“Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.”
James 5:4-6 KJV
The Importance of Unity
What does unity mean to you? In a chaotic and divided world, sometimes the word “unity” can sound like something irrelevant, something that just can’t work in the broken world we live in. Division is nothing new. In fact, it was a challenge very early in church history and something the apostle Paul addressed head-on.
In 1 Corinthians 1, we see that Paul had received reports that believers in Corinth were segmenting themselves based on who shared the gospel with them. They said things like, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or, “I am of Christ.” Rather than being united as one body of Christ, they were dividing themselves into smaller groups and factions.
Paul was very moved by this. In 1 Corinthians 1:13 he asks them these simple questions: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul didn’t want the believers of Corinth to get lost in comparisons and separations. He wanted them united under ...