning person is a preference and I should not be critical of others who sleep in and work late into the night.

3) Gossip: Nothing spreads disunity faster than talking about others in the church. Usually, people disguise their gossip as a "prayer request" but in actuality they are enjoying talking about other people.

4) Pride: Pride can spread disunity and lead to no one asking for help and everyone believing they can make it on their own. We must remember that as a fish is made for water so we are made for community. 

In conclusion, as Christians we must war against disunity and fight for unity. We must repent and ask forgiveness where we have helped to foster disunity. We must remember unity means living grace-filled lives that grant patience and mercy and gentleness for the spiritual journey of others and a respect for differences we all bring to the table. When we (church) walks in unity the Gospel looks BIG.