Better Together: Honest Engagement, Shared Faith, and the Unity of the Church

1 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— 2 then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. 3 Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. 4 Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage.

Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Philippians 2:1–4 (The Message)

I’m working through Philippians again, and while I don’t usually quote The Message, this passage captures something that has been working on my mind and heart for years now.

Why does questioning interpretations of specific verses in the Bible related to secondary issues—that is, issues not essential for salvation—sometimes lead to so much anger and frustration between believers in Jesus?

I am persuaded that one reason is this:

We often elevate certain interpretations to the level of essential, non-negotiable doctrine.

As a result, questioning those interpretations is not received as theological engagement with fellow believers, but as an attack on the faith itself.

And that can deeply damage both our witness and our unity.

But here’s a thought:

What if we, as the body of Christ, pressed pause before allowing our actions to cause others to doubt Christ because all they see from His followers is arguing and division?

What if we respected our fellow believers enough to be willing to take another honest look at secondary topics and ask ourselves, “What if I’ve missed or misunderstood something?”

Please hear me clearly: this is not a call to abandon biblical truth or to minimize doctrine. Sound doctrine matters deeply. Truth matters deeply.

But so does humility.

So does remembering that faithful believers throughout church history have wrestled with difficult passages and sometimes arrived at different conclusions on secondary matters while still holding firmly to the gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 15).

This concern for unity is exactly what Paul was addressing in Philippians 2. Before giving us one of the most beautiful passages about Christ in all of Scripture, Paul gently reminded believers of what they already shared in common. He reminded them of the encouragement, love, fellowship, and grace they had experienced together in Christ and urged them to be, as the NIV translates, “like-minded.”

That phrase goes far beyond simply agreeing intellectually.

Paul was describing a shared outlook shaped by what they had in common—love, values, ambitions, and attitudes. This kind of unity is not rooted in identical personalities, backgrounds, preferences, or experiences. It is rooted in believers being united in Christ and shaped by the things that matter most to Him.

Jesus prayed for this kind of unity in John 17.

And I am persuaded that John’s description of Jesus as “full of grace and truth” gives us a guide here. As we seek truth, shouldn’t we also be full of grace toward our brothers and sisters in Christ? If we want to be like Jesus, of course we should.

Maybe it’s time to shift our posture and begin looking for what unites us as believers, even in these conversations, so that the world will see Jesus (John 17:21).

The passages we debate and sometimes divide over do deserve honest and careful engagement. We should study deeply. We should ask questions. We should wrestle with the text. We should sharpen one another.

But those conversations should be approached with the attitude that iron sharpens iron—not that iron is used against iron.

There is a difference.

One posture seeks clarity, growth, and faithfulness together.

The other seeks victory.

And the body of Christ suffers when winning becomes more important than understanding, humility, love, and unity.

I am not suggesting that truth is unimportant. Quite the opposite. I am suggesting that if we truly believe Scripture is God’s Word, then when concerns or disagreements come up, we should not be afraid to examine our assumptions carefully and honestly in light of the whole counsel of the Word of God and remember that we may have more in common than we’ve ever realized!

We are truly better together.

So let’s do this.