This is the week of prayer for Christian unity, and it got me thinking about what this unity is all about. I live in an area of Wales where there are many churches, a duplication because of the language - so even within the Anglican system there are both Welsh and English parish churches. So many churches/chapels and generally small congregations does cause a problem when it comes to working together, but in essense that's not what unity is about.
Christian unity is more about what we believe than where we worship. I might disagree with my Catholic friends about some of their beliefs - the perpetual virginity of Mary, the understanding of the elements in Holy Comunion etc.. On the other side of the divide I might disagree with some of my conservative evangelical friends about their strict literal interpretation of the Bible, particularly Genesis and Revelation.
But if my Christian friends agree with the basic core doctrinal beliefs of Christians, particularly where they centre on God's plan of Salvation, the nature of Jesus Christ and that we are saved by Grace not works, then I am more than happy to worship with them and count them as my Christian brothers and sisters.
We might have a discussion or two about the side issues, but these are not the important matters that should divide us. Paul was quite clear on this point - that there are lots of little things that we can disagree with, but we should rather be looking at the things that we can agree on. Yes, there are boundaries beyond which we cannot and should not agree or compromise, but our aim should be the unity of the Church - for then the world will see God's love working within us and reaching out to them.
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