Unity & Uniformity
I have seen over the past week, sites on which brothers fight over issues that should have been settled years ago.
I believe that the devil loves it when we as Christians fuss, fight, and focus on anything but the lost. God wants us to love one another (John 13:34-35; 1 John 4:7-19). As Christians, we should strive for unity (John 17:20-26; Eph. 4:10-16; Phil. 2:1-4.).
We must understand the Church is made up of different generations, different socio-economic backgrounds and races. We are going to have different tastes in styles of songs we like, opinions, ideas on how to do ministry, outreach, and different gifts or talents that God has given us to use for the advancement of His Kingdom. So, we must understand this-there is a difference between unity and uniformity.
So, my challenge to us as a church is the same as Paul to the church of the Ephesians in 4:2-5 "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
So how can we strive for unity? How have we confused uniformity with unity? How can we do our part to understand the difference between unity and uniformity? Is unity possible? Why or why not? What has your church done to strive for unity? What sermons should we preach to help in the cause of unity within the body? How can we get our focus off of the issues that seem so petty compared to the ONE issue-who are lost-those in need of salvation?
What do you think?
Share your thoughts.
posted by preacherman @ 5:50:00 PM
33 Comments:
Back a few years ago I remember hearing the phrase "unity in diversity" quite a bit. I think maybe "unity is not uniformity" is the new name for the same thing?
Anyway, I didn't know how unity and uniformity differed in their definitions. So I got out my dictionary (Webster's 1991)and looked them up.
Unity: Absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.
Uniform: identical or consistent; without variations in detail.
Uniformity: the state or quality of being uniform; overall sameness or regularity.
So now I'm really confused ...
Okay, let me clarify. On the surface, these words seem to be synonyms, but in actuality the connotations of each of them are quite different.
When I speak of unity, I am speaking of Christians standing together by choice. Unity as in the word united, together, choosing to embrace each other.
When I speak of uniformity, I am speaking of the word as in a military uniform. Everyone trying to be exactly the same. Everyone pressed and polished and standing at attention. Only one voice.
We are individuals who choose to be together and have varying opinions and voices so our choosing to be together does not make us all exactly of the same mind. Hence, we are united, but not uniform.
We all believe in Christ, so we are united. We are all individuals, so we are not all uniform.
I believe when people used to say "unity in diversity," they were saying that our differences are what give us strength. They believed that differences are what actually bond us together. While that may or may not be true, it is not what I was implying in this post.
By the way, I believe the Webster's definition of unity (Absence of diversity) is incorrect. You can be united to someone or something without losing identity or diversity. Unity does not mean sameness.
I've been burned (third degree) by church doublespeak in the past, so I'm very careful. You can't hold that against me, can you?
Don't get me wrong. I am for true Biblical unity because Jesus desires it.
One big problem is that there isn't a uniform definition for unity going around. Various groups have a different version of what it means.
Interesting quote:
Language works only when those using it agree on what the words mean, and that the meaning of words cannot be unilaterally changed by someone without the agreement of others. -William Lutz
Merely for interest's sake:
I found this on the Unitarian Universalist site:
Q: What are the bonds that unify the UUs?
A: Among the unstated bonds are our mutual respect for each other and our appreciation of the many religious, philosophical and spiritual paths which our members pursue. We are bound together in our mutual concern for one another's well being, and our willingness to aid each other in time of need.
They have unity, but I don't really think it is the model of unity Jesus calls us to. I guess we could say "unity isn't Unitarian" :-)
I agree, Webster is way off with their definition of unity. Your thoughts are well taken. We have tried to reach to "both sides" of the asile so to speak. We have had our nearest neighboring coC preacher at our church to speak, twice.
He told our preacher that they could never have him at their church. I think it's that pesky "uniformmity" problem. We have had a good relationship with our neighboring conservative Christian Church and came close to merging with them.
Unity is difficult at best because it takes "two" to be unified.
I stand united with my husband. We have unity, however, we are very different and we don't even agree on everything. Our unity is preserved because our own opionions and desires are overridden by love for each other. That is exactly what it will take to have unity in the church.
IMHO
Peace
Neva
Kathleen, I don't blame you at all for your reaction to being burned. I didn't mind in the least defining what I meant by those words. Words do get in the way at times.
I do, however, want to say one more thing. The only thing that I am aware of that can unify people is love. No matter what people believe or how people use words, the only thing that can truly bring you and I and our neighbor together is love.
Love is the cause of our unity. If we don't truly have love for one another, there is no way we can be unified to one another.
Kinney, maybe we should be using another word in seeking to become unified in Christ with all who declare they believe. Maybe we should seek to be united in Christ which I believe we are when we confess him as our savior, this does not necessarily mean we are all to be carbon copies.
Main Entry: united
Function: adjective
1 : made one :
2 : relating to or produced by joint action
3 : being in agreement :
In order to become united we have to have a point of unity, I believe that point is our belief in one savior Jesus Christ. If we truly believe Jesus is the son of God what better point of unity could we have? We are united in that belief and nothing can break the bonds we have.
