When Christians fight among themselves, they’re neglecting an often-overlooked biblical truth: Christ has called us to model unity to a watching world. 

With the church in this country divided by race, politics, the pandemic, and a host of other issues, Stronger Together, Weaker Apart: Powerful Prayers to Unite Us in Lovehas a message we desperately need today. 

In the introduction, author Dr. Tony Evans quotes from John 17, often called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” It offers a rare glimpse of private interaction between Christ and the heavenly Father, on the night before Jesus died. 

In verses 20–23, he asks for “complete unity” among his disciples and those who heed their message. “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me,” he prays. 

“An alternative to the ways of the world”

Stronger Together, Weaker Apart is part prayer book/part Bible study about the importance of unity among believers in spreading the gospel. But too often, the church is just as divided as the outside world. 

“As kingdom followers of Jesus Christ, we have been chosen to model unity, love, and peace as an alternative to the ways of a world that stands divided,” Evans writes. “Yet it seems that division often slithers its way into our churches and Christian organizations as well. Satan’s overall strategies rarely change — whatever he can divide, he can conquer (Mark 3:24). He accomplishes this division through lies, deception, and destruction (John 10:10).” 

Unity is not uniformity, but we shouldn’t let our differences divide us, preventing the church from playing its unique role in our culture.  

“The church is the only authentic cross-racial, cross-cultural, and cross-generational basis for oneness in existence,” Evans writes. 

We are all one

If you model Christlike qualities such as empathy, forgiveness, and humility in service to others, you encourage unity. On the other hand, “Every time you disparage a politician, preacher, neighbor, teacher, coworker, or family member, you are erecting walls with your words,” Evans writes. “We all must learn how to change our thoughts and words if we want to close the gaps that separate us.” 

The book has an appendix with a list of Scriptures about unity, including Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” 

In other words, there should be neither Black nor White, rich nor poor, Republican nor Democrat, for we are all one in Christ. If we truly model that, the world will know that we are his disciples.

Denison Forum

The Disney children’s series Muppet Babies chronicles the lives of the legendary Muppets during their toddler years. In a recent episode, Gonzo decided to cross-dress, going to a royal ball dressed as a girl. When he explained his decision later to his friends, one of them assured him, “You’re our friend, and we love you any way you are.”

In other news, a Russian woman is reportedly suing McDonald’s after claiming that seeing one of its cheeseburger commercials made her break her fast for Lent. She accused the fast-food chain of breaking consumer protection laws and insulting her religious feelings.

Right now, you might be thinking, “Surely there are more important stories in the news to discuss than these.” And you’re right.

For example, on this day in 1974, Richard M. Nixon became the first president in American history to resign. In other political news, Melissa DeRosa, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide, resigned from her role last night, a week after a state attorney general report found the governor had sexually harassed eleven women.

Why, then, did I begin today’s Daily Article as I did? Because I have been in ministry long enough to learn something about human nature: we are most interested in that which most affects us.

If we were discussing the resignation of the current president rather than an event that occurred nearly fifty years ago, that would obviously be different. If this Daily Article were written only for those in New York State, the order of news discussed would have changed.

The axiom on which “the whole philosophy of Hell rests”

In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis explains that “the whole philosophy of Hell rests on recognition of the axiom that one thing is not another thing, and, specially, that one self is not another self. My good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains another loses.”

Socrates (470–399 BC) taught us that the way to wisdom is to “know yourself.” Not “know God” or “know God’s word,” not “know your community” or “know your family.” From his day to ours, Western culture has focused on the individual as the centerpiece of reality.

The “philosophy of Hell” takes advantage of this existentialist worldview in two ways.

For non-Christians, the constant drumbeat of secular culture is that you don’t need Christ. Personal authenticity is the path to flourishing, we’re told. Whether the subject is abortion or euthanasia, sexual orientation or gender identity, the message is the same: your body is yours to do with as you wish. So long as you’re not harming others (an assertion tragically overlooked by abortion advocates), you’re free to do what makes you happy.

Why, then, would anyone want to hear a message that insists we are sinners in need of salvation and calls us to repentance, contrition, and submission to God? Why dress up to go sing hymns and hear sermons at church? Since hell appears nowhere on our list of top fears, why not live and let live?

Or so our enemy would have us believe, right up to the day when it is too late to believe.

Satan’s strategy for Christians

For Christians, however, the devil’s strategy is somewhat different. If he cannot persuade us to reject Jesus, he’ll entice us to serve our Savior on our terms. It’s still all about us, it’s just that the “all” includes God, at least as a means to our end.

Go to church to “get something out of it.” Start your day with prayer and Bible study so God will bless you day. Give money to God so God will bless your money. This is how the “philosophy of Hell” wants us to serve Jesus to serve ourselves.

By contrast, the New Testament repeatedly and adamantly insists that the true Christian life is one Christ lives through us. We are his body (1 Corinthians 12:27), the temple of his Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). The “riches of the glory” of the gospel mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

This is why we are to be “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), to begin every day by yielding that day to the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Jesus literally wants to continue his earthly ministry through you and me. We are the visible extensions of his abiding presence in our world (Matthew 28:20).

Christians being empowered, led, and used by Christ is obviously the last thing the enemy wants. That’s why he works so hard to convince us that it’s all about us when it’s actually all about Jesus.

