| The Cost of Unity - article by Joel Hempel
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] dwell in unity!” Ps133:1 Back in the late 1970s, as some of you will remember, there was great discord in the LCMS. Our church body was severely divided because of significant theological differences and defiant personalities. Our clergy circuit in Cincinnati was one of the most severely split in the country. In an attempt to heal the brokenness, the District President “ordered” the circuit pastors to meet in retreat. A district-appointed psychologist was assigned to meet with us. An exercise that revealed one of the most troubling dynamics in our church body unfolded toward the end of the retreat after the psychologist was experiencing little success in bringing the factions together. After forming us into a large circle, he asked everyone who saw themselves as moderates and felt caught in the crossfire to move our chairs into the center. Sitting outside the inner circle were two men on the far right who identified themselves as representatives of the truth and two on the far left who identified themselves as representatives of the truth. The psychologist pointed out that there were in the room three groups, all loved by God and all part of the church. He then asked the four men on the outside to listen to their brothers’ concerns and how they were hurting. Sadly, after about a half-hour of the moderate brothers expressing their angst, all four men wandered off one by one, refusing to listen or let their hardening hearts be touched. We ended the retreat the way we began: Broken! “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 There is a great deal that goes into being united in love. Think about what it takes to make a marriage work. But what that experience taught me back in the 70s, and what I have had confirmed repeatedly through counseling and reconciliation ministry, is that failure to listen deeply to each other is dangerous to the health of a marriage, a family, and a church. Deep listening involves not only hearing the words but also receiving and holding sacred the pain of another. Not long before Jesus went to the cross, he prayed these words that reveal our Lord’s heart: I ask that they [referring to us] may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (See John 17:20-23) What does it cost to be united as one? First and foremost, it costs the setting aside of our egos. It costs our will in submission to God’s will. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. (John 15:13) Why seek unity? It’s our Lord’s will for us. What’s the value of it? So that the world (and those around us) will believe Jesus is for real and his love is life-changing. How can we accomplish it? We can’t, but HE can as we pray for it, seek after it, repent whenever we are in the way of it, and celebrate the Gospel at the center of it. | 
