There seems to be a growing coalition of persons today who see all disagreements among the whole of Christendom as counterproductive, unwise, and often outright “unchristian.” One of the common refrains among this movement is that we are “at war” against those outside of the church, such as those who hold to secularism, transgenderism, Islam, etc., so disputes over doctrinal distinctives should be cast to the side to address greater threats. After all, actual slings and arrows from an enemy are far more dangerous to us than the questionable musings of a compatriot, right?
There are many texts that caution against a contentious spirit that looks to cause divisions (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 12:21-25, Titus 3:2, 9-11, etc.). Jesus said to John in Luke 9:50 that, “the one who is not against you is for you” when John tried to boast of contending against those casting out demons in Christ’s name. Jesus further said that the world will know His disciples by how they “love one another” (John 13:35). Are not the words of our Lord authoritative enough to cause us to “lay our weapons down” and avoid controversies with one another that might disrupt unity? Should we not lock arms with the people who do works in Christ’s name and “go to war” against the principalities, the powers, evil forces, and the gates of hell itself as they oppose the church?
Unity - Truth Pitted Against Truth
The presence of professed enemies of God outside the church’s doors should not cause us to never address concerns inside the church. We have examples in God’s word of God’s people “going to war” against those who named the name of Jesus. Jude went as far as to call them “people…designated for condemnation,” “ungodly,” those who “pervert the grace of our God,” “stains” at the church’s love feasts, “shepherds who feed themselves,” “waterless clouds,” etc. (Jude 4, 12). Peter used his first letter to instruct the church, in the midst of trials and attacks from the political powers, to do good to “put to silence” those afflicting them with slander and to “honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2: 15, 17), but used his second letter to call those falsely professing to believe “false prophets,” “false teachers,” deniers of “the Master that bought them,” and those whose “destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:1, 3). Paul, who said “aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace” in 2 Corinthians 13:11, called out persons by name when needed (1 Timothy 1:20, 2 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 4:9-10).
The Scripture is clear that we should not hate the people of God (1 John 3:15) nor forsake the harmony wrought by love (Colossians 3:14). That being said and settled, we cannot deny that Matthew 7:15-23 records our Lord Jesus’ warning about false prophets and false professors. Further, the “disciple Jesus loved”, in his second epistle, instructed his audience to “watch yourselves” (2 John 8) and “do not receive him” (2 John 10) when speaking of those who would call themselves believers. This came only a few verses after exhorting his readers to “love one another.” There is not a word from our Lord that is to be cast away as being frivolous or out of step with our current reality. His Word does not return void and He alone has the words of life. All of Scripture is, “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). If we read a word of warning, instruction, rebuke, or exhortation that seems to be in disunity with another such word in Scripture, we need to reevaluate our understanding of what is being said.
That is the reason why unity is not a concept we ought to define for ourselves. We have an understanding of what unifies the people of God if we simply read what He says about the people He calls His and what binds them together. For this, the words of our Lord in His prayer in John 17 give us clarity. In his prayer, Jesus identifies His own as “given Him” by the Father (John 17:2), who “know” the Father and the Son (17:3), keep and receive His words (17:6-7), are kept “in His name” (17:11), have His Word (17:14), are kept “from the evil one” and “not of this world” (17:15-16). Those same people are being changed by “the truth” found in His Word (17:17), sent “into the world” (17:18), “may all be one” with one another, “so that the world may believe” (17:21-23); they will one day be where the Son has gone (17:24), and they know the Father has sent the Son (John 17:25). The unity that our Lord prays for is built on a foundation of Christ’s love for us before the Father, our recognition of God as He has revealed Himself in the Son, and fidelity to His Word as it molds us and shapes us into His image. Faith, love, and obedience: these are the basic markers of those fellowshipping in the light (1 John 1:3-7, 2:4, 3:4-6, 23).
Unity or fellowship is had when the foundation is rightly laid. This foundation gives us the groundwork to know some things about what unity does not mean for the Christian. First, unity is not the same as surface level agreement. Our faith needs to be deeper than what demons, murderers, or traitors can affirm. A demon knows the name of Christ yet shudders (James 2:19), Cain brought sacrifices to the Lord yet hated his brother (1 John 3:12). Judas walked with Christ but believed 30 pieces of silver was a better reward than peace with God (Matthew 26:14-16). Faith is more than walking in the same direction for a season, love is more than recognition, and obedience is more than sacrifice.
Second, unity among the saints comes at the cost of exclusion, not the requirement of inclusion. We cannot say there is unity if we are not clear on what constitues disunity. Martin Luther was quoted as saying, “Peace if possible, truth at all costs”. We know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), heaven is impossible to enter apart from God (Mark 10:23-27), and the gate is narrow to life eternal (Matthew 7:13-14). We cannot have true and full peace with those who have chosen war with God (Romans 8:7). We have been purchased and claimed by the One who is “the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20), so we have no way to truly unite with the person who speaks lies and whose end is destruction.
Third, unity is a by-product of the goal, not the goal itself. We see peace with God and a new life that yearns to honor and serve Him as our great gain. The Westminster Shorter Catechism provides a neat shorthand of the truth a true Christian cherishes: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Unity is a beautiful blessing found among a people that share this great end.
Contending For The Sake Of Unity - Final Thoughts
At the end of the last blog, we landed on love as the great motivator for contending earnestly. This post looked to touch on the place of contention in unity. Returning to the book of 1 John, the apostle John’s people were secure. Their salvation was never at risk (1 John 5:13, 20), but the sweetness of the unity of the faith, the blessing of a clear conscience before God, and a confidence to go boldly before the throne of grace sat in the balance. He cared for their safety, and they could still be hurt. John gives us a clear example of a man who saw his children being ravaged by the wolves and who didn’t allow the call of peace or the fear of man to turn him aside from speaking. We ought to feel the same fire of conviction. Love drives us towards the good of one another, and unity is built when we agree on that good. The one who tries to enter among the sheepfold without going through the gate of Christ is a thief (John 10:1). At times, it may take a cry of alert to awaken the peacefully sleeping church. True and God-honoring contention does not look to divide true brothers but instead call out the thieves that have crept into the house of God unnoticed (Jude 4).