Unity in the Church

February 27, 2011

Christ is the head of the church. We are His body. We are ONE because of Christ.

All of us are different – in personalities, gifting and upbringings. Coming from different backgrounds and cultures, we are called into a family to belong to upon salvation in Christ.

We are already one in Christ but we are now called upon to preserve this unity in Him. We preserve and build unity by focusing on three things – truth, love and trust. All three must be present in order for the church to be united.

Truth is our foundation for unity. God’s word is truth. It determines what is the truth and not our feelings and experiences. Valid as they may be, our feelings must be interpreted according to the truth highlighted in the Bible. God’s teaching is the common gel that holds all our different ethnicities, cultures and experiences together.

Love is our action on truth in unity. Love is a commitment. It dares to confront our sisters and brothers when they are wrong. It takes risk. Love rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts and never fails because it is tough love. Love also keeps no record of wrongs. It forgives, forgoes and with time, forgets and heals. Unity does not mean that there will be no conflicts but it means that reconciliation is possible.

Finally, trust holds truth and love together which seals unity. A misrepresentation of truth or a casting of doubt is enough to separate friends. That has been Satan’s strategy since the Garden of Eden. He is a Con-Master that specialises in distorting the truth, creating suspicion and his aim is to grief the heart of God and to topple His kingdom work. Satan’s work is always to deceive, divide and destroy the body.

May we anchor ourselves in truth, live out in love and trust each other to build BHLC together.