Having been committed to network­ing in my ministry since about 1980, I thought I had a grasp of the biblical instruction about unity and community from passages like Ecclesiastes 4, where Solomon wrote, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up this companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. … [I]f one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (Eccl. 4: 9, 10, 12). \

It made perfect sense to me: In Bible math, one plus one is greater than two.

But when I more thoroughly studied what God’s Word teaches about unity, I was stunned. I found that unity is not window dressing or an option for the church. Instead, I saw three truths that rocked me:

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1) Unity is rooted in the Trinity. In Jesus’ prayer in John 17, He interceded for us who would “believe in [Him] through [His disciples’] word” (v. 20). John 17 records only one issue Jesus mentioned more than once. He prayed three timesthat “they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us” (v. 21) … “that they may be one, just as We are one” (v. 22) … and again “that they may be perfected in unity” (v. 23).

Two things jump out at me from this. First is that our expression of unity should be a reflection of the unity of the Godhead. That moves the issue to a foundational level of my faith right away. It’s more important than pre-Trib, post-Trib, predestination or postmodernism. The Ojai Network story is remarkable, partly because a Wesleyan church and a Pentecostal church could set aside their doctrinal dif­ferences when kids’ spiritual lives lay in the balance.

Second, Jesus tells us the reason we are to reflect unity: “so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (v. 21) and “so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” (v. 23). Evangelism hinges on unity. I think it’s fair to also say that, conversely, people won’t find Christ like they should if we refuse to work together.

The success of the Great Commission depends on the church working together. The same can be said regarding the Great Commandment. Jesus prayed that “the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (v. 26). Love, too, is a reflection of the Divine.

Mike Higgs, the executive director of the Portland (Oregon) Youth Foundation, sums it up well: “Love and Unity are a REALLY big deal to God; one of the rea­sons being that love and unity are reflec­tions of the character of the Trinity. In addition to the many unfathomable truths about the triune God, a few are clear: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are consumed by, and define for us, true love and unity.”