3 Activities That Help Us Maintain Evangelical Unity

Activities to Help Us Maintain Evangelical Unity

We must be deliberate about several activities if we are to maintain unity among ourselves as God’s people. Here are a few of them.

1. We must grow in our understanding of the gospel and of Christian truth in general.

Unity in the faith cannot deepen when it is only based on nice feelings, good music, and vague words. You can get those things anywhere in the world. They are superficial and never sustain rich, lasting unity. Christian unity is based on truth. The more truth we have in common, the closer our affinity is to one another. That was why it was important to start this book with two chapters on what God has done to secure our unity. It is the doctrinal bedrock on which Christian unity is built. Without that foundation, any form of unity among believers is fickle. It will not survive. If we are going to experience deep, long-lasting unity, we need to encourage Christians to think deeply about doctrinal truths.

That is one reason God has given the church elders who labor in the word and doctrine. It is to enable believers to grow in their knowledge of Christian truth. As they do so, they will minister to one another and to the world with a unity that will withstand the attacks of the evil one. This is what the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote,

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Eph. 4:11–13)

Unity

Conrad Mbewe

In this concise guide, Conrad Mbewe explores unity as a fruit of the gospel, urging believers to respond to Paul’s apostolic plea—standing together for the advancement of the gospel and the kingdom of God.

This unity of the faith is a doctrinal unity. It is attained as believers are regularly taught by their shepherds. The fruit of this is an equipping for ministry so that the body of Christ grows qualitatively and quantitatively. The phrase “Doctrine divides but love unites” is true only where people are prideful and divisive. In other words, people divide by misusing doctrine. Sometimes doctrine divides those who are in serious error from those who are seeking saving truth; it divides between those who espouse heresy and those who have the true gospel. That kind of division, sad though it is, must be recognized because one group makes up the mission field and the other group comprises the missionaries. Why should the two hold hands in the dark? Where there is the fruit of the Spirit, genuine humility enables individuals to be patient with those who sincerely want to learn. Instead of division, there is great fellowship around God’s truth in an ever-growing way. Those who are filled with the Spirit are not indifferent to heresies in the church. Rather, they continue to pray for the end of divisions caused by heretical teachers.

2. We must grow in love and concern for other believers.

When the apostle Paul noted the fragmentation in the church in Corinth over every conceivable obstacle (the personalities of their leaders, food sacrificed to idols, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, and so on), he gave them a principle that would overcome these obstacles, and especially the competitive spirit over spiritual gifts. He wrote at some length:

But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. . . .
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. . . .
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(1 Cor. 12:31; 13:1, 4–8, 13)

A key to preventing ecclesiastical divisions is biblical love.

Where individuals have hurt one another, “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). Where there is true Christian love, vices that put brethren on a war path with each other can be dealt with in an atmosphere of God-glorifying grace. We are commanded to love one another. Out of this love, we are also to honor one another, live in harmony with one another, accept one another, agree with one another, serve one another, bear with one another, be kind to one another, forgive one another, submit to one another, encourage one another, confess our sins to one another, pray for one another, offer hospitality to one another, and so on. These are the attitudes and actions that show the depth of Christian unity. It is deep. If we are to enhance unity among ourselves as believers, we need to be intentional about loving one another.

The perfect example of this is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Philippians:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 2:1–5)

Paul went on to describe the humiliated and exalted Christ. He is both our Savior and our example. If we follow in his steps, we will foster an environment where Christian unity thrives.

The more we are united in love, the more the world sees of Christ.

3. We must not neglect the opportunities to meet with the people of God.

Fellowship dies when Christians take one another for granted and stop making a special effort to be with each other. While technology has bridged the communication gap in an incredible way, it can never replace being with fellow believers in the same space and time. The early church in Jerusalem was described in this way:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And all who believed were together and had all things in common. . . . And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts. (Acts 2:42, 44, 46)

In the context of such meetings, you get to know fellow believers and they also get to know you. You see their needs and can do what you can to meet those needs, as was the case in the early church. Your knowledge of one another makes it difficult for other people to drive a wedge between you through slanderous accusations. It is easier for them to do so if you do not spend time together.

Though our primary source of fellowship should be in the local church, we should go beyond the local church in having face-to-face fellowship with other believers. Pastors should seek out other pastors in their area and seek to make time for fellowship. As Curtis C. Thomas puts it:

In each geographical area there should be evangelical ministerial associations in which the pastors can get to know each other. From those gatherings can spring the plans to help churches work together and thereby unify the universal body of Christ. The more fractured we are, the greater we become spectacles to the world. The more we are united in love, the more the world sees of Christ.¹

Christians should look out for local area conferences and camps and carve out time to be there. It is amazing how much you discover you have in common with believers from other churches, even other denominations! This realization deepens Christian unity. We need to heed the appeal of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, which says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:24–25). The “good works” that we encourage in one another will be the subject of the next chapter as we consider striving side by side for the cause of the gospel.

Notes:

Curtis C. Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors: Words of Encouragement and Counsel for a Lifetime of Ministry (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001), 175.

This article is adapted from Unity: Striving Side by Side for the Gospel by Conrad Mbewe.

Conrad Mbewe (PhD, University of Pretoria) serves as pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, and founding chancellor of the African Christian University. Conrad has authored over nine books and contributed to many others. God blessed him and his wife, Felistas, with three children and three foster children.