The ‘one another’ way
To a watching world, church unity is perhaps one of the greatest and least-realized expressions of the kingdom of God. The early church exploded because God moved in signs and wonders through a people who were “of one accord” (Acts 1:14; 2:1; 4:46) and shared freely with each other (Acts 2:44-45). Outsiders were drawn by a community of disparate people living in harmony.
The only snag is, we have to do this unity thing with other people, who are (also) imperfect. Hence the old lament, “To live above, with saints we love, that will be glory. To live below, with the saints we know, that’s quite a different story!”
So how do we pursue unity when it presents challenges?
First, by checking our attitude. What’s our orientation to church? Is it somewhere we go (like the grocery, the gym, the office)—you know, just one more thing on our to-do list? Or is it somewhere we belong? Seeing the same people every week without engaging further isn’t community; it’s commonality. Community is comm(onality) and unity.
Fortunately, the New Testament gives us plenty of guidance on how to turn our attitude into actions. There are more than 50 instructions on believers should live in regard to “one another.”
Many of them are things we should do. Here’s a sample:
Love one another (John 13:34), forgive one another (Colossians 3:13), submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21), exhort one another (Hebrews 3:13), confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), comfort one another (2 Corinthians 13:11), edify one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2), and be affectionate to one another (Romans 12:10).
Then there’s the things we should not do. Among them:
Don’t speak evil of one another (James 4:11), don’t grumble against one another (James 5:9), don’t lie to one another (Colossians 3:9), don’t judge one another (Matthew 7:1), and don’t provoke one another (Galatians 5:26).
We could probably sum up the hallmarks of these different things as exhibiting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In other words, demonstrating the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:26).
If you’re drawn to building greater unity in your church, what might it look like for you to take a different one of these “one another” admonitions each week for the next year and ask God how—and to whom—you might apply it?
A brief caveat. There’s unity and there’s “unity.” The for-real and the fake or forced. There are churches that teach the need for unity as a form of control and to suppress healthy discussion and debate. That’s abuse. Sometimes we need to walk away (a subject for another time) from a situation like that. Note that Ephesians 4:1 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (emphasis added), which suggests it’s not always possible. And we do see cases of believers going their separate ways in the New Testament story.
However, my impression from my years in and around the church world is that more Christians quit a church too soon than stay too long (cue my favorite joke in some other thoughts on unity).
AndyButcherOnline 
2 Responses to “The ‘one another’ way”
Great writing, great truths – thanks Andy
Thank you, Terry 🙂