Why Should I Care About Christian Unity?

Christians should care deeply about unity because God does. He sent His Son to be crucified in order to reconcile sinners not only to Him but also with one another (Ephesians 2:11–21). Jesus issued a new commandment for believers to love one another as the visible validation to the world that they are indeed His disciples (John 13:34–35), and He cared about this new commandment so much that He repeated it twice (John 15:12–13, 17). Christ prayed for His followers to be one so that the world might believe that the Father had sent Him (John 17:20–23). Again, He didn’t pray this once, but repeated the words “that they may be one” four times in John 17, on the evening of His betrayal by Judas.

The risen Christ’s last command to His disciples was that they “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations … teaching them to observe [obey] all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). Christ’s desire for the unity of His followers is a repeated theme throughout His ministry. Likewise, Paul writes that striving together with one mind for the sake of the gospel and diligently preserving unity are essential to walking in a manner worthy of our gospel calling (Philippians 1:27; Ephesians 4:1–3). Peter tells us to “fervently love one another from the heart,” to “love the brotherhood,” and, above all to “keep fervent in your love for one another” (1 Peter 1:22; 2:17; 4:8). James warns that a professed faith that does not help a brother or sister in need is “dead” and “useless” (James 2:17, 20, 26). John bluntly states, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.” (1 John 4:20–21).

Moreover, the health of local churches and much of the joy of your Christian life depends on love-based unity between believers. So, to please God and live lives worthy of the gospel, we must love and live in unity with other believers.