The Cure for Disunity

September, 2003

by: Jeff Jones

If you properly understand what God has done for the church, it inevitably leads to unity in the church. Unfortunately, in the church today, not much unity exists. Now, when I say unity, I'm not suggesting we tolerate everything. The Bible is very clear that the church is not to tolerate everything. In fact, there are two specific things that we must not tolerate, namely, (1) bad behavior and (2) bad doctrine. However, apart from these, the church is commanded to show tolerance for one another (Eph 4:2). This means that despite cultural and ethnic differences, differences in musical preference, differences in social status, and the list could go on, we should not be divided as a church.

According to the Book of Ephesians, through the work of Jesus on the cross, God truly dealt with the world's disunity problem at the root, namely, sin (cf. Eph 2:11-22). Jesus, by his death, made end to any and all barriers to unity we might throw up (cf. Eph 2:14-16). Everyone in Christ therefore is part of the same household (Eph 2:19), and that household cannot be divided over petty differences, especially social differences. In fact, because of what Christ has done, we are commanded to preserve the unity that which has already been established in the church (Eph 4:3).

The ultimate way we can preserve and strive for unity at Calvary is by serving one another. After speaking of the unity we have in the church (Eph 4:1-6), Paul reminds us that Christ has given each one us a gift, namely a spiritual gift (cf. Eph 4:7; also 1 Pet 4:10-11), which is to be used to promote growth and unity in the whole church (cf. Eph 4:16). When we Christians use our gifts by serving one another, we proclaim the victory Christ accomplished on the cross, his ultimate triumph over sin (cf. Eph 4:8-10). You, yourself can truly be a part of celebrating the victory of Christ on the cross, when you serve another Christian, even if he or she is different than you.