Unity of The Church

by Joe Quatrone Jr.

Many people – even Christians – live only to please themselves ... but unity comes through humility. Selfish ambition can ruin a church, but genuine humility can build it up. We are to have Christ’s attitude of love towards each other. As we grow in faith and come to know Him better, we will become more capable of maintaining an attitude of loving, spiritual unity with each other. Each branch (believer) living in union with the Vine (Christ) is united with all the other branches doing the same.

Faith in Christ transcends all human differences and makes all believers one in Christ. All believers are heirs to His kingdom and none of us are more privileged or superior to anyone else in God’s family. The ultimate purpose of the church’s unity is that with one heart and mouth, we would glorify God. We will strengthen our unity by focusing on Him instead of ourselves.

A parallelism exists between a believer’s physical body, which has parts with differing functions, and the community of believers in Christ as a spiritual body. The point is that each member functions to serve the body, not the body to serve the members. Just as the parts of our physical bodies function under the direction of our brains, so too each member of the church is to work together under the command and authority of Jesus Christ. All believers belong to Christ and our spiritual unity is to be manifest in the way we live.

Peter lists five key elements that bring unity to believers in the church: (1) “harmony” – pursuing the same goals (2) “sympathy” – being responsive to others’ needs (3) “love” – seeing and treating each other as brothers and sisters (4) “compassion” – being sensitive and caring (5) “humility” – seeing ourselves from God’s perspective and acting accordingly (Pt. 3:8-11).