Unity

We had a great talk today at uni from the campus co-ordinator of the Christian group I attend, and I just wanted to share what I took away from it, even though I'm sure you've heard it before.

Following the hype of World Youth Day here in Sydney, our talk this week was "Catholic, Protestant, Christian?". We looked not at any one specific denominations, or any particular issue of contention between the denominations, or at any reasons to support one over the other, but thinking about what we all believe and how we all need to be coming back to the central truths Christ taught.

Although the talk covered things like how we should go about choosing what church (not what denomination) we should attend, what I really liked was the focus on unity. If people from different denominations who all believe Jesus is their Lord and Saviour can't get over the difference they practice what is often essentially religion rather than faith, what kind of witness is that to the world? Why should anyone be interested in any church who can't agree with the other churches around it? If we show disunity as Christians, people will focus on that hypocrisy, rather than on Christ.

Unity is one of the things I love about campus ministry. Several of the Christian groups on campus are non-denominational, and I think this is great. Not only do you get exposed to other teachings and sources of input that you may not know about through your own church, but you are able to acknowledge that in such a secular environment as a university, all the more superficial differences fade away in the face of presenting a united front as Christians. Today, I was sitting with two other girls - one attends a Catholic church, the other a Uniting church. I attend an Anglican church. I think it is great when we are reaching out to the campus, that not only are we showing unity, but we are a unified group, despite our different backgrounds.