Main Entry: uni·ty
1 a : the quality or state of not being multiple .
2 a : a condition of harmony : b : continuity without deviation or change (as in purpose or action)
Uniformity is not necessary to join a union.
Main Entry: 1uni·form
1 : having always the same form, manner, or degree : not varying or variable
2 : consistent in conduct or opinion.
3 : of the same form with others.
Main Entry: uni·fy
: to make into a unit or a coherent whole .
Unite in Christ not a church. Except for Christ’s Church.
you know how we all get up and get dressed and ready for the day of work? well, we have God's work to do every day. we get up, and dress our selves spiritually. we have the responsibility of preparing ourselves for God's work. this is done by being filled by the Spirit and renewed. how many people actually take on that responsibility? This is serious business and it is being treated as if it does not matter. that is why there is not unity...we decieve ourselves into thinking that we are all doing a fine job. when in reality we go out every day into the world unprepared to do our part for God and the Body of Christ. we think that it is the job of someone else...not ourself. it is each person's personal responsibility to keep filled, the Holy Spirit and our spirit in tune with each other? how many look to the word every day? there is nothing a preacher or anyone else can do for unity if people are not understanding the basic relationship to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the reasons for this, and actually make this the center of their life. it is like telling a starving and naked man to get up and go to work! no, the starving and naked man should first be getting up and feeding himself and getting dressed! people can not love like they are asked to love if they are not feeding themselves on the Love of God through the Holy Spirit and the word.
babies need to be fed and dressed. children of God should be feeding and dressing themselves in the Spirit.
be filled!
________________________________
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
from a letter to the colossians
I think the humility and grace found in Christ Jesus are keys here. Sometimes we do have to put up with that which we ourselves don't like. But also we need to have an openness for God to be doing different things at different times, using different means to reach a changing culture with the word and gospel.
actually, i think that ted is right...perfect unity is heaven and on earth it is found in just plain acceptance. in another word...
"love" for one another.
and when we come together, come together in the Spirit.
--------------------------------
i pray that we all understand to be renewed in the Spirit and to walk in the Holy Spirit is how we walk in the Spirit and grow in the Spirit and how we LOVE WITH THE LOVE OF GOD.
and how do we get to that love.
how do we maintain that love for one another. is it of us? or is it of God?
be fed...revive...renew...be filled.
humility and grace
found in Christ Jesus
given to us
through the Holy Spirit
the fruit
of
the
Spirit...
--------------------------------
Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
In the specific examples you have given in your original post, I do understand about small differences which should not result in disunity. Preaching on the "one anothers" would possibly be helpful.
But we all know at this time there are bigger disagreements going on. Yes, some will call those bigger things petty, but not everyone agrees with that assessment. And it seems some who have responded to your post have had some of those particular things in mind. And I admit, those bigger things are on my mind right now. So that is what I will address.
One thing I have noticed is there is no mention in the responses above about truth being related to Christian unity. But I don't think one should try to separate truth from love.
Rodney King said, "Can we all get along?" But I think Christ the King wanted a different kind of unity than the one in which everyone gets along merely for the sake of getting along.
Since I believe Jesus sent the apostles out to continue his work (John 17:13-21), then I do pay attention to the things Paul says, who was made an apostle by Jesus.
Here are some things to ponder:
Paul, the apostle, said, "I appeal to you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you AGREE with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in MIND and THOUGHT." (1 Cor. 1: 10)
Later, when Paul was talking about the Lord's Supper, he said, "In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval." (1 Cor. 11:17-19)
I do understand the idea of the "one body with many members who do not all have the same function", but if cancer should start growing in that body, the cancer becomes a part of the body. But it must be removed to prevent it from destroying the healthy parts, because that is exactly what it will do.
Of course what one person may call cancer in the above example, another may call healthy tissue and vice versa. It is just the way it is, I'm afraid. It won't get settled.
I suppose there are times we should bear with one another and other times we should have nothing to do with a divisive person. (Titus 3:10) May we all make the proper judgment in such cases.
I just wrote something about diversity ... I think that unity sometimes seems to be more about style than substance.
Laymond,
I said what I mean, and mean I what I said. :-)
The Spirit leads us towards unity, our flesh wars against it.
Unity happens not when we firgure it out but when we allow it to happen.
PM seems you and I could be united, as long as I say what you mean, and mean what you say.
morning pm,
have a great week,
and thanks!
Col 3:14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Love bind us together in Christ. Our love for him is what unites us.
