1. There can be no unity unless we clearly know what the mission is for our time. 2. The Mission demands Unity in Diversity There can be no unity unless we clearly know what the mission is for our time. The theologian Emil Brunner once said: 'As a fire exists by burning so the Church exists by mission; if there is no burning there is no fire; if there is no mission there is no Church.' So the very existence of the Church depends upon its mission, according to Brunner. If we don't have a clear vision of what it is we are primarily about we are like a drunk person trying to find their way home at night. The Church is like a disorientated person when it is without clear vision of its mission. Without a clear vision of mission there can be no unity. What then is our mission? Firstly to proclaim that Jesus is Alive! And Secondly, in light of the Resurrection, our mission is to continue Jesus work of liberation and salvation. God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). This mission fired the early churches. The mission was about establishing churches in order to transform communities and individuals with the love of God, though Jesus Christ. In the early decades of the first century, with a clear view of its mission, Christianity spread like wildfire from Jerusalem to all the way to Rome. A clear vision of mission had the effect of a unified cause. Certainly it was never a completely unified cause; there were plenty of struggles even in those early days, for example, between Paul and the Jerusalem Church (Galations). Nonetheless, a clear mission enabled a miraculous movement to occur, namely, the Gentile Mission. For Paul and his co-workers, nothing would distract them from the mission - not even the question of race - the new wine demanded new wine-skins. These early Christian pioneers were even prepared to become social and religious traitors to their Jewishness because the mission of Jesus was clearly in focus! This call to Jesus' mission will always require strong, Jesus-focussed, Spirit-led leadership. Often I still contemplate with awe the relatively peaceful overthrow of Apartheid in South Africa toward the end of the twentieth century. At the time it seemed that the situation must end in bloodshed. Why did it not? I think in many ways a blood bath was averted because the Spirit of Christ was tangibly present through many of the important anti-apartheid leaders. This Spirit was certainly evident in Nelson Mandela who, in his own words, since boyhood had been a Christian. Even after decades of incarceration and character assassination - he maintained an overarching vision and mission in life: It was a vision of a united and representative, South Africa. Mandela says: "... that all through those long years my mission was freedom for all people, white and black. The oppressor must be liberated as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another's freedom is a prisoner of hatred. My mission was to see the liberation of both oppressor and oppressed." It was Mandela's single-minded, unifying, God breathed vision that galvanised a nation that was in many ways had previously been like a police state. Christian mission must be of this order. Unity can only truly come through a God-breathed focus in the mission of Jesus. On the basis of Hebrews 13, Jesus mission is the same today as it was in his earthly life: to bring about salvation and liberation in all the world. Mission demands Unity in Diversity So now we have our Mission in focus - does that mean we all have to think the same, be the same, talk the same, worship the same? Clearly not! We have all been created different - to be free in God. Freedom was the cor nerstone of Mandela's struggle. Start a Church committee and you'll soon learn about the reality of difference. We were never intended to be clones. Indeed the mission of Jesus depends upon difference! Look at the first Church of Christ; Jesus brought together 12 disciples and amongst them was a tax-collector and at least one zealot. In the first century these characters tended to be arch enemies. Tax-collectors were collaborators with Rome; Zealots were militant Jews intent on ridding Judaism of the impure collaborators. In Jesus day, you put a zealot and a tax-collector in a dark ally and only one would emerge! Following the time of Pentecost a constant mark of the Jesus communities continued to be diversity and the appreciation of diversity. (For instance, see the Apostle Paul's descriptions in 1 Corinthians 12:4 ff ......). Diversity is necessary. Any co-ordinator of volunteers will tell you that you need a multiplicity of skills, talents and gifts to get jobs done. Yet, Christian mission also demands unity - for how can we be about the salvation of the world unless we are united? Indeed, Jesus in John's Gospel prays a great prayer of unity for his disciples, (John 17:20). Significantly, Jesus is depicted as praying this prayer just before he ascends to his Father. It is as if this moment is the last emphatic plea to his disciples - it is an imperative that we are One! How does this unity in diversity work? It seems that we are called to use our diversity for the One purpose! The Apostle Paul's most magnificent metaphor for unity in diversity is the human body. All parts of the human body are different. But all are needed to work together in order that the body will function. We must be unified in our mission: our purpose must be crystal clear. We exist to seek the salvation and transformation of persons and communities everywhere in Jesus' name! Jesus met every need, so must we. The Church is called to be the continuation of Christ's activity on earth, meeting the same needs, be they economic, political, societal, spiritual, medical and so on. But this mission demands unity! A unity of mission; but a diversity of gifts and strategies to get there. It requires nothing less than a total unity in the Holy Spirit. We are, through the power of the Holy Spirit, ex-zealots, ex-tax-collectors, ex-conservatives, ex-liberals, ex-fundamentalists, ex-pentecostals, ex-evangelicals; we are Christians, we are One in Christ. If we are not, then Jesus strongly implies: the world will not believe! In word and deed, spirit and truth: we are to be people of One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism. Let us celebrate God-breathed diversity, but let us use that diversity to be united in the mission of Jesus Christ! Blessings, KIM THODAY, Hewett Community Church of Christ, South Australia
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