Unity and Mission

It’s well-known that the Lord Jesus values unity in His church. He told His disciples plainly in the Upper Room that the number one indicator of a dedicated follower would be love for one another (John 14:34-35). Later, He begged the Father that His people might be one (John 17:2). In Jesus’ view of spiritual maturity, it isn’t the Christians who know their Bible best, those who denounce sin the most, or those who build the largest church—it’s the ones who unify by obeying the Great Commandment.

The same should be true of those of us who follow Jesus and lead His people. The priorities of a disciple or under-shepherd should include understanding the Word of God, encouraging and equipping Christians to walk worthy of the gospel, and adding new believers and followers to our numbers. However, those who are the greatest in Jesus’ eyes are those who give up their rights, do the hard work of reconciliation, and gather in assemblies of authentic unity.

Sometimes, we view unity as a nice add-on to the mission. We neglect the messiness of fractured relationships and leadership disharmony while devoting hours to the mission—saving the lost and building the saved. We like to separate unity from mission.

Jesus says that unity is the mission.

Talking and teaching about unity is easy. Trusting God enough to pursue reconciliation with those I’ve hurt or those who have hurt me is hard. Restoring relationships openly and vulnerably is exhausting.

It turns out that the mental and spiritual drag of disunity paralyzes mission. Suddenly, what preoccupies all of our time is the unhappy or unhealthy pastor, staff member, team member, or elder. People are pulling out timelines and documentation that prove who is right and who is wrong. Whole congregations get in the act and we have embarrassingly toxic business meetings.

Telling people about Jesus? Making disciples? Sending cross cultural workers? Advocating for justice? Walking worthy of the gospel? Who cares! We’re at war and taking sides. As soon as everyone agrees with our side, we’ll get right back to the mission.

Recently an embattled pastor I’ve been working with and helping some told me how delighted he was to realize that the conversations at a staff meeting were actually missional. “Ed,” he said, “I forgot how great it is to talk about something other than the charges and counter-charges of a church-wide conflict.”

Unity is your #1 priority because it’s Jesus’ #1 priority.

It’ll free up your time to stay focused on the mission.