Unity at All Costs

A united people will be hard to defeat. All the virtue of a people rests on its sense of unity and on the certainty of those convictions that, over time, become values. Convictions give rise to values

. Today many people talk about values: ethical and moral values, values governing behavior and social conduct, values concerning the family, marriage, parenthood, and so on. The church is a people governed by values: the values of the Kingdom, the values of Christ. In the church, these values must find expression in love for God Himself, in faithfulness to His Word and, consequently, in love for one another.

Loving God is a commandment and a law, and the only guarantee that, empowered by His Spirit, we can follow Him in all His ways and serve Him with heart and soul.

The story of the conquest of the promised land is our own story; the qualities of the people God began to raise up as a chosen nation centuries before Christ are an inspiration to Christians today: unity around the true God, obedience and faithfulness to His Word, worship centered on His person and attributes.

Often good intentions are undone by excessive emotionalism in the way we do things for God without first seeking His counsel. In this chapter of the history of the people of Israel (Joshua 22), one part of the congregation decided to build an enormous altar on the other side of the Jordan, but the Lord had already established another place for His worship. It seemed that a division was forming among the people to whom God had granted rest and peace after arduous battles. Why a second sanctuary? Why erect a new altar of worship so large and imposing that it could even be seen from the other side of the Jordan? the Israelites wondered. It was necessary to learn the reasons and resolve the conflict this action entailed. Cannon versus diplomacy.

The Israelites’ first reaction was to prepare to fight their own brothers; their second was to send a delegation of respected members of the congregation to air the matter and seek a solution through negotiation. Godliness and mercy prevailed; diplomacy born of love for God. The intention of those accused was simply to build another altar as a witness, a symbol of the people’s unity that future generations would remember. Their mistake was not having consulted the Lord. Accused and accusers—both members of the people of God—reached out their hands to one another, and the conflict was resolved, so that people in the congregation were heard saying: “Now we are sure that the Lord is among us…” (Joshua 22:31).

The same thing happens in many of our churches. We build alternative altars and become distracted from true worship; we focus on the things of man rather than on the beauty and majesty of the Lord. If the sound system or projector breaks down, our enthusiasm for worship wanes. If the sanctuary is not full, it hardly seems worth giving ourselves to genuine worship. Conflicts arise in the church because forgiveness and mercy are lacking; we prefer to gossip about a matter and the people involved rather than approach them in a godly, Christian way, listen to their reasons, and ask for an explanation. Misunderstandings abound when we listen only to gossip. Unity is broken, and the members of the body of Christ are torn apart. The devil steals the applause from naive opportunists who play into his hands by giving in to their emotions.

The Lord Jesus Christ wants a united church whose members hold high the teaching of forgiveness and godliness and put fellowship and brotherhood into practice. For the world to believe, we must be united, of one mind, upright in our walk, willing to give the best of ourselves to the Lord of the church. Despite storms, gossip, misunderstandings, and the frailty of those weak in faith, the Lord wants His people to be united…at all costs.

May God bless His Word!

Reading. Suggested: Joshua 22.