UNITY – THE HALLMARK OF THE TRUE CHURCH

“Greet Mary… Andronicus and Junia… Ampliatus… Urbanus and Stachys… Apelles… Aristobulus… Herodion… the household of Narcissis… Tryphena and Tryphosa… Persis… Rufus and his mother… Asynchritis… Phlegon… Hermes… Patrobas… Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them… Philologus… Julia… Nereus and his sister… Olympas and all the Lord’s people with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.” Romans 16:6-16.

Strange-sounding names! Real people! Paul knew a host of people, both men and women in the churches in Rome, well-known associates who had worked with him or who had served well in the churches he had founded or with whom he was closely associated. He was always quick to commend or show appreciation for his fellow believers.

When one thinks that this was a young movement in the Roman Empire – not even thirty years old, with no history except that of the Jewish people, which was their root, the maturity of God’s people in a hostile environment was amazing. They had to be, because there were few grey areas in the church.

O yes, there were always the false teachers who distorted the gospel and tried to lure people away. There were the gullible ones, who left the flock to follow them. But to be a follower of Jesus was dangerous and not for the faint-hearted. His true disciples knew the risks, stuck together and supported and cared for one another, creating a tight-knit group across the empire called “the church”.

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” Romans 16:17, 18.

Into this close fellowship crept those who were there for their own reasons. Paul was not shy to warn believers about those who sowed dissention and taught lies to confuse, cause division and lure people into following them. Jesus described these people as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” From the earliest days of the infant church, the apostles were careful to preserve the precious unity that the Holy Spirit had created in the beginning.

“All the believers were together and had everything in common… All the believers were one in heart and mind…” Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32a.

As the church grew and spread, there were the unscrupulous ones, always ready to do the work of their master, the devil. The apostles all warned the flock against such people. On his way to Jerusalem for the last time, Paul warned the Ephesian elders

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that, after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30.

How tragic that there are people who are so greedy and self-centred, in spite of hearing the truth, that they use unsuspecting people for their own ends.  Leaders in the church have a threefold responsibility – to protect love, preserve unity and promote contentment. Paul’s counsel was, “Be ruthless with those who cause division. Have nothing to do with them. Throw out the rotten apple from the box before it infects all the others.”

Why is this so important? Unity is the very glue of the universe. It is a reflection of who God is.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4, was the daily confession of the people of God. The constitution of Israel, the Torah, was an expression of and a mandate to preserve unity among His people because God is one. It is our mandate to maintain that unity in humility by love and mutual submission under the authority and leadership of God’s appointed leaders so that the church can be a reflection of God to the world.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.