FOSTERING UNITY OF THE CHURCH

By unity of the church I refer to the unity of the Body of Christ, as the church is so described (Eph. 1:22-27; Col. 1:18, 24). The Church consists of only true worshippers doing so in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23–24). Those in the Body of Christ are called Christians and they are members of the church through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.12:13). The church is made-up of Christians even as the human body is made up of many parts, each being a member or part of that one body – Christ.

No individual Christian member of the body can become a church on his own just as no part of the human body separated from others can claim to be the whole person. The church therefore is a collection of Christians as a body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:16; 2:21, 22).
The Universal Church is a mystical Body of Christ which is in itself invisible because only the Holy Spirit knows those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ and are walking in the spirit. On the other hand, there is the visible church which is the congregation of believes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 18:21).
In the Bible, we can see that there were group of believers who regularly fellowshiped in people’s houses; this could be referred to as a church (Romans 16:5; Col. 4:15, Philemon 2). The congregation of believers in towns or cities were also referred to as church (Acts 20: 17; Col. 4:16; Rev. 2:8,12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) as they could be found in many places throughout the world today (Romans 16:14;2 Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:2;2 Thess. 1:4; Rev. 1:4, 11).

UNITY OF MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH
It is in the church that one can find the true children of God. Here the Holy Spirit reveals the glory and headship of Christ among His people. God’s honour dwells in the church, therefore God admires unity among members of the church-as we have many parts of the body each with its function; so do Christians function differently in their various offices in the Church – hence “we being many are one body in Christ and we depend on one another” (Rom. 12:5).

Members of the church must have a single purpose and should work together as one. In John Chapter 17, Jesus says: “I pray not for the world but for them which thou has given me; I have given them: That they may be one even as we are one,”( v9, 22). We can see here that Jesus endowed His glory upon the church to achieve oneness among members.
Let us consider the joining of parts of the human body to form a whole, noting that the task is made possible through the joints. Joints make body movement possible. These joints are:- (i) the ball and socket joints as of the hip (near the waist) and (ii) the hinge joints as of the knee and elbow.

Where two or more bones meet, an oily fluid provided by nature to lubricate the ends of these bones already covered by a thin layer of smooth cartilage, is present. Both the capsular ligament having a fine membrane called synovial membrane which contain the synovial fluid, and the cartilage, act between the bones as buffers and eliminate friction. This is what happens between one part of the human body and the other.
Much more unity of purpose should naturally operate within the body of Christ. In our fellowship, we must attend to the joints at the points where our human membership merge with our brethrens’, there must be a buffer to make the joints frictionless and ensure unity and purposefulness. Joints are indispensable because they are for joining, they make unity possible. The body therefore is knitted together and increased with the increase of God (Col. 2:19).

BENEFIT OF UNITY-MUTUAL CARE
Members of the church are joined together to enhance mutual care and understanding. All members of the human body are taken care of by the members themselves. Those members of the body who though look feeble are relevant; just as those we regard as less honourable are bestowed more abundant honour. God Himself said; there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another (I Cor. 12:22-25), note the words, “The same care.”

The discomfort of anyone member directly affects the other (v.26). The practical unity and care existing among members of the human body posses a great challenge daily to honest members in the body of Christ. For example, if you hit your toe against an object, it pains and immediately the head and back will move down to assess the toe. This is the reception and treatment of messages through the sensory organs. Also when one takes a bath, one uses both hands to do the cleaning from head to toe. When eating, the hand takes the food and feeds the body through the mouth. In the process of movement, the feet carry the head, heart, hands and every other part along with them without grudge. When someone wants to use the eyes, it functions just as one desires to use the ears.

A great deal is done secretly and silently in the heart, stomach, intestines, liver, kidney, etc., in order to keep the body alive. What of the white blood cells fighting diseases in attacked areas of the body? One may ask, if God did all these for the human body to function, how about the Church? The Bible says:”Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honour preferring one another; Distributing to the necessity of saint’s given to hospitality. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep” (Rom 12:10,13,15).

DANGERS OF DISUNITY
Disunity in the church displeases God and threatens the beauty of life, strength and purpose of the jointed church, disunity is the opposite of unity and where one exits, the other cannot, disunity therefore sets in where unity once existed. This is dangerous.
What are the causes of disunity? The answer is the disease of the joints as we mentioned in the human body. These are (1) Synovites: an inflammation of the synovial membrane which affects the oily substance which lubricates the ends of the bones that meet the joints. The bones can as well be affected by other diseases of the cartilage such as Osteo-arthritis.

Before l proceed to discuss the danger of disunity as it affects the body of Christ in connection with those diseases mentioned above, I want to say that the Holy Spirit is the one who keeps members in the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:3, 4), God gives both spiritual and human gifts to the church (1 Cor. 12:4, 8–11; Acts 13:2).
Loss of unity in the church can occur if members of the church are proud, disobedient, lustful, greedy, selfish, (unprepared to work as one) and prayerless.
In this case, the gift of the Holy Ghost is abused as was the case in the early church at Corinth. The manifestation of disunity among members of the church are envy, bitterness, evil speaking, hatred, etc. Finally, the church will lose her vision and become lifeless making herself a prey for the devil.

*Bishop (Dr.) Joe Idem is the President, Joe Idem Outreach (JIWO) & Gideon–300 Prayer Army International Presiding Bishop, United Christian Bible Church Inc.