Unity among Christians is possible

The early Quaker experience shows that unity is possible among those who are listening to Christ. George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement in seventeenth century England, saw that God speaks to all with one voice, and therefore does not contradict himself.

When differing points of view on important matters emerged in a Quaker meeting, all present waited for God to show them who was right. Sometimes the task fell to one person to turn the whole group in the right direction, as when the Lord commanded John Woolman to speak out against slavery, to slave-holding Quakers in Pennsylvania in 1758.

Are today’s Christians willing to gather, bringing their most cherished doctrines that divide one denomination from another? Doctrines concerning baptism, communion, prayer, and liturgy, for example, would all have to be laid at Christ’s feet. Everyone would have to become still and quiet, waiting for God to reveal the truth about these doctrines.

This may seem radical, but the perpetual divisions among Christians, never resolved, are no witness at all to the unbelieving world. If we want unity, we can count on God’s power and faithfulness to answer us when we ask for help and guidance.