I’m struggling a bit with what unity really means in light of scripture, and I’d appreciate your guidance.<\/p>\n
From my study, I understand unity to involve being “of the same mind and judgment” as in I\u00a0Corinthians 1:10-11, and having the humility and love described in Philippians 2:1-5. This seems to point toward a unity grounded in shared scriptural convictions, not just outward agreement or harmony.<\/p>\n
Lately, some of what has been described as unity seems to involve not challenging one another, even when something may not be scriptural, or everyone participating in the same activities regardless of conscience or conviction. At the same time, some decisions are made based on opinion or tradition, without open scriptural discussion.<\/p>\n
So I wanted to ask:\u00a0How should we understand biblical unity?<\/strong> Is it more about doing things together and avoiding disagreement, or actively aligning our thoughts and decisions with Scripture, even when that means lovingly challenging or correcting one another?<\/p>\n I truly want to be part of building peace and love in the congregation, but I also want to be sure we are grounded in the word as our authority, and a number of things that have happened in the last few years do not necessarily uphold this.<\/p>\n Additionally, does one stay in a congregation that does not follow scriptural guidelines, or should ongoing patience be exercised, as none of us is perfect?<\/p>\n Thank you for your time and patience with this question.<\/p>\n\t Unity doesn’t exist if the people are not first united with God. “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me<\/em>” (John 17:20-21).<\/p>\n See:<\/p>\n Good Morning,<\/p>\n Thank you for your quick response, as usual.<\/p>\n This is perfect and makes a lot of sense. There is still a well-respected member sharing with others that online worship is fine. One member ( who has now returned) was worshipping online for some time because of this, but the following summarises this:<\/p>\n “Those who recognise what God has allowed can still worship with those who have a wrong view on an issue, so long as that wrong view is not being pushed. Paul says they are not allowed to pick fights or constantly debate those who are weaker in their understanding of God’s laws. In other words, there must be a chance for people to grow. Thus, the one with better understanding doesn’t force the issue by putting the weaker person in a position of having to go against his beliefs, wrong as they might be.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even regarding the giving of loans from church funds, voting via WhatsApp, and paying some preachers and not others, I suppose it doesn’t impact my faith in the grand scheme. And, if I’ve shared something once regarding erroneous teaching or traditions, unless I am being pushed, there is no obligation for me to bring it up again, or participate as people are growing at their own speed, and I likewise need to keep growing. And where someone’s erroneous teaching may be impacting another person, it is best to deal directly with the latter rather than the teacher, if one has attempted to discuss this with them previously and they insist they are right.<\/p>\n Thanks for your help, as always.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Dear Jeffrey, I’m struggling a bit with what unity really means in light of scripture, and I’d appreciate your guidance. From my study, I understand unity to involve being “of the same mind and judgment” as in I\u00a0Corinthians 1:10-11, and having the humility and love described in Philippians 2:1-5. This seems to point toward…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[456],"class_list":["post-87145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-unity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/there-must-needs-be-heresies\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":0},"title":"There Must Needs be Heresies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Edwin Harrell, Jr. Vanguard, Volume 1, #1 January 1975, pp. 21-22 After a few weeks of study at St. John's University and Abbey, I am impressed by the perceptive Roman Catholic analysis of the weaknesses of Protestantism. They insist that Protestants are pressed between two unacceptable extremes. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52330,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/perfected-in-unity\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":1},"title":"Perfected in Unity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 17:13-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 final prayer to the Father before his arrest, Jesus expressed his desire that his followers be united, just as he and the Father were one - John 17:22-23 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That \u201cone\u201d is not numerical, but a unity in purpose and action.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/false-teaching-and-fellowship\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":2},"title":"False Teaching and Fellowship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Frank Jamerson Sentry Magazine, December 2000 The issue of false teaching and fellowship is not a new one. The following is approximately two pages from an eleven-page article, published in January 1975, that I commend for your consideration. \"All of us must accept the fact that we have fellowship (live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31445,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-multiculturalism-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":3},"title":"Can multiculturalism work?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can multiculturalism work? What should our attitude as Christians be toward the same? Answer: Multiculturalism is the belief that people from diverse cultures can peacefully co-exist without changing. It doesn't work because there is no effort at uniting the groups, only a pretense of unity by ignoring the differences.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-jesus-prayer-for-unity-be-about-the-jews-and-gentiles-and-not-about-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":4},"title":"Could Jesus’ prayer for unity be about the Jews and Gentiles and not about doctrine?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is about the Lord's prayer for unity in John 17. We generally view that as being a unity of doctrine but what in that passage determines that? Could the prayer for unity be for unity between the Jews and Gentiles and of heart and spirit (Acts 4:32)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-unity-in-diversity\/","url_meta":{"origin":87145,"position":5},"title":"Is There Unity in Diversity?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Romans 12:3-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You find the motto of the United States in many places, \u201ce pluribus unum,\u201d \u201cfrom many, one\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It describes the sentiment that people from all over the world can come, settle here, make a life for themselves, and be united\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n
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Response:<\/h2>\n