Unity’s Unlikely Starting Point

Late last year, a fellow Kairos volunteer wrote me a heartfelt reflection on prison ministry in general and some kind words of personal affirmation, as well. His note touched me and moved me to pen a reply from which I share this brief excerpt: “Throughout the past year, the word that keeps coming to me is ‘unity.’ How powerfully God acts when we submit to Him — and to each other — in unity. It starts with each and every man on the team.”

Life, even among believers, isn’t always so harmonious, is it? The word “unification” itself implies separation as a starting point — “E Pluribus” we get, but “Unum” is elusive. What does division and discord among us look like? Ever plainspoken, the apostle James confronts believers for our self-centeredness that divides: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? . . . You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.”¹ And Paul, with an edgy rebuke, chides the Corinthians for their divisive pride: “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.”² Such division is as sinister as it is ugly, for James teaches us, “envy and selfish ambition in your hearts . . . does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”³

Then how must we commence? Paul exhorts us to consciously choose unity over discord. “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”⁴ In other words, elevate the body of Christ over all that would carve it to ineffective pieces. Then do we for the sake of unity compromise the Word of God in appeasement and acquiescence? Not at all! Rather, even in our differences and interpersonal struggles, let us never lose sight of who we are and Whose we are: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”⁵ Then let us depart from division and flourish in the oneness that is ours in Christ Jesus.

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” — Romans 12:10 NIV

Father, Your ways are higher than ours. In wisdom and love, You have united us in Christ. Deliver us from the evil one, that we will grow up together and bring glory to Your name. In Christ we pray. Amen.

¹ James 4:1-2 NIV
² 1 Corinthians 11:18-19 NIV
³ James 3:14-16 NIV
⁴ 1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV
⁵ 1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV