But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. – James 3:8 

I have spent that last year in a discipleship program that was like no other I have ever known.  It is the C.S. Lewis Institute Fellows program, and each month has been jam packed with research, reading assignments, books, articles, videos, discussion groups and a lecture.  While this has been an intense time of Bible study, Bible meditation, practicing spiritual discipline, reading and writing, the most compelling thing about this past year was to see the Body of Christ come together in love and unity.  I am not talking about a typical Sunday or Wednesday night where you go to church and see your friends.  No, that is quite common.  This was unique because this group had come together from a variety of backgrounds.  The group included Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Baptists and a mix of non-denominational evangelicals.  The make-up was married, single, parents, students, retired, professionals, and all races from every conceivable economic class.  With little in common other than our faith, it did not take long to see the strength of the bonds of Christ and the orchestrating of God, assembling this group for His glory, His purpose and our benefit.

What I just described was a picture of what Jesus prayed for right before the crucifixion.  To experience growing together, supporting each other, sharing, praying, and doing all the things that we are called to do as believers in order to be a witness to the world.  Check out the words that Jesus prayed in John 17:

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³ I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.  John 17:22-23

This is an incredible prayer!  Jesus prays that we would be “one” and that we would be “perfected in unity” so that the world would know that Jesus was sent by God.  When we think about the gospel, what verse first comes to mind.  John 3:16 of course, “God so loved the world that He sent His Son…!”  Later on in John 13, He tells us that “everyone would know that we are His disciples, if we have love for one another.” (John 13:35).  So, the last prayer for Jesus was that people would see our love and unity and believe in the incarnation of the Savior of the world.  Are you seeing the magnitude of the importance of Christian unity?  Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are One, and that our oneness would be a testimony to onlooking world!  Let’s just let that sink in for a bit!  We, the church, spend a lot of time and money on programs, buildings, speakers, bands, light shows, and we focus on things like being kid friendly, family oriented, and culturally hip; we host conferences on leadership, marriage, overcoming this or that, and yet none of that is what Jesus prayed for.  He simply prayed that we would be one body, one voice, one spirit, in Him, living in unity and caring for one another.

²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; ²⁶ and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. – John 17:26   

The way to this unity, Jesus prayed, would be by sharing in the love that the Father and the Son share, that this divine love would unite us to be one.  This is God’s desire for His church, for every believer, to be united in love, putting the needs of our fellow believers ahead of our own needs (Philippians 2:4).  This is also the message that the Holy Spirit gave Paul as he prayed the Ephesians would be rooted and grounded in Love, and to know the breadth and length and heights and depths of the love of God which surpasses all understanding (Ephesians 3:14-19).

The reason that I take time to spell this out is because I think that our lack of unity in the church is the biggest obstacle for the church today and often a bad testimony to the watching world.  It is not uncommon to hear opinions and criticisms of believers largely coming from other believers.  Because our theology is a little different, or our worship is a little different, or we don’t use the same version of the bible, or disputes about baptism or spiritual gifts.  If you are like me, you can probably think of many others that bother you and even some that we are guilty of as well.  Related to this is gossip!  We are to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, but we are often the opposite demonstrating zero control over our inner-pharisee.  Many of us are unaware that our tongues are a wicked evil full of deadly poison and our words often can set someones life on fire (James 3:8).  In this respect, we often look very much like the world, blinded by spiritual pride, stones are casts with little or no discernment or compassion.  In sharing this, it is my hope to shine a light on our common bond in Christ, and that we would begin to function as the body, across denominational lines, across traditions, across our sensibilities to what we think church should be.  We have to begin by accepting the fact that the perfect church doesn’t exist, but what does exist is Spirit of Christ that binds us all together.

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-6

In Ephesians 4, we see Paul’s admonishment to the church to be humble, with gentleness, patient, and showing tolerance for one another in love.   So we are not only to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but we are to seek it out diligently for the sake of the unity of the Spirit(v.3).  Simply stated, that means we have to try.  We have to practice these things.  They are not going to happen on their own, without our obedience to the call to live our lives in a “manner worthy of the calling” of Christ.  That means, as the church, we need to individually do our part to promote and preserve unity.  That means that we need to live and act like disciples of Jesus.  Now, let me stop here and point out that the call for unity is not a call to set aside discernment, but rather a call to greater discernment.  It is a call to return to our calling, that is to be a Christian who commits to a life of discipleship.  Discipleship is the umbrella of the Christian life that encompasses the diligent pursuit of unity, along with everything else that characterizes a child of God, including sound doctrine, practice of Spiritual Disciplines, evangelism, missions, prayer, charity, assembling with the saints, sacrificial living, loving our neighbors and communion with God.  In short, the life of discipleship is to love God by practicing these things (John 14:15, John 15:14), love fellow believers (John 13:34-35, John 15:13), and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18). 

Lastly, though many passages can be shared on this topic, I will close with Romans 14.  The twenty verses below should be studied, memorized, prayed over and practiced.  As we seek to grow in discernment, it is good to be aware when our own sensibilities infringe on the life of another.  I think it is a good thing to share our convictions, but we can quickly drift into reckless waters when we desire for others to live out our convictions on non-essential matters.  Romans 14 can be a guardrail for us as we engage believers from other traditions, other cultures, other denominations, and other differences that cause each of us to see the world differently.  I love Romans 14 because it can be a tutor for us in learning to be gracious and understanding, traits that Jesus lived out throughout the gospels.

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. ² One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. ³ The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.”

¹² So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. ¹⁴ I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.¹⁵ For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; ¹⁷ for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. ²⁰ Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. ²¹ It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. ²² The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

ROMANS 14:2-22