Peter Sammons explores the question of true – and false – unity amongst those who call themselves Christians. A three part article. PART 2…..
Unity and Aaron’s Beard
The Churches Together call for “unity” is usually predicated on Jesus’ new command, which we explored in Article No 1, and specifically on those three verses in the Bible that actually use the word “unity”. These are Psalm 133:1, and Ephesians 4:3 and 4:13. Whilst these verses may be cited (bandied-about?) those who quote them are often very hazy about the context in which they were given and therefore how they should be understood. It was the late David Pawson who used to say “a verse taken out of context is a pretext”. In other words you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say if you simply verse-mine, finding verses and lifting them out of their context to be used as a trophy in support of a particular position.
Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.
It is of course wonderful when God’s people live together in unity. No one in their right mind would argue otherwise. Many of us have experienced this at a practical level, attesting to how beautiful it is. But let’s read on. It is like precious oil running down Aaron’s beard. So who was Aaron? And what oil is precious? Those who quote verse 1 may balk at verse 2. Aaron was Israel’s first high priest – and anointed as such. The oil is plainly the oil of priestly anointing – and as such it is precious. As Jesus is this world’s eternally permanent High Priest, and as Aaron is seen as a “type” of Christ, so his anointing was visible and efficacious (that is, effective in what it seeks to do). True unity is a glory to God – Who self-identifies as the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob (Exodus 3:6 and Matthew 22:32).
But what about false unity?
Psalm 133 – which is only 3 verses, tells us that true unity is like dew falling on Mount Hermon, verse 3. Mount Hermon is the northern extremity of biblical Israel, so this unity is, in some mysterious way, associated with physical Israel. At this point some Christians will start to feel uncomfortable. Psalm 133 verse 3 goes on to speak about Mount Zion. Mount Zion is often a motif for Jerusalem, the eternal city of God. At this point even more Christians are likely to feel uncomfortable! We can say that this true unity of which the Psalmist writes is to be seen in the eternal sphere. Why? Because Zion is a motif for Heaven itself. So in some way Heaven is to be compared to Jerusalem, or more particularly to the New Jerusalem, where lies the eternal destiny of all those who choose to follow Christ. We might ask, why then do so many Christians sever verse 1 from the following two verses? Is this a case of verse-mining?
But what about false unity?
Ephesians 4:3
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
We are, then, to make efforts to maintain unity. But what unity? In this single verse we can see it is unity in the Spirit. So, having become true believers in Jesus Christ, we are then sealed with and by the Holy Spirit. That in turn will lead to unity between brothers providing they remain in that same Spirit. But what happens when some Christians defy the Holy Spirit? Can we maintain “unity” then? Should we try?
Ephesians 4:3 and 13 MUST be read in the context of Ephesians chapter 4. Let’s not try and separate one verse from the rest of the chapter. Incidentally the translation above is not literal – the “translation” above uses “dynamic equivalence”. If you don’t know what that means then Google it and you are likely to find some helpful background. A more literal translation of verse 3 is:
“being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit”
So in fact we are not told to “make every effort”, which has the smack of “compromise” about it. No, in reality we are told to “be eager” for unity. That makes a lot more sense, in truth. We are to see unity as a goal worth striving for and to be eager for it. But we are not called to compromise to preserve some pretended unity. Nor are we to compromise on truth, pretending that this is a godly thing to do. I sense that “Churches Together” is more about comfortable compromise than an eagerness to uphold Scriptural truth amongst the churches. If so, the ‘unity’ is false and the endeavour ultimately self-defeating.
Defining unity
Can we usefully define what true unity is? We can rejoice in the fact that the body of Christ (itself a helpful description of what the true church is) is comprised of many parts – see 1 Corinthians 12:12ff. If you would like to get more insight into the idea of the body or Christ then this is useful: https://www.gotquestions.org/body-of-Christ.html
Our Lord made provision for a “broad” church, with no demanded uniformity of praxis, of focus, or of ‘theology’ (note: that word theology is not found in Scripture!). But a broad church MUST STILL tread a narrow pathway. Jesus Himself said so – Matthew 7: 13-14. In that sense were indeed to be narrow minded, and rejoice in the fact!
True unity then, surely, is the unity of those true disciples of Jesus who seek to follow Him in Sprit and in Truth. It is the unity of those who recognize the status of the true believer as an exile, living in a foreign land – and who therefore do not dance to the world’s tune.
(See the first epistle of Peter. Peter opens his letter by describing its recipients as “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.” The idea of Christians as strangers in the world is a key motif of the letter. Peter calls his readers “strangers” or “foreigners” in 1 Peter 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:17 and “aliens and strangers” in 1 Peter 2:11).
Compromise on the essentials of the faith is simply impermissible for the true Christian. When a “church” decides to go against the straightforward commands of Jesus or the clear revelation of scripture, then unity cannot be achieved, and nor should it be sought. In such situations a degree of separation is essential – and possibly total separation.
Of course we will be accused of being narrow minded. But as we have seen, Jesus Himself told us, in essence, to be narrow minded and uncompromising. No wonder the devil has coined that term and applied it so successfully against true believers. Yet if we are not “minded” to tread that narrow path, we will fail to do so. We shall wind up on the broad path – and we know where that leads! Christians really do have to make up their minds on this.
Peter Sammons is commissioning editor at Christian Publications International. Relevant to this article his books “The Empty Promise of Godism” (2009), “Rebel Church” (2013) and “The Prince of Peace” (2015) are freely downloadable:
https://christian-publications-int.com/default-65.html?ID=78
https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/RebelChurch.pdf
https://christian-publications-int.com/images/PDF/PRINCE_20141110_FINAL.pdf
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