The Secret to Unity

            I believe in the goal of unity. After all, Jesus called his followers to be unified.

            Now, how do you live that unity?

            Scripture teaches us that, if we are truly serious about pursuing the life of Christ, if we truly desire to be remade into the image of Christ, an integral part of this process is making disciples of Jesus.

            Jesus came to earth to make relationships with people, which is another way of saying Jesus came to make disciples in his image. When we give birth to spiritual babies, and dedicate ourselves to helping them grow up to be like Jesus, we are ourselves becoming more like Jesus.

            In a church, no greater question can be asked than this: what do the (new Christians) babies need? Unfortunately, it is rare churches ask this question. Usually, if members of churches are honest, including those members who should be more mature, the question they will often find themselves asking is this: what do I need? Or, more crudely, what do I want?

            Often the result of this is that baby Christians fall away; meanwhile, Christians who should be more mature spiritually gorge themselves, consuming what they wish. All the while, baby (young) Christians are starving to death.

            If we in churches ask ourselves, “What do the babies need?”, we will cover all of the important things of the Bible. We will emphasize the Lordship of Christ; we will emphasize the sound doctrine of Scripture; we will create strong relationships with these baby Christians to help them grow up; and we will learn how to prioritize and serve them.

            Probably the most difficult implication of asking the question, “What do the babies need?” is the fact that we would have to give up so much more than we would like. This is good for the spiritual babies, AND this is good for us as well.

            For a married couple, nothing could be more stressful than to bring a child into the family. Some marriages break up because of their inability to cope with the responsibilities of parenting. But in those marriages where the husband and wife, the mother and father, are able to prioritize and ask, “What does the baby need?”, they will find as a serendipity more maturity and unity.

            Many married couples discover they can sacrifice extensively when they recognize a young life is at stake. Raising healthy babies is more important than their own wants and desires. On a spiritual level, this premise lies at the core of Paul’s admonition to the Roman Christians in Rom. 14-15.

            I am convicted to the core that more churches can find maturity and unity if they will submit themselves to the transcending goal of training up new Christians, spiritual children, in the ways of the Lord.

            May those children never depart from Him.