There is one body and one Spirit…

Ephesians 4:4 NKJV

“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.

They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Joel 3: 1-3 NKJV

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25: 31-46 NKJV

You might be wondering what these verses have in common, and what they have to do with “Christian unity“.

Pursuing unity can be described as endeavoring to do whatever it takes for your brother or sister to receive a full inheritance of promises from Jesus now and in the age to come. If we are not pursuing unity in the body of Christ, we must consider if we are walking in opposition to Christ Himself. Let me explain.

At the center of the mystery of Christ is the co-heir status of the Jews and the foreign races (Gentiles). When Jesus returns, one of the first things He will do is render decisions over many peoples and nations regarding their conduct towards ethnic Israel (Joel 3:1-3; Matthew 25:31-46). We cannot expect co-heir status with people whom we have rejected. If Jewish inheritance of unique promises also means we too will be blessed through their restoration, should we not rejoice at the restoration of the Jew?

There are two points to make here: 1, the whole body of Christ must pursue the cause of ethnic Israel receiving the fullness of their salvation and inheritance. 2, the whole body of Christ must pursue the mission of Christ to bless all nations through the salvation of Israel according to the Abrahamic covenant.

Point #1 is tested in every generation, and in every generation the Gentile body of believers is tempted by various forms of Jew hatred. In the generation of the Lord’s return, armies will once again surround Jerusalem and Jesus will personally judge the Gentile nations according to their dealings with Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

Point # 2 is tested by replacement theology and by any form of passivity towards the work of the Great Commission, such as building up ministries over building up people, by rejecting missions, or by withholding the gospel from a particular cultural or ethnic people. In Romans 11, Paul teaches that the fullness of the Gentiles must come so that all Israel may be saved.

For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

Romans 11:25 NKJV

We should not take for granted what this meant to people in Paul’s day. Many ethnic people groups were represented within the Roman world to which Paul preached. When preaching the mystery of Christ, Paul was preaching unity among the Greek, the Arab, the Italian, and many other ethnic people groups. The cultural and ethnic identities flowing into the Church in Paul’s day could not be summed up as one common “Roman” culture no more than we could for just about any modern country. Rome wasn’t the first “melting pot” of cultures and it certainly was not the last.

As many cultures and ethnic groups come together, there come inevitable conflicts which result due to the cultural standards, practices, and expectations each one brings to the whole. If understood correctly, this is a good thing because it is an opportunity to learn how to love and honor those different from us. We do not need to envy one another, fighting to get what the other has. I have already touched on this, but if the Bible has described in great detail the promises which will be restored to Israel, and the Bible also promises that all nations will be blessed through this restoration of Israel, should we not trust Jesus’ leadership over the great multitude of ethnic peoples?

Cultural tension escalates and invites ungodly prejudices when things like civil unrest, war, and political disagreement enter the equation. As an American, it is tempting to view Muslims or middle-easterners in general with contempt or fear ever since 9/11. As someone who is first a follower of Jesus, the correct response is to be someone who contends for the salvation of Muslims and the eternal spiritual inheritance of the many beautiful middle eastern cultures. This is a bit of a dramatic example, but I hope it proves the point.

We should view all people as either a brother or an enemy we get to win over as a brother. There are a lot of open seats at Abraham’s table needing to be filled.

As a Gentile, it is easy to look at the Jewish people with confusion. “How did they miss it?”, we may wonder. Yet, we who claim the free gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit cannot seem to hear what the Spirit is saying to us regarding Jesus’ ethnic brethren. “How did we miss it?”, I wonder. One day, armies will literally surround Jerusalem. Jesus will not care about your political or religious issues with Israel or the Jews. He will judge you based upon how you responded to His desire to save all Israel.

First to the Jew and then to the Gentile, the gospel is a promise from Christ Jesus that all those who put their trust in Him will have an eternal and living inheritance in His kingdom. We are called into the zealous pursuit of unity despite the ethnic, cultural, and earthly statuses we bring with us into the Church. We must honor this unity above our ethnic, cultural, familial, and political differences. To do otherwise means that you would actually be standing in opposition to that which Jesus intends to accomplish at His return.

Have you been discipled into an abandoned zeal concerning this great and heavenly priority?