UNITY IS NOT CONFORMITY
Have you ever thought through the fact that unity has more of a relationship with disagreement than it does agreement? That may be hard for some to comprehend because the culture we live in has formed its value system based on agreement
. In other words, in today’s culture, people tend to connect their value to how much they’re agreed with; they gather on agreement and divide in disagreement. By modern-day standards, disagreement is now synonymous with disloyalty. My point is this—if disagreement equates to being devalued, then conformity becomes the idealistic picture that’s projected onto unity. But, within the Kingdom of God, unity has nothing to do with conformity
.
Let’s think this through together. According to the Bible, John 3:16 does NOT say that God agreed with the world so He sent His son to offer us salvation. No, quite the opposite. Romans 5:10 clarifies that we were considered enemies of God when He extended an offering—an eternal, inseparable union through His Son, Jesus Christ. Understand, in complete disagreement with the depravity found in the world, God moved towards us, not away from us. Did you catch that? Motivated by love, God moves forward in the trying times of unrepented injustice and utter disagreement. He doesn’t retreat. He never withholds. God's driving desire for reconciliation is not conformity. It’s the restoration of authenticity that sin attempts to devalue and ultimately destroy.
Consider this, no demon in hell or better yet, no disagreement on earth can separate us from the love of God.
UNITY IS THE CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY
The imagery of the Pharisees standing in condemnation of sin, divided from those they disagreed with
while Jesus did the opposite and sat at the table with them, is a powerful statement to us all. You may recall the Pharisees questioning Jesus about why He ate with tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:16). Jesus’ response to them was this, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Understand, Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19). So, what was really going on? Why was Jesus breaking bread with those whose sin He disagreed with? I believe that Jesus was revealing glimpses of the New Covenant that He would ultimately establish through the cross. He was demonstrating how things worked inside the Kingdom of God. Let me be clear— Jesus did not conform to sinners so that He could relate and ultimately convince them with His Truth.
His compassion with the woman at the well whom He told to “go and sin no more” proves that.
Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, didn’t agree with sin in hopes to convince, rather He listened to the heart and revealed who the sinner truly was—God’s child.
I’d like to suggest to you that Jesus gives you permission to love people you disagree with.
In other words, you don’t have to conform to their way of thinking or convince them to think like you in order to love and value them. The beauty discovered in choosing a relationship amid disagreement is that you don’t have to conform to me nor do I have to conform to you in order for us to both have value and deserve love. Romans 12 makes this distinction by pointing out that Believers are “individually members of one another”. Understand, unity is not conformity.
In fact, within the Kingdom of God, unity is the celebration of diversity.
I propose it will be impossible to experience unity with one another if our value system is based on an agreement and not on the reality that we are distinctly unique children of God.
MOVING FORWARD UNITED
My prayer for you this week is that you surrender to the One you can wholeheartedly trust amid the minutia of moments that fill our day; when you’re watching the news, out in your community, or talking with your family and friends. This week, I encourage you if any angst, anxiety, or amid any disagreement emerges, simply sink back into the One from whom your strength truly comes from.