A brother willing to die for his sister

Why should we submit our lives to Christ that he might continue his ministry through us? Let’s close with two answers.

One: Jesus can do more in the world than we can. Every person you know needs a Great Physician, a Good Shepherd, an omnipotent Lord and King. When he works through us, everyone we serve benefits, in this life and the next.

Two: Jesus can do more with our lives than we can. He knows us better than we know ourselves and knows the very best way our lives can fulfill their eternal purpose with true significance. Submitting to Jesus doesn’t make us robots—it makes us partners with God. In an incarnationally mysterious yet very real way, he makes us more than we could otherwise be while using us for greater purposes than we could ever serve without him.

Here’s how you can know you can trust him with your life: he gave his life for you (Romans 5:8).

Last year, a then-six-year-old named Bridger Walker saw a German Shepherd charging at his younger sister, so he stood between her and the dog. He saved her but suffered extensive injuries to his face and head. A year later, Bridger is still recovering. He has a simple explanation for his bravery: “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me.”

Jesus died so you could live eternally. He would do it all over again, just for you.

How will you respond to such love today?

Denison Forum

Unlike most Olympic athletes making headlines these days, Daniel Jervis did not win a medal in the Tokyo games. In fact, he came in fifth in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle. After the event, however, he said something that is worthy of global attention.

He began: “I want to thank my village of Resolven. I want to thank my church, Sardis Baptist Church, [and] Ammanford Church in Ammanford, who have been really supportive of me. Everyone back home has been praying for me.” Then he added: “The thing I’m most proud of in my life is that I’m a Christian, and obviously God was with me tonight, and I’m just really grateful to be representing him.”

It is fairly common to see competitors win and then thank God for their success. However, skeptics can dismiss such faith, no matter how sincere it is, as the natural result of success. They often claim, as Satan said of Job to God, “You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (Job 1:10–11).

For this reason, it can be especially powerful when believers glorify God before they achieve success. For example, South African Olympic swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker posted on Instagram a prayer for God’s will to be done “no matter what the outcome,” days before she won a gold medal and set a new world record in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke.

And it can be even more powerful when we honor God when we lose.

“I’m planning my future, not my legacy”

This fact is on my mind in light of an interview Jane Marczewski gave to CNN’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday. The singer known as Nightbirde has been much in the news after her stunning performance on America’s Got Talent, her disclosure that she has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her recent announcement that she will not be able to continue on AGT because of her cancer battle.

When Cuomo asked how she was doing, she was honest: “Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been curled up in a ball like a cocktail shrimp, having an A-plus pity party for myself, because it’s just been a bad, bad month. It’s been really, pretty devastating.”

She described having to leave AGT: “I’m not a quitter. So it was really, really hard for me to say that I couldn’t finish the show. I got shocking news less than a week ago about cancer regrowth that has taken over my lungs and liver. So my liver right now is mostly cancer. More cancer than liver in there right now.”

Then she added: “But like I said, I’m planning my future, not my legacy. Some people would call that blind denial. I prefer to call it rebellious hope. And I’m not stopping anytime soon.”

She then asked Cuomo, “Don’t you want to see what happens if you don’t give up? Don’t you want to see what happens? And that’s what I keep saying to myself and that’s what I say to everyone watching tonight. Don’t you want to see what happens if you don’t give up?”

Just as she impressed the acerbic Simon Cowell on AGT, she similarly impressed Cuomo, who asked whether or not she has “always been like this.” She replied, “I don’t know. I think when you’re faced with so many blows to the gut in a row, like I have over the past several years, you find out what you’re made of in a sense, and you’re given the opportunity to choose what you want to become. So no, I don’t think I was always this way.”

“Therefore we will not fear”

Psalm 46 begins: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (v. 1). This is not a wish for the future but a fact in the present.

A “refuge” is a place where we go to be sheltered. However, we must choose to go there. A shelter is no help to us unless we use it. If we think we can withstand the storms and crises of life on our own, we will not humble ourselves enough to admit that we need God’s help and then to seek that help.

So, when the crisis comes, run to God. The Hebrew word for refuge is literally “a place to which we flee.” Don’t walk to him—run. Run to his help, his power, his love, his grace. And seek the “strength” he offers, knowing that his power can be yours if you will ask for it from him.

If you do, through the incontrovertible lens of your Father’s omnipotence and love, you will be able to testify with the psalmist, “Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (vv. 2–3, my emphasis).

Sometimes God calms the storms, and sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child. A troubled saint said, “I prayed for less wind in my sails, and God gave me more sails for the wind.”

“He must win the battle”

Martin Luther turned Psalm 46 into one of the best-loved hymns in Christian history, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. In that hymn he wrote these words, “Did we in our own strength confide, / our striving would be losing; / Were not the right man on our side, / the Man of God’s own choosing. / Dost ask who that may be? / Christ Jesus, it is He; / Lord Sabaoth, His Name, / from age to age the same, / And He must win the battle.”

Note the word must. If our Father is truly omnipotent, no power can defeat him. If he is truly omniscient, no need can escape his knowledge. If he is truly all-loving, he will only ever do what is best for his children.

The next time you lose a race, remember Daniel Jervis’ example and look for a way to thank and honor your Lord for his love and grace. Remember Jane Marczewski’s question: “Don’t you want to see what happens if you don’t give up?”

And remember this fact: it is always too soon to give up on God.

Denison Forum