Thanks to N.T. Wright Online, I came across this great 10-minute video where Wright explains why unity is the church’s greatest calling.
I don’t know if I’d call unity the church’s “greatest calling,” but it is definitely up there, it has to be, you can’t do mission if you are bitterly divided.
The oneness and unity of the church are important, it’s important in our creeds, it is important for mission and discipleship, and we should grieve the divisions between Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant churches.
Many years ago, Iain Murray wrote for an Aussie Presbyterian magazine that "unity was overrated". I read that and thought to myself that unity at any price is indeed overrated, but exhortations to unity in the New Testament should not be underrated (see 1 Cor. 1.10-17; Phil. 2.1-4, John 17.20-23, Acts 2.44, and Eph. 4.3-6). I mean, Jesus’ prayer for his disciples was “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17.21). Are those words overrated? I submit they are not!
Unity matters, it should not be belittled or denigrated.