Unity – the Impossible Dream

When church unity becomes a pursuit, an ideal, it always goes bad. I want to explore why that is so. It’s an important topic, since unity is one of the three qualities, along with peace and purity, that leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA) promise to promote.

It is worth noting that many decades ago, Presbyterians were not required to seek the unity of the church. An earlier version of the ordination vow highlighted only two words. “Will you seek the peace and purity of the church?” Some well meaning presbyter thought it wise to urge the denomination to add unity to the list and, well, who can argue against unity?

I can, and I’m not the first. I lean heavily on the insight of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his highly regarded book, Life Together. He reminds us that we cannot create unity, because it is the gift that comes with belonging to Christ. “Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us.”

Bonhoeffer presents a striking idea, that we are closest to other Christians when Christ comes between us. It is an image that works in Christian marriage as well as in fellowship among other believers. A husband and wife find deeper spiritual intimacy when Christ stands between them. Paradoxical, yes, and in my experience, true.

One implication of this is that when people seek to form a Christian organization or fellowship according to a list of standards or qualities that everyone will have in common, those shared qualities become the central organizing principle rather than Christ. Bonhoeffer warns strongly against letting these standards substitute for Christ as the bond holding people together.

“One who wants more than what Christ has established does not want Christian brotherhood. He is looking for some extraordinary social experience which he has not found elsewhere; he is bringing muddled and impure desires into Christian brotherhood.” That leads Bonhoeffer to state, “He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.”

Based on this, I hear warning bells at both ends of the spectrum in the intense struggle in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Those who want to prevent dissident churches from leaving the denomination regularly proclaim that the denomination will not be healthy without a variety of voices. They’re holding onto a dream of an imposed unity where everyone somehow gets along, though their views clash at fundamental points. On the other hand, those who are weary of battling over basics, cherish a dream of forming a tight fellowship among like-minded Christians.

Both sides need to ask whether they are forcing unity around some principle that is alien to the simple, profound unity that is God’s gift, not our attainment, through our union with Christ.

So, is it possible to promote unity without creating the church in our own image? Yes, but the path to unity takes unexpected turns. More about that in the next blog.