Division is real. We see it every day in our politics, in our group texts and on our social media feeds. And here’s what I’ve come to believe after decades of leading and observing the American church: Disunity is the greatest threat to the mission of Jesus in our generation.
We are also living in a moment of surprising spiritual awakening among young adults across the Western world. But if, in their search for truth and transcendence, they discover a divided church, they may never find the Jesus their hearts are longing for.
The apostle Paul’s challenge in Ephesians 4:3 is a word we need to recover: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
He doesn’t say we should hope for unity or wait for unity. He says we should make every effort. What does that look like?
Unity Is Intentional.
Unity doesn’t happen by accident. Paul pleads with us to be “completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2). That kind of posture requires daily effort. It means pausing before you hit send. It means seeking to understand before you seek to be understood.
Not long ago I sat in a room in Berlin with leaders from 27 different nations. Each nation had a roundtable with six to eight leaders working on a national church planting strategy—and amazingly, every one of them set aside their differences to pursue a shared mission: bringing the hope of Jesus to their nation.
Unity Is Mission Critical.
Paul grounds unity not in preference or comfort, but in mission: “There is one body and one Spirit … one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (vv. 4–6).
We cannot afford to let political disagreements, denominational turf wars or personal offenses distract us from the gospel. Disunity is a luxury that leaders on mission simply cannot afford.
Unity Is Spiritual.
Unity is about the Spirit. Paul says it’s the “unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” That means we don’t create unity, we keep it. The Spirit creates it. Our job is to walk in obedience.
How do we keep that unity in a divided culture? Here are four practices I challenge every church leader to adopt:
- Get on your knees before you pick up your phone. Pray before you post. Let the Spirit filter your response.
- Focus on long obedience, not short sound bites. Don’t trade long-term influence for short-term applause.
- Step off the political platform and onto kingdom ground. Refuse to primarily define yourself as right, left or even centrist. Don’t surrender your identity to a man-made continuum.
- Guard the mission more than your opinion. Every day, each of us chooses whether to build up the mission or tear it down. And those choices—one conversation, one email, one post—either preserve the bond of peace or break it.
Unity is not optional. It is the foundation for influence, the fuel for multiplication, and the way we honor our calling.
If we’re going to see the dream of 16% of U.S. churches becoming reproducing churches (the church multiplication tipping point) realized, it won’t happen through division. It will happen when leaders make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.