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This article is part of the 'Ground Up' project.

Summary

The unity of the Body of Christ is central to our identity and therefore to our activity: there is only one Body, so we need to learn how to live in the light of this truth.  We are all part of one Body, but that Body is made of many different parts; we are not all the same, so we are not simply called to unity; we do not all believe the same, so we are not called to unity where we agree - we are called to discover something far harder and far richer: our unity in diversity.

There is one body, but it has many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12).  That is the way it is designed: different parts, with different functions, different strengths and different weaknesses. Different muscles literally pull each limb in different directions, and this is necessary for the body to function. Difference, diversity, even operating in opposition to one another at times, is all good - as long as we are all responding to the headship of Christ: doing what we are designed to do, but only when it is good and right and loving to do it.

The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!" (1 Corinthians 12:21).  The Anglicans can't say to the Baptists, “I don’t need you!”; the Pentecostals can't say to the Catholics, “I don’t need you!”.  No tradition has it all; each tradition, each denomination, has something unique, something we need - whether we understand it or not.

In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without (1 Corinthians 12:22).  Small and weak groups have a perspective on what it means to be faithful: following Jesus, knowing that we do not have the knowledge and resources to do what is needed, so we are entirely dependent on His guidance and strength - which we receive, in part directly, and in part through the other members of the Body.

As human institutions, we have to operate independently: employ our staff, file our accounts, rent or maintain our buildings, and so on. But the life of Christ flows, and the Body of Christ is built up, not through our independence but through our interdependence, "as each part does its own special work" (Ephesians 4:16).  Growing in maturity means that our unity in diversity will increasingly be seen in all we do.

Perhaps we need insight and the Spirit's revelation to understand what we have to offer the other parts of the Body of Christ in Bristol, and what we would benefit in receiving from the other parts of the Body of Christ; perhaps those things are already very clear to us.  Either way, we are one Body, so how can we live that truth, so that it becomes more real for those in our care, and so that the world can see Jesus shining through His one Body?

Unpacking

Jesus prayed for His followers, "That they all may be one" (John 17:21).  And this unity cannot just be a theoretical thing, just a theological truth: He insists that it is expressed in the way we live - "Love one another; as I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34).  The kind of unity Jesus commands involves love, and we are not expressing the love of Jesus if we are fighting one another - or if we are ignoring one another, with each going our own way.

Unity is a constant theme for Paul.  For example, his letter to the Romans makes repeated reference to this - not only to the unity of Jew and Gentile in Jesus, but also to the fact that God treats them the same, "for there is no partiality with God" (Romans 2:11).

There is also constant reference to unity in Paul's letter to the Ephesians: for example, Jews and Gentiles have been brought together, so that the two are "one new man, establishing peace" (Ephesians 2:15); then later, we are reminded that there is one body and one Spirit, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5).

Also in Ephesians, Paul explains that the unity of the church is a foretaste of the greater unity which God is working towards, His purpose "to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ" (Ephesians 1:10).