Giants of the Reformation (5)

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17.20, 21

Institutes of the Christian Religion
John Calvin (1509-1564)
“But all the elect are so united in Christ that as they are dependent on one Head, they also grow together into one body, being joined and knitted together as are the limbs of a body. They are made truly one since they live together in one faith, hope, and love, and in the same Spirit of God.”

Oneness is a sure way of identifying a healthy church, as Paul explained in Ephesians 4.11-16. When members confess the same faith, embrace a common vision, share their lives with one another, and press on and encourage one another to increase in the knowledge of God and fruitfulness in Christ, then they are realizing true unity as a church. This doesn’t just happen, however. The local church is the forge where the raw iron of faith is smelted and hammered into a the steel of a mature walk with the Lord. Maturity in Christ – as individuals and congregations – grows out of unity. But true unity doesn’t come easily. We must work hard to achieve and maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4.3). Can our petty disagreements about this, that, and the other really be more important than working hard to maintain our unity in Christ? And if not, where the local church is concerned, what about with the various congregations of Christ in a local community? How shall we achieve and demonstrate our oneness, that our neighbors might believe that God has sent Jesus to them?

Would you say that your church reflects this kind of unity? How is growth in such unity encouraged in your church?

Healthy, Growing Churches
Our assessment tool, Twelve Questions that Could Change Your Church, can help you discover the degree of unity and maturity that characterize your local church. Use it with your church leaders to discern the health of your church, then use it to plan the next phase of your growth as the Body of Christ. You can download Twelve Questions for free by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.All quotations from John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill, ed., Ford Lewis Battles, tr. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), Vol. 2, Book IV, pp. 1012ff.