“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”
Matthew 4:18-22 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.4.18-22.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 ...