What Causes Disunity Among Christians?

 Do you ever find yourself longing for unity—in our world, our country, our city? In your own life and relationships? More than just a sentiment, we want the real thing! It turns out that Jesus longed for this kind of unity too. In fact, He spent part of His longest recorded prayer praying for unity among His followers.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

The phrase “so that” tells that the purpose for the prayer, for Jesus’s followers to “be brought to complete unity.” So, what causes disunity among fellow Christians? There are four things that offer us caution, but also hope!

1) We find unity when we know what we are united around.

It is difficult to have unity when the “rule of faith” is not spelled out or understood by the people. In other words, if we want to have unity, we need to know what we must have unity around. If we were to picture our bond as Christians like a circular table, it would be important to know what is at the center of the table. What is it that we all reach for and gather around in a posture of togetherness? This is a meaningful question to invest some time discussing as a community of faith. After all, we might not all be on the same page on what should bind us.

When push comes to shove, the central truths of Christianity center on truths around the person and work of Christ.

These are the doctrinal statements we must hold to if we call ourselves “Christian.” Truthfully, a whole blog or sermon series could be devoted to this topic! But for the sake of space, here are a few that ought to be on the list of fundamentals that unite us.

The identity of Jesus, key passage Philippians 2:6-11.

He is Yahweh (“the LORD”) incarnate. Being equal with God by nature, He became human to come and save humanity. The key here is that Jesus is not merely a human, though not less than either. He is the same Lord that appeared to Abraham in Genesis (John 8:56-58). Again, much more could be said, elaborating on His role as the Messiah and so on. But the point is that comprehending the identity of Jesus is central to trusting Him and having faith in what He has done for us.

The death and resurrection of Jesus, key passage 1 Corinthians 15.

The historicity and the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus are among the primary truths of the gospel. If you are wondering where to invest more time understanding the message of the gospel, this a topic we would encourage you to do so! 1 Corinthians 15 makes it abundantly clear that everything hinges on these two events. If this did not actually happen, then our faith is in vain!

 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

So it is, our faith is not mere principles or ideologies, it is based on a real person and real events. All the meaning of what we believe is locked in the historical reality of the death and resurrection of Christ.

The necessity of Jesus, key passage Acts 4:12

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Peter preaching, Acts 4:12)

Believing in Jesus is not considered optional or extra credit. It is necessary and essential for salvation. In other words, there are not many ways to obtain eternal life with God, there is only one way (John 14:6).

If you are up to the challenge, try putting together a list of truths that bind us at the table of the common faith. Be sure to have appropriate passages associated with each one!

2) We find unity when we know what we are united for.

In Jesus’s prayer for unity there is also a prayer for purpose. We are united for the purpose of our mission to the world. Our unity is not to make us hideout, but to engage.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17:15-18)

One of the best ways to cultivate unity is to get on mission together. It builds camaraderie like no other.

Going back to the table analogy, we are not meant to stay at the table, but to build a bigger table and bring more people to it with us. It is mission-critical that we work together and have a unity of heart and purpose if we want to play a role in this grand assignment.

3) We find unity when we pick the important battles to engage in and avoid the less essential ones.

While we are supposed to engage the world, we are to be selective on which battles we choose to fight. Scripture offers some exhortation on this.

It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. (Proverbs 20:3)
23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
We are not to opt-out of the conversations and “battles,” but we are to be careful, selective, and judicious about what we engage and how we engage these. There are many important topics that are OKAY to disagree on. At times we might need to have a healthy compromise so that we can work together. In fact, some of our greatest innovations come out of healthy disagreements.
“In the essentials—unity; in the non-essentials—liberty; in all things—love” Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD)
It goes back to what we said on point 1 of this post, we have to know what we are united around. The rest is fair game. Even if it is important to discuss, it is still secondary. Here are some good questions to consider:
  • Will this battle cause disunity among fellow brothers and sisters in the faith?
  • Is it necessary?
  • Is the outcome worth the fight?
  • Or will it lead to regrets?

4) We find unity when we remember that we are family.

Sometimes we compromise our unity when we forget that we are family first. Our familial identity as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ needs to take precedence over anything that would try to cause division.
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Corinthians 1:10)
Families fight. And that is okay and even expected! But we ought to know that our arguments should not lead to forgetting that we are blood relatives united by the blood of Christ. If that is the case (and it is) then we can work on our disagreements with the goal of strengthening our unity and purpose (which we wrote more in-depth about in this other blog post).
All in all, do not forget, the Church is a family and God calls His church to be unified. And that begins with each one of us.

4 Comments

  1. Eileen on October 26, 2020 at 3:35 am

    Very good points made in the post. It is not that we are not to argue, but to be very knowledgeable about our subjects and to respect others ideas. thanks for making this available for me to read at this point in my life.

    • Brayden Brookshier on October 26, 2020 at 8:45 pm

      Hey Eileen,

      Thanks for the encouraging feedback! We are in the works of creating many more resources to accommodate learning about these important subjects. If you liked this blog post I think you would also really like one from earlier this year. Click HERE to read this related blog of ours!

      • Wizydollars on December 3, 2021 at 12:32 am

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  2. Philip on February 16, 2022 at 11:11 am

    This subject build My life thank you the encoragement

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