Truth First, Unity Second

What Happens When We Value Agreement More Than Obedience

Unity is something we should strive for but NOT at the expense of the Truth. Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the unto the Father but by me."

If you want to put distance between yourself and God, one of the fastest ways to do that is to glean your peace, satisfaction, righteousness, unity etc. from somewhere other than the Truth of God.

Too many people today go to church with the goal of achieving unity, and while we should certainly "Endevour to keep the unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:3), It is vital to remember that we are endeavoring to keep the unity IN THE SPIRIT. This means that our unity must be rooted in God's Spirit and in His Truth.

The implication here is that unless we are unified around the truth, our sense of unity is a house of cards that could imploded by the slightest of movement. (Eph 4:4).

So here is a question for you: Are you endeavoring for unity? or are you endeavoring for unity in the Spirit? There is a difference. And how do you know which you are really doing?

Is it unity in the Spirit to hold bad feeling toward someone and share those feelings with others without talking to the person you hold those feelings toward?

You may very well get people "on your side" but is that your goal or is your goal unity in the Spirit? If your goal is unity in the Spirit, you may be convicted to follow the teachings of Jesus in Matthew chapters 5 and 18 and take your issue to the person you hold bad feelings toward in hopes of clearing the matter up so that you might once again find spiritual kinship.

Is it unity in the spirit to gossip about the latest drama between other people or to share your drama with others in hopes of finding a sympathetic ear? (James 1:26).

Once again, you might find someone who is ready to hear the latest inside info, but bonds built on a mutual interest in other people’s drama or your own are weak and will soon fall as soon as someone is "pushed" too far by some other force.

Charles Spurgeon once said, "It is far better to be divided by truth than to be united in error." The point here is that sometimes you cannot have unity with other believers. There are a number of reasons that people might not find unity in the Spirit. Maybe there is a genuine doctrinal difference but still, if discussed and debated in love, there is no reason why differences cannot be differences and fellowship still be attended to less of course some clearly identified prominent heresy be the difference.

If you are encountering a liar, gossiper, someone who refuses to discuss with you the bad feelings they have toward you that they are discussing with everyone else, take comfort that your unity with these people is far less important that your tight knit unity to the truth.

Your commitment to truth is the most important relationship you will ever have. Not everyone feels the same and that is sometimes why relationships form and fall away. The relationship that matters the most is the relationship to Jesus because he is the embodiment of Truth, the source of all truth, and HE IS TRUTH.

So don't be too downtrodden if you fall away from people over issues as mentioned above. Sometimes we only later realize that the close we had with people was superficial or outright sinful and not really rooted in a mutual commitment to truth. and a love for God.

It would be great if everyone we met in life was our friend and we enjoyed unity and peace but that is likely not going to be the case. Instead, find peace in your unity to the truth of God’s word and your relationship with Him. and endeavor to bring people into that circle of unity as best you can.

I'll leave you with another Spurgeon quote speaking to the peace people are looking for as they find unity with others:

Peace is such a precious jewel, that I would give anything for it but truth."