27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, 28 and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. – Philippians 1:27-28
Christian author and theologian, C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
At the same time, I look, however, to the call to be like Christ who has called us to be one in Him. The difficulty in being ‘one’ is we often look at the things we disagree on, more than the things we can agree on. Doing so, we may neglect to see our sister or brother in the person on the other side. The best any of us can be, is when we choose to love one another, even when we disagree.
Paul believed in the good that was in Christ, and that resided in those who had faith in Christ. There will always be things that people disagree about, and it can sometimes be good to have those disagreements, some of the best advances in our world have come from the competition among those who disagreed about something. However, disagreement and the competition that arises from it, should not cause intimidation. It is about striving side-by-side for the best we can produce together.
Christ called us to be one, to seek unity, however unity never meant uniformity. Unity is about learning to work together through everything, and in doing so proving our character by making the right choice, doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
Grace & Peace,
Sam