What if the Church Unified?
“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-6
The ONE Campaign envisions believers coming together across cultural, linguistic, geographical and denominational divides. We strongly believe this unifying of the Church is the heartbeat of Christ.
As we ramp up efforts to bring more churches on board for the ONE Campaign, advocates of the movement have hosted several dinners and lunches to introduce their networks of church leaders to the idea. Recently, What if the Church? hosted a dinner with some of Kansas City’s international church leaders. These leaders came together for a time of cross-cultural fellowship, connection, and discuss a partnership together through ONE.
The idea of building a biblical cross-cultural unity was electrifying inside that room. In Revelation, Paul depicts a vision of heaven in which he witnesses every nation being represented in the Kingdom of God, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). Looking around the room, it was clear everyone there could grasp the gravity of that vision.
Brazillians, South Sudanese, Americans, Persians, and more laughed around tables, shared stories, prayed together, and came together around their love for Jesus Christ. Perhaps most striking were the comments that came after the event as several attendees people mentioned that they had never intentionally sat down with so many different cultures and yet, they couldn’t wait to continue to develop these relationships.
In the book of Ephesians Paul writes about the will of God towards unity: “according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:9-10).
Jesus himself commanded the disciples to go and bring the Gospel to all nations saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-19).
The historical movement of Christianity has always followed this lead and pointed towards a unifying of the nations.
ONE was developed with these Biblical themes in mind and ONE has become a simple tool for connecting churches across nations for the sake of the Gospel.
It’s been said that if mankind was created in the Image of God, then every culture represents a piece of his image. Each culture and every language informs one’s perspective of God. It is truly a gift to catch a glimpse of that vision on earth.
