Charles Brooks, Contributor
MEN and women who view our little planet from spaceships have a certain perspective, which they often express upon returning to earth. There are no national boundaries from outer space. Rivers and forests flow hindered from one country to another. Birds and beast carry no passports.
The reality is however that race, economics, and religion divide us. And the excuse we most often use? Culture.
Disunity is a reproach to Christianity and a very effective tool for the prince of evil. Our world is becoming smaller with each giant leap of science and technology, and God designs that we should reach out to every nation, every tongue, every race, and enfold them in the arms of the Christian community.
I submit to the Christian world that there is hardly any excuse for the disunity among us!
Regardless of the day on which we worship , the view is essentially the same. For the true followers of Jesus there is a transcending culture called Christianity that calls us from a myriad of cultures and transforms us into a unified body of believers.
It simultaneously allows us to retain these nonconflicting cultural mores and customs, which make our mix and pluralism so attractive and interesting.
Jesus has not only called us to "oneness," but in an excruciating hour during His bitter passion He prayed most ardently to His Father for His followers: "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are" (Jn 17:11, KJV). At that moment He did not plead that they may be rich, or powerful, or famous, but that they may be one.
The apostle Paul develops this expediency in a powerful analytical way: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12, KJV).
He then elucidates his metaphor ridding the community of believers who offer the many fabricated excuses that we so often hear and that must pain the heart of Jesus as the end of all things approaches.
At a time when we need each other so much, when truth lies bleeding in the streets and error sits on the throne of reason; at a time when Christianity has become a laughing stock, and instead of the church "going forth conquering and to conquer", it seems impotent - a paper tiger.
Love is the foundation, the base for unity, and there can be no real unity without it. Indeed, there can be no real love for God Himself, or for His Christ without love for all our fellow human beings (1 John 4:20).
Disunity among Christians is a reproach to Christ and His truth, His character and His law. Unity, as wonderful and necessary as it is, must be built on a rock-solid foundation; on the unquestionable authority of the immutable Word of God, the only sure base. Jesus Christ, who is the Word (John 1:1) resorted to the Word of God in everything. The great unifier Himself caused division and offence among this who rejected the Word (John 7:43). Today His Word declares : "My sheep listen to my voice;...and they follow me" (John 10:27). Peter says he has left us an example, that we should "follow in His steps" (Peter 2:2).
Charles Brooks, a retired field secretary for the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists contributes from the USA.
