Our unity in Christ with each other is an imperfect reflection of the perfect unity experienced by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but it’s what Jesus intends for us as Christians. Unity within our churches is essential, and there are three core dimensions to it.

The Trinity is the greatest example of unity we have. The only thing that exists between the three Persons of the Godhead is perfect harmony, and there are no differences of opinion or unresolved disputes within the one true and living God. As a reflection of God’s perfect unity, there are three core dimensions of unity that we should strive to experience and enjoy with one another within the church.

1. Doctrinal unity

The first dimension of unity is doctrinal unity. In John 17:3, Jesus says this as he prays to his Father, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” This is a profound statement and prayer.

Eternal life is more than a quantity of life. Eternal life, as defined by Jesus, is a quality of life. And that life is defined by knowing God, the only true God through Jesus Christ, the one he sent.

Eternal life is more than a quantity of life. Eternal life, as defined by Jesus, is a quality of life.

The word “know” doesn’t simply mean we learn facts about God. It means a deep, personal, experiential knowledge of God. He is a personal God, and he knows us and wants to make himself known to us, so that we might know him through Jesus.

But the fact that he’s the only true God means there are propositional truths about him that we need to understand. In John 17:6, Jesus says, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”

One of the huge misconceptions we have in Christianity is that somehow doctrine and unity are polar opposites.

There is complete doctrinal unity in truth between Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. There is perfect unity. So when Jesus says that he wants us to live in unity, he prays for our unity, and he compares the unity that he wants us to live in with the relationship that he has with the Father, it shows that doctrinal unity is critically important and foundational.

One of the huge misconceptions we have in Christianity is that somehow doctrine and unity are polar opposites—that they’re antithetical. But that would be like your physician, after giving you a clean bill of health, saying, “Patient, thank you so much for choosing to put aside good nutrition so that you could have good health.” It doesn’t make sense. One leads to the other. Similarly, good doctrine should lead to unity in the church.

2. Missional unity

Another dimension of unity is missional unity. In John 17:15, Jesus prays for his immediate disciples, for those that would lead his mission all over the world, and he says to the Father, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

Jesus is a missionary God. He goes out of his way, especially in the Gospel of John, to say over and over that he has been sent by the Father. Jesus enters into human history as a missionary: He takes on human form, walks our soil, breathes our air, speaks our language, and lives in our cultural context. He pursues relationships with people who are far away from God. All for the purpose, according to Jesus, to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10).

Every church that follows Jesus has one mission: to make disciples.

Jesus sends the church on the same mission, as he says in John 20:21: “Just as the Father has sent me into the world, I send you into the world.” The church is about one mission, and it’s a mission that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit live out in unity. It’s a rescue mission. It’s a mission where Jesus is coming to pursue people who are alienated from God, to save them, to transform them, and to convert them from people in rebellion against God into people who worship God.

Jesus says this most clearly to his disciples in the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19–20)

Jesus is a missionary God.

Every church that follows Jesus has one mission: to make disciples. We have no ministry apart from the mission of Jesus. If we are going to live out the unity that Jesus wants us to have, then all of us without exception are missionaries on mission with Jesus.

You may be missing out on the gift of unity that Jesus wants you to enjoy because you’re not on mission. Maybe instead, you’re pursuing your own individual agenda, and you’re more concerned about your ministry than the mission of Jesus. It’s his mission, and it’s our mission collectively. I want to encourage you to turn from that sin, because that’s exactly what it is.

3. Relational unity

There’s a third dimension to unity, and that’s relational unity. We read in John 17:24–25, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

What Jesus is praying is that you, I, and everyone who loves and belongs to Jesus would be with him forever. And as we’re with him, the ultimate experience we would have together is seeing the glory of Jesus manifested. Jesus has had a perfect relationship throughout all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. They love, enjoy, and respect each other. Jesus wants the same for us.

When we do not regularly participate in worship, we are passively bringing disunity to the church.

When we come together to worship as a church, what we’re really doing is previewing and partially fulfilling the answer to Jesus’ prayer. There will come a day when Jesus’ prayer will be fully answered, when we’re all together with Jesus and his glory is made known.

Most people will never walk into a local church and say, “I’m going to be as divisive as I possibly can. I’m just going to wreak havoc here. I’m going to tear up relationships.” But instead, here’s what many of us do: we passively create disunity. We don’t do it when we’re present, but we do it by our absence.

Jesus has had a perfect relationship throughout all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He wants the same for us.

We experience the relationship that Jesus has with his Father when we’re together in worship. We see it in the early church. Acts 2 tells us they met daily in the temple courts. They were taught, they worshiped Jesus, they would then disperse to their homes, and they would take meals together. When we do not regularly participate in worship, we are passively bringing disunity to the church.

Yes, there are things like vacation, sickness, and other events that keep you from being present with your church. But what I’m saying is that if you’re sitting on the sidelines, not joining in, not being physically present with your church home, then your heart is not in it.

Pursue unity

I encourage you today to pursue unity within your church doctrinally, missionally, and relationally. Don’t harden your heart any longer. If you and your church are not living in the unity that Jesus has made possible, then I encourage you to examine your heart, turn from sin that’s inhibiting unity, trust in Jesus, and live within the unity he’s achieved for us.