Unity Question

[Livin_the_MASS]

OK, we all believe that God is One.

So what I don't understand if God is One why do people think that division in the Church is normal. Take for instance in John Chapter 18:20-23

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [b]so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in Me and I in You,[/b] that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, [b]so that they may be one, as We are one,[/b] I in them and you in Me, [b][u]that they may be brought to perfection as one,[/u][/b] that the world may know You sent Me, and that You loved them even as You love Me."

The word ONE is used four times just in this passage alone. Plus it is full of Our Lords desire that they (we) are one as God is one.


Or even take Paul, does he not talk about the different parts of the body and there different functions, yet he points out that it is one body many parts different duties but one body!

Can someone explain this to me,
Thank You,
God Bless,
Jason

Edited April 16, 2004 by Jason

[mulls]

it shouldn't be normal. unity is commanded.


i read that scripture last wednesday night at the big campus-wide worship night that i helped organize, in front of 200 or more christians from all different fellowships and denominations. i want every christian on this campus to be working together.


i dont think anyone thinks that division is normal. the problem is that a lot of people think that their church has it right, and everyone else is wrong, so there's no lines of communication for an attempt at unification. as long as the individual church is unified, nothing else matters. it's sad.


and no, that doesn't mean that the gates of hell have overcome. the church will always stand.

[Dare the Pebble]

Well, it could be just because I am a Catholic, but it seems as though, at least in America, most Protestant churches have been sort of... homogenizing. No, wait, that's part of making milk - well, you know what I mean; they've become sort of homogenous. The distinction between, say, Lutheran and Episcopalian seems to be much less distinct, and much less notable, than that between Catholicism and Protestant churches. I'm not really sure how to relate that to Russian, Greek, Armenian Orthodox, etc, which are [i]Catholic [/i]churches, but not [i]Roman [/i]Catholic. Although I could be wrong, it seems to me as though Protestant churches consider themselves much less defined by their sect, and more by their mere Christianity. It would seem that because of this, there may be more interdenominational "Christian" unity among members of Protestant churches. Of couse, living on the East Coast near Philly, Catholic usually also means Irish or Italian, and in this area there are a large number of parochial schools and private Catholic high schools. Thus, there can be a bit of a culture gap between Catholic kids who have had Catholicism as more or less a mandatory, ingrained part of their upbringing, and those who have not. Well, this has become a ramble. I'm curious, though, whether others have observed differently.

[willguy]

[quote]the problem is that a lot of people think that their church has it right, and everyone else is wrong, so there's no lines of communication for an attempt at unification. as long as the individual church is unified, nothing else matters. it's sad.
[/quote]

It's not that the lines of communication are not there. However, people are not, nor should they be, willing to sacrifice truth for unity. I'm not going to stop believing what I believe for the sake of unity, because then the unity would be unity in falsehood. There has been work between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, as well as the Joint Declaration on Justification issued by the Catholic and Lutheran churches (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html).

[Livin_the_MASS]

If you take the first book of the Bible, Genesis 2:26

"Then God said 'Let us make man in our image, after our likness.'"

Gen 2:27

" God created man in his image; in the divine image he created them; male and female he created them."

You have the "two become one flesh" in Genesis.

I don't understand that how can people believe division is ok when we are made in the image and likeness of God who is One.

So we all should be One in Him, mind, heart, soul, religion, everything should have unity.

Don't misinterpret this statement, we should all be one even though there is different personalites, not everyone is the same, but that persons special quality's brings something special to that unity.


God Bless
Jason

[Livin_the_MASS]

[b]Luke Chapter 11:21-13[/b]

"When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when on stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and dstributes the spoils. [b]Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."[/b] ( Pretty clear to me!)


[u]Commentary NB[/u]

"The strong man well armed is the devil (vs 21), who has enslaved man; but Jesus Christ, one stronger than he, has come and has conquered him and is despoiling him. St. Paul will say that Christ "disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them" (Col 2:15)

After the victory of Christ, the "stronger one", the words of v. 23 are addressed to mankind at large; even if people do not recognize it, Jesus Christ has conquered and from now on no one can adopt an attitude of neutrality towards him: he who in not with him is against him.

[b]Take a step back Luke 11:18[/b]

"And if satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.

[u]Commentary NB[/u]

Christ's argument is very clear. One of the worst evils that can overtake the Church is disunity among Christians, disunity among believers. We must make Jesus' prayer our own: [b]"That they may be one; even as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."[/b] (Jn 17:21).


PS If someone could give me a link to a Navarre Bible, I would be grateful

God Bless
Jason

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Jason' date='Apr 16 2004, 12:29 PM'] I don't understand that how can people believe division is ok when we are made in the image and likeness of God who is One.

So we all should be One in Him, mind, heart, soul, religion, everything should have unity. [/quote]
As I look back on my own experience, I think people think the disunity is OK for any of three reasons: 1)They're so used to it they simply don't see it as being a problem (as in, we've all grown up in a place where there are the Methodists and the Baptists and the Presbyterians -- it's the way we know the church to be); 2) They're so caught up in their own churches that inter-faith discussions never happen, and so they're never forced to face disunity; or 3) They're aware of it, but so set in their own denominational biases that they are unwilling to admit there could be problems with their base assumptions.