The Unity Problem

A generation of preaching tolerance, mutual respect, and acceptance has resulted in perhaps the high-water mark for inclusivism in our society.  It’s part of the air we breathe.  In the process, Christianity, which is based on the radically accepting grace of God for sinners, has become categorized as narrow, exclusive, intolerant, and disrespectful.

Our missional contexts are often called “UNIversities,” but they are that in name only; they are actually inclusive “Pluralversities.”  There is no UNIfying theory or unifying endeavor, except the commitment to include (almost) everyone in a pluralistic environment of diverse, fragmented ideas, worldviews, and lifestyles.  Obviously, Christians can be one of the groups looked at suspicion, as potential threats to this inclusive environment.

As far as perception is concerned, our understanding of acceptance sounds irritatingly dissonant, like fingernails on the chalkboard.  The watching world doesn’t get why Christians can’t get our act together.  “Shouldn’t religion be about love and acceptance?” they wonder.  Heck, even pop culture gets that.  The TV show LOST built much of its plot around the phrase (and episode) “Live together, die alone.”  The miniseries Band of Brothers used the tagline “They depended on each other. And the world depended on them.”  One recurring feature of many college movie plotlines is how a renegade group of misfits and outcasts unite to overcome a common foe.  See the unifying thread?  Campus culture is all about inclusivity.  So is pop culture.  And Christian culture is seen as the mean parent who refuses to give out participation trophies at youth soccer.

The dissonance we feel between the dominant “culture of acceptance” and Christian culture has become a major apologetic issue.  It’s a major objection to the faith voiced by non-Christians.  One question I regularly hear is “Why are there so many churches, denominations, and ministries?  How do you know yours is the ‘right’ one within Christianity, let alone Christianity being the right religion among all other faiths?”  This is just one of many reasons why we need to address the unity problem.

The Idol of Unity

Of course, the culture doesn’t get the unity thing–not the fully biblical version of unity, that is.  The value of inclusivity has become one of our dominant cultural idols.  It has been enshrined among the pantheon of other cultural idols, alongside things like personal autonomy.  As a quasi-religion, it is worshiped religiously, and its values are rigorously enforced.  Those in our culture who do not show the required levels of acceptance (like a loose cannon politician or celebrity) are taken to the media woodshed.  The version of unity celebrated at the popular level is a twisted, distorted version of the real thing.  It’s a good thing, but people have made into an ultimate thing.  Its one reason people stumble all over themselves to affirm every aberrant or unbiblical lifestyle choice.  In this environment, it’s essential that our campus ministries demonstrate that 1) We care a great deal about unity, and 2) Christianity has been a radically unifying faith from its inception; and 3) Christian unity differs in several important ways from the pop culture version.

Christian Unity is Different from Pop Culture Versions

When people–Christian or non-Christian–say “We need unity!” I always want to ask, “Unity in what?”  Unity needs an object.  Unity doesn’t exist independently.  Unity is something that exists in, of, for, and around something else.

While the culture makes unity an end in itself, never really specifying what exactly we’re supposed to be uniting around (because, you know, that might alienate some people), Christians make clear that the basis of our unity is the person and work of Jesus Christ.  We are “united in Christ,” says Paul (Romans 6:5; Philippians 2:1).  So Christian unity is in Christ, by Christ, and for Christ.  He’s clearly the cause, the reason, and the goal of our unity.  To be a Christian is to live out our new identities as members (body parts) of the Body of Christ.  If we’re not conscious of this, we’re like body parts that have been cut off from the body, like a severed finger.  Not much life there!  So we are united in Christ and his Gospel.  Our unity is expressed in real community.  And we are united around and for the mission.

Making our unity about Christ, and not something else, protects us from two common errors.  This is especially relevant when we are trying to determine who we can partner with on campus or elsewhere.

The first danger we face is that of embracing Truth to the exclusion of Unity.  You know what this looks like: drawing a hard line at issues like eschatology, or charismatic gifts, or Calvinist vs. Arminian.  Sometimes it’s an embrace of “our Truth,” as in “our approach to Bible Study,” or evangelism, or discipleship.  This goes well beyond being passionate about a particular doctrine or distinctive, to willfully breaking fellowship with other Bible-believing, Jesus-loving Christians because they view a certain issue differently.  But if our unity is found in Christ, we ought to be humbled by the radical grace he extends to us in the Gospel.  We should be amazed that God would include us, and loathe to exclude anyone who loves the same Savior we do.

The second danger is that of embracing Unity to the exclusion of Truth.  This is when people make the mistake of believing that, because God’s grace is accepting of all, that therefore anything goes. Just because God accepts us unconditionally doesn’t mean he leaves us that way.

We need both grace and truth to have true unity.  Jesus, in himself, personifies grace and truth.

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:14-16).

===================

Rev. Stephen Lutz is a campus minister with CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) at Penn State in University Park, PA. Steve works with a movement of student groups reaching out to their relational networks. He is also the director of Life Groups for Calvary Baptist Church in State College. Before returning to Penn State, he helped plant Liberti Church (PCA) in Philadelphia, PA. Steve’s interests include reaching college students, starting churches, innovation and entrepreneurship, and Penn State and Philly sports. He lives with his wife Jessica and their three children (Samuel, Micah, and Abigail) in Boalsburg, PA. He blogs at http://stevelutz.wordpress.com and tweets @stephenlutz.

[Back to the Real Life, Real Faith page]