It would take an alien from outer space about 4.5 seconds to figure out that our country is deeply divided. Issues that were once small cracks puttied over with common courtesy are now yawning chasms cutting across almost every part of society. Paul’s call to radical unity in Philippians 2 is a timely exhortation to an age such as ours.

How should the church of the one true God manifest this unity? Is it already too late? By some estimates, there are over 33,000 Christian denominations represented in the United States alone! How are we to even begin to pretend unity with that kind of diversity?

Let me suggest that the situation is perhaps not so dire as it may appear. The kind of unity that Paul exhorts us to, I would argue, is actually compatible with thousands of different denominations. Understanding the heart of Paul’s view of unity will help us present a unified Gospel voice in our local context, and across denominational lines as well.

Here’s the bottom line. The unity that Paul is calling the church in Philippi to is a unity in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the line that ultimately divides the unified from the un-unified. If a person has placed his or her faith in the substitutionary death of Jesus and hoped in the resurrection, then that person has grasped the key essence of what unites all the family of God. How this unity expresses itself, however, involves ever-broadening circles of relationship and biblical authority.

The narrowest circle of Christian unity occurs in the heart of the individual. We are to be people of integrity (10:9). There is to be no double-mindedness or hypocrisy in anything that we do or think (James 1:5-8; 3:17; 4:8). For the individual Christian, there is no such thing as a gray area in life. Everything is either done out of faith, with a conviction that the action is righteous, or it is sin (Rom 14:23). Our unity in Christ begins by mastering our own hearts, prone to wander as they are, and presenting to God a soul united in Gospel conviction.

The next circle is that of the local family. A marriage constitutes the closest of all human relationships, and the most sober of all human commitments. The one-flesh covenant of marriage strongly suggests the importance of working towards common convictions and beliefs on most primary and secondary issues of Christian belief (i.e. a family probably needs to have the same ideas about what it means to accept the Gospel, and issues like where to send the kids to school). There are small differences of preference and understanding, to be sure, but the commands of love, understanding, submission, and honoring for the family mean that this is the next tightest circle of unity in God’s program.

After this comes the local church. This is the context for community worship in the family of God. We are all to assemble regularly (Heb 10:25), come under common rulership in the church (1 Pet 5:1-7), and use our spiritual giftedness for the building up of the body (Eph 4:11-16). This is the circle of unity to which Paul is writing his letter. At the level of a local church there will be differences of personal conviction and preference in the church (Can I watch this movie? I wish we sang more/fewer hymns. Etc.) However, at the level of church worship will be a shared set of convictions. How we baptize, observe communion, approach global outreach, decorate our building, dress on Sunday, and more, will be cultural norms or specific teachings of our local church. This establishment of unity, in the context of corporate worship, is right and proper, and we ought all to joyfully submit to this. Not cravenly or unthinkingly, not without freedom to discuss preferences and concerns, but joyfully as those desiring to present a heart of unity to Christ. This is why such a high premium is placed on the careful, detailed, and consistent preaching of the word of God. This establishes the foundation for how our church expresses unity.

Okay, then. But what about that church over there? They don’t do things like we do. Are they the bad guys? To answer that question bring us to the next broader circle of Christian unity. In this circle are believers under the leadership of other local churches. Whether these churches are in the same denomination we are, or another denomination, they all exist in this outer ring. What then is the boundary of this broad ring? In a word, it is the Gospel. Those who preach what Scripture preaches about the person and work of Jesus for sinners are inside the circle. Those who preach a different Gospel, even if almost every other part of their outward worship is similar to ours, are outside the circle. This is the edge of Christian unity. Inside is family, outside is lost.

I think a helpful analogy for the church today is that of a large family reunion. Our individual churches should spend most of their time together paying close attention to the Word of God and how we seek to live this out. But when we get the opportunity to work alongside the broader family of God, or have the chance to speak of them in public, we must always do so in the loving terms appropriate to a family. There is plenty of room at a family reunion to laugh about strange accents and goofy sweaters. There is even room for thoughtful and earnest conversations about concerns and disagreements. What has no place in a family is condemnation, hatred, jealousy, and mockery. I firmly believe that our culture does not shake its head at the church in America because there are so many denominations. Our culture chuckles at us because our denominations are often so mean.

If we look to Christ we will have the pattern and power we need for unity. We will form hearts of integrity, families of oneness, churches of common conviction, and a Church of common charity. Our world will then have to grapple with the fact that it is what you do with the cross of Jesus, not your convictions about wearing a tie on Sunday, that matters most. As we shall be reminded in the next section of Philippians, the gap between here and a unified there is our lack of humility.