A Plea for Christian Unity

Before Augustine of Hippo became one of the most prominent voices in Church history, he was a red-blooded young man who struggled mightily with sexual sins. On one occasion, in the heat of his battle with lust for women, he famously prayed, “Lord, give me chastity…but not yet!”

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Whether the sins we’re fighting are sexual or not, it’s easy to find yourself praying “not yet” prayers.

Lord, give me courage to do the right thing…but not yet.
Lord, give me wisdom to say what needs to be said…but not yet.
Lord, give me a more generous heart…but not yet. 

Recently I’ve noticed a trend where Christians seem to be applying the “not yet” principle to one of God’s most explicit commands in Scripture: that followers of Jesus maintain unity with one another. 

This is just one of dozens of other passages in which God makes His desire for Christian unity abundantly clear. But when I observe the state of the present-day Church, unity is so rare that it’s no exaggeration to say that Christians are more known for our divisions than our togetherness. This is especially true in the United States, where we have over 200 Christian denominations in the United States, with new (often ugly!) schisms happening each year.

I’ve been stunned by the rise in divisive rhetoric among Christians of late. Gone are the days when the greatest divide among believers was “Catholic vs. Protestant”. Numerous new battle lines have been drawn:

• Conservatives vs. Progressives
• “The Bible Is Literal Truth” vs. “The Bible is Literary Truth”
• Compassion for the Oppressed vs. Conviction about the Truth
• God’s Grace Is Available to All vs. God’s Grace Is Only for Some
• Infant Baptism vs. Believers Baptism
• “Some Women Can Preach!” vs. “Only Men Can Preach!”
• Charismatics vs. Cessationists

The list goes on and on. Christians are more divided by the day. To make matters worse, there seems to be an inverse correlation of Church divisions and Church growth. As the number of Christian denominations has risen in America, the number of new Christians being reached has fallen precipitously. In 1950, for example, 95% of Americans identified as Christians, but today, that number has fallen below 70%.

Perhaps this should come as no surprise, since Jesus tried to tell us that the Church’s witness to the world will hinge on Christians being united:

To put it bluntly, the more united Christians are, the clearer it is to unbelievers that Jesus is the Son of God! The reverse is also sadly true: the more divided we are, the more evident it will be to the world that our claims about Christ are false.

This should be reason enough for believers to place a higher premium on solidarity with one another. But when it comes to setting aside our differences for Christ’s sake, our prayer for unity too often rings hollow:

Lord, give us unity…but not yet! 

But what if we chose a different prayer – and a different path forward? Instead of looking first for reasons to disagree with one another, we celebrated our shared certainty about our savior, Jesus Christ?

It’s easier said than done, I know. And it’s also true that, when other believers unapologetically depart from core, Christian doctrines, we can’t pretend like that’s okay. But I believe there is a way to be discerning without always being divisive. In this increasingly polarized world, even a little bit of unity would go a long way as we strive to share Christ with our non-Christian neighbors.

With my next MG&T email, I’ll share a few practical things I’ve learned about pursuing unity among believers across our generation’s dividing lines. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you!

• Why do you think Christians are more divided than ever?
• What are some everyday things Christians can do to seek unity with other believers?
• How do you think we can seek unity without compromising core Christian principles?

I love hearing from you, so go ahead and click “Reply” and let me know what you think. As always, thanks for reading and sharing Monday Grace & Truth!