I believe one divisive issue is philosophical in nature. Let me explain quickly:
Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
Many of the thinkers in our brotherhood believe that this can also mean "if you don't keep my commandments, you don't love me." This phrase is key to the "unity in truth" movement in our brotherhood. It is a powerful movement because they can say that anyone who disagrees with them is against truth, and if anyone mentions love as key, they point to the logical reconstruction above. My 2 cents, anyway... you can have it for free :)
in HIS love,
Nick
We tend to view the early church through rose tinted glasses. However,the early church had its own set of schisms. The biggest one, in my view, was that between Jew and Gentile that came out of prior religious and cultural differences.
Paul made an appeal to bring these two groups together and the way he did so was an appeal to the Holy Spirit. His point was - you may be more alike than appears on the surface of things. When two people have the same Spirit of God they are unified, even if they disagree on some issues.
Laymond's comment was brilliant and exactly the biblical definition of Christian unity.
If you and I share unity in Christ, I will not ever tell you "you must", and you will never tell me "you can't".
It should be enough that you have put your trust in the Christ of the Bible and are committed to His lordship. I don't really care when you worship, how, or with whom. That is God's business to take care of as He does the work of sanctification in each of us.
Grace to you,
Royce Ogle
Christians need to share the same views on the core gospel (death, burial, resurrection of Jesus, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins). And they need to commit to the same Lordship of Jesus. I think a pretty solid biblical case can be built that this is the "one faith" we must share for unity. Basically, the two questions we ask at baptism cover the subject. I've never heard anyone ask before a baptism about the candidate's view on the role of women, or divorce/remarriage, or instrumental music, etc. If the person could be baptized without considering their view on those matters, then we must accept people as Christians on the same basis.
Kathleen referenced the following , I assume to show Paul said there must be complete unity in all we do as Christians. But I believe it only confirms my comment .
1 Cor 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
And I might add the same savior. We need to read this in context with what was said before and after this verse, in order to fully see just what Paul was speaking of.
1 Cor 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1 Cor 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1 Cor 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
What is Paul really saying here? That our one point of unity is Jesus Christ. We cannot claim forgiveness of sin by the blood if we claim being baptized into any except Christ , he did not say we were to be clones one of the other.
1 Cor 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
1 Cor 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
i almost seems as if we already have unity..because of the Holy Spirit...we just need to accept it. (not fight it) do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephisians 4
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Nancy, you hit the nail on the head squarely. If we are baptized into the one Christ, and accepted into the one church, how can we not be unified.
I believe love in the center of Christianity. God is love. God so loved us that He sent his only Son. Jesus tells us, that all men will know that we are His disciples if we love one another. Jesus prays for unity in John 17. 1 John 4 tells us if we hate our brother who we have seen who can we love God whom we have have not seen. It is impossible. 1 Cor. tells us that all the things that we do for God, talents, if we have not love mean nothing. We need to understand that love is essential.
Second. We are saved by God's grace through faith. Obedient faith that would include baptism. It would include repentance, confession, baptism, living a discipled life. Living according to the will of God. Living accoriding to the Spirit. Understanding that it is no longer I but Christ. Striving in everything that we do to please God.
Third. We need to understand that as the body of Christ we are different parts. We are different. We have different gifts. Talents. We need to understand that not everyone is going to be like us. Think like us.
Fourth. I believe we need to understand that not everyone is going to have the same opinion and ideas that we are going to have on different things when it comes to different things. We are going to have different back grounds, different races, not everyone is going to think the way we do on everything. People aren't going to like the same songs. Some are going to like new songs while others like older songs. Some are going to like longer sermons while others are going to like shorter sermons. Some people like the KJV while others like the NIV. Some think it is okay to have fellowship hall while others don't. Some think it is okay to support children homes while others don't. Some think it is okay to drink out of one cup while others like to use many cups. Some have power point for different reasons while others don't. Some churches have music while others don't. Some people clap during songs while others don't. Some people say Amen during worship while others don't. Some think it is okay to have Bible class while others don't. Some think it is okay to worship at 5 and others at 6. Some churches have small groups while others don't.
I am just not understanding the tangents on which many of you have gone on to. We have a given framework, but within that framework we have the freedom to have different thoughts. Why do all of you want to be spiritual clones of each other?
Many of you are so deep in the theology of it all that you forget what this is all about. Don't become so myopic that you lose the clarity of the image we are trying to see-the one of Christ.
I do very much appreciate your comments and adding to the discussion. I hope that we will understand that people in our congregations are going to have different opinions and ideas and that not everyone is going to be all alike.
I love all of you very very much.
:-)
love to you too!
Unity seeks out strength in diversity. Unity views diversity as an asset.
Uniformity seeks out strength sameness. Unity views diversity as a threat.
Unity as a process is the exact opposite of uniformity as a process.
Good post.
I believe Ephesians is a great book from proclaiming unity. Unity is created by the Spirit. Our job is to "maintain" the unity of the Spirit.
Diversity is a great thing! Nothing proclaims the kingdom and the accomplishment of the cross then the people made up of every tribe, nation, land, and tongue (Rev.5).
That is why division is so troubling. It denies what God has created in Jesus Christ through the cross.
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