The cry for the unity of the body of Christ is more audible today than it has ever been, and yet it seems that the Church is no closer to true unity than it ever was. Not only do we continue to divide over old controversies, but we seem to create new controversies every year. Will there ever be true unity in among Christians?
The New Testament uses bread as a metaphor for helping us understand who we are as the body of Christ: many grains, but one loaf. What we discover when we consider this biblical portrait of our unity is that it is not something that we can achieve by our own endeavors; it has been purchased by the blood of Christ.
The phenomenon of bread comes into being as many grains of wheat are kneaded and baked together to form one loaf.
Because there is one loaf, says Paul, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. (1 Corinthians 10:17)
The many grains represent the many, individual believers . . . and the many denominations, the many confessions, the many traditions, theologies, emphases, etc.
The one loaf represents the one body of Christ.
We see only the many grains, but God sees the one loaf. From our side, the body of Christ looks divided, maimed, broken . . . but from God’s side the body of Christ is perfectly unified . . . and when Jesus returns for his body, we will arise to meet him in the air as one body, despite our seemingly irreconcilable differences.
The unity of the body of Christ is not something that we must create; the blood of Christ has already created it. It is not something that we must produce; the Holy Spirit has already produced it.
When we see disunity in the body of Christ, we need simply to believe and declare that we are one. Despite what I see, despite what I feel, despite what we are going through right now . . . we are one! We cannot be divided because Christ cannot be divided, and we are all in Christ. And even if we don’t like each other, we are going to spend eternity together, living under one roof, in one house, with one Father, and one Savior, and one Spirit, because we believe in one gospel, and have been baptized with one baptism . . .
We Are One!!!
However, God’s desire for us is that we would experience this unity on a daily basis. And so, Paul admonishes us to Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Paul understands that while we are one in actuality, we are often divided in experience. And so we must work to bring our experience into alignment with our actuality.
In like manner, the author of Hebrews admonishes us to Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). Holiness is separateness and peace is togetherness. Togetherness without separateness is conformity to the world. Separateness without togetherness is isolationism, which is also conformity to the world.
The word of God calls us to be separate together, or altogether separate.
How do we pursue this experience of unity in our separateness? The New Testament is full of answers to this question, and it is much simpler than you might think. For when it comes to unity, it is natural for us to think that we must achieve it intellectually, as if the unity of the body of Christ depends upon our doctrinal agreement.
If our unity depends upon doctrinal agreement, we might as well give up. We will never fully agree on every point of doctrine until Jesus Christ returns and causes us to know fully, even as we are fully known (1 Corinthians 13:8-10). Until then, we know in part . . . we see the truths of the kingdom through a smoked glass. And we are doing our best to be faithful to the truth that has been entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture.
While we can all agree on a core constellation of doctrines, we will never fully agree on every nuance. And so our experience of unity must come about in another way. Paul alludes to this as the more excellent way, and he defines it as love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Never.
We are the many grains, but yet we are being kneaded together and baked together to form one loaf. This kneading and baking is the work of God, not of us. Yet, we can participate, we can cooperate. And that cooperative participation that is the means by which we come into agreement with the power of the blood of Christ and of the work of the Spirit is as simple as loving one another with the love of Jesus Christ.
In all of our disagreeing, let us not forget to love. In doing so, we will begin to see more than the many grains; we, like God, will begin to see the one loaf.
