Our Oneness Makes Christ Visible to the World

It is our unity that makes Jesus visible to the world in us. It was practical unity that made the Jerusalem church attractive. Restoration of that unity was a precondition to the effective preaching of Steven and Phillip.

            It is only our oneness, manifested in our love for each other, which makes Christ visible to the world. By this, Jesus said, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.¹ Jesus also stated this with a metaphor of salt. We are the salt of the earth.² But our saltiness, that which makes us of value to the world, is that we have peace with each other.³ If we lose our saltiness, our peace with each other⁴, we are no longer salt but sand, and not of any use but to be thrown out and walked on. However, the Lord prayed for us, who would believe in Him through the words of His original disciples, that we would not lose that peace which makes us useful to the world, but would instead be one, “so that the world may believe that You sent me.”⁵ Indeed, it is as we are brought to complete oneness that the world is made able to know that God sent Jesus, and has loved both Jesus and us, his followers.⁶

            The early Church made Christ visible to those around them most effectively through the manifestation of their oneness. For example, Luke notes that, in the days following Pentecost, the first church, the Church in Jerusalem, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, (koinonia, partnership), to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”⁷ Luke further records that, like true partners, the members of that first church held all of their possessions in common—none thought of his possessions as his own, but all were willing to sell what they had to provide for each others’ needs. In this way, they were “continuing with one mind in the temple.”⁸ The most prominent results of this manifestation of oneness were that “everyone was filled with awe” at great signs and wonders performed by the apostles, “and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”⁹ In other words, the believers’ completely unselfish manifestation of their oneness with each other caused many to be saved every day.

            Similarly, in Acts 6, after the Jerusalem church had settled its dispute over how widows in the church were to be cared for and unity had been restored, Luke notes that the number of the disciples increased greatly and many of the Jewish priests became obedient to the faith.¹⁰ Also, after unity was restored, two of the seven men who had been appointed to care for the widows, Stephen and Phillip, became very powerful evangelists.^11,12  Both Stephen and Phillip did great signs and wonders.^13,14 Stephen preached in Jerusalem with such wisdom that no one could resist his words.¹⁵ Ultimately, the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem could only ignore him by killing him. Phillip’s preaching converted multitudes in Samaria.¹⁶ However, neither Stephen nor Phillip became great evangelists in a vacuum. Both were set free to do the mighty things they did when they were appointed to their task waiting on tables to restore the unity of the Church. Unity was an essential precondition of their effectiveness.