There are few more significant challenges facing the church and churches of our day than that of pursuing meaningful unity.
The fact that Jesus prays for a unity which can be witnessed by a watching world in such a way as to endorse the credibility of the gospel (John 17.20-23) and the fact that Paul uses a verb which can be translated 'spare no effort' to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4.3), both point to a Christian responsibility which too many Christians too easily shirk.
It goes without saying that the quest for this unity is hampered because of the obstacles which arise from within the fellowship of God's people for all kinds of reasons. Church history is full of sad stories of Christians whose fellowship has been disrupted and churches which have ended up being divided both locally and on a wider level. Paul and Barnabas parted company at the start of the second missionary journey in Acts; George Whitefield and John Wesley separated during a time of amazing revival. Denominations have been torn apart by schism; congregations have been divided through internal conflict. The symptoms of the problem are plain to see, our great concern should be to know how to respond and where to find solutions.
