I was on holiday overseas this year. It was a country which had welcomed people from many different nations. What was interesting was not how alike they had all become. Rather, it was often people from Scotland, Peru, USA, France seemed to ‘find one another’ and then share common ties and experiences together. We are ‘wired’ to find community, to join together.
But our unity in Christ isn’t merely being a part of a shared interest group. Nor is it merely shared experience. It’s so much more fundamental than that!
We see how important it is when we look in John 17. The cross, with all the suffering, pain, and penalty loomed before Jesus. What did He pray for? Central in His prayer was prayer for us, for our oneness. Our oneness is that important!
Why is Oneness important? Well, John 17:20-23 gives (and expands on) two reasons:
It is fundamental to being in Christ
“just as I am in you and you are in me”
In Christ we are His children, indwelt by His Spirit. We have a new relationship between us, which Jesus tells us should be as intimate as that between the Father and the Son! To act in a way which does not reflect this relationship is to rebel against all we are in Jesus.
It is fundamental to our witness to Christ
“that the world may believe that you have sent me”
Our relationship to one another in Christ should be so changed that it is unique in the world, that it is attractive, that it points to Christ’s work of reconciliation between God and us on the cross.
Our oneness in Christ is so fundamental that it is commanded and appealed to time and time again in Scripture (e.g. Eph 4:33, 1 Cor 1:10, 2 Cor 13:11, Phil 1:27, Phil 2:2). It is so fundamental that we are to take radical steps to ensure we remain at peace with one another (Matt 5:23-24) and separate ourselves from those who cause division (Rom 16:17, Tit 3:10-11, Prov 6:19).
But this begs the question – what does oneness look like?
What does Oneness look like?
It includes 4 key aspects:
Oneness of Doctrine (1 Cor 1:10)
Rather than divide over personalities or secondary issues the Corinthian church was urged to be one. This is not Oneness at any price. They were to unite in the Gospel, standing on God’s word (see also Eph 4:1-6, 2 Tim 3:16). But they were then not to divide over other or secondary issues.
Oneness of Character (1 Pet 3:18, Phil 2:1-8, Gal 5:22-26)
In Christ we are called to the character of Jesus, and this is what His Spirit works out in us. And, wonderfully, the outworking is patience, lovingkindness, peace … the very things that promote oneness.
Oneness in Growth (Eph 4:1-13)
We are told clearly that there is one gospel, one hope. And, focusing on this God gives gifts to His church so that we grow “until we all reach unity in the faith … attaining to the full measure of the fullness of Christ”. We can only reach maturity in Christ as we grow together!
Oneness in Fellowship (2 Cor 13:11)
There is a wonderful picture in Acts 2:42-29 of the winsomeness of oneness in Christ, as the church daily grew together in the knowledge of God, in loving and serving one another, in praising God together. And doing so we read “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”.
On holiday I experienced the pleasure of meeting people from my country of upbringing, of knowing the same families, of seeing the same areas. But what amazed me far more was the deep bond of love that there was immediately between those I met in various churches because we were one in Christ. It is utterly different, wonderfully real, deeply joyful – and it speaks loudly of Jesus to a needy world. When we see His oneness at work, it causes us to rush to lay aside all that divides so that Christ can be revealed in us!