Dear Unity: Overdue Love-Letters of the Church

The long-standing sickness of division in the church is in dire need of love and hospitality from Christians of every expression.

The time has come for believers to drag Christian unity out of the dark ages and into the light of a new global connectivity. Could it be that the world is too quickly dividing into chaos because the church is too slowly uniting in peace? The forgotten truth is that by our baptism we have all been wired by God for unity, to be conduits of God’s light and power. 

There’s an urgent need for shepherds of faith to rise and show the way forward by loving and honoring each other through radical words and works of solidarity. The church calls the faithful to courageously exhibit the beauty of an undivided Jesus into a divided world. 

On this journey toward oneness, we must be prepared to come across forks in the road that challenge our views. Our heart posture will determine whether we take the path that leads to a slow understanding, or a quick misunderstanding of others. Will we judge our differences—or prayerfully hold them in respectful mystery? 

I’ve learned that while we are clearly called to speak the truth in love, we must be very sure that we are acting in love before we speak the truth!

The backstory of a miraculous journey

As the curator of a new book called Dear Unity, I confess to feeling bewildered as to how I came to bear the vision of orchestrating a cross-denominational gathering of writers who are heads of denominations and churches all yearning for a common oneness as the body of Christ. I’m not a theologian, but more of a foolish lover who yearns for oneness in God’s family, warts and all. 

I was raised Catholic, even serving as an altar boy, but as a teen, the Baptist leaders at a horseback riding camp inspired me to commit my life to Jesus in a deeply personal way. Upon returning from a trail ride, I encountered an outpouring of God’s love that changed my life forever. I discovered that Jesus had been following me long before I contemplated following him! 

Not long after that, as a student in a Jesuit Catholic college, I affectionately became known as “Father Phil” when my school’s headmaster/priest insisted I take over his personal column in the college magazine for a season to share the beauty of my ecumenical faith discoveries. Seeds were being sown in me, then, to write love letters that might awaken and soften the hearts of the faithful. 

The richness of a “coat of many colors” in the church was coming alive in my life. As further example, when I tried to later ward off the advances of the Pentecostal movement, I came to experience the undeniable power of the Holy Spirit instead—when hands were laid on me in prayer. By all this, you could say that I have become a passionate Catholic with a Pentecostal style and a Baptist smile! 

Is it any wonder why my life compass is predisposed to building bridges of unity between the missing family members of my Christian faith?

Our first unity dinner

Our movement started as a simple idea, when I bravely suggested to my wife Jennie that we host a sit-down dinner for sixty guests to celebrate the global week of prayer for Christian unity. We cleared out our furniture to make room. As with a wedding banquet, we intentionally set out to do everything with a spirit of excellence, from the dining experience to the table settings to the quality of musicians and the speeches to be given by leaders representing various expressions of Christianity across our city. 

Guests included pastors, bishops, a Salvation Army major, priests and religious sisters, Indigenous pastors and elders, family and friends. A Greek Orthodox bishop wore his majestic black garments as we celebrated unity as well as his birthday that night. 

Other guests included Mozambique missionary Dr. Heidi Baker, a former Australian prime minister, and the worship legend Darlene Zschech, who led us in the singing of “Amazing Grace.” And then there was the brilliant rapping Pentecostal pastor who spontaneously sung his prophetic rhymes of unity from table to table, drawing bouts of laughter from all. Oh, what a night!

As I welcomed everyone into our home, I reminded them that this was not merely a gathering of distant cousins, but a gathering of close family members, because mere cousins do not share the same Father. We were then ready to pray the “Our Father” together with the true conviction Jesus so desired. 

Late into the night, we finished with holy songs and an exchange of contact information. Many of us left anticipating the blessing that falls over entire cities whose believers learn to befriend the strangers in their midst, only to find the richness of their unmet family while doing so. 

From a meal, then, to a movement

It wasn’t easy stepping out as a nobody, really, asking all of the somebodies of the church to believe in and get behind the sacred vision of the Dear Unity book. Thankfully, replies to my invitations came back thick and fast. 

Cardinal P. Raniero Cantalamessa, the appointed preacher to the papal household for three popes over four decades, suggested that this vision “came straight from the heart of the Father.” I don’t believe the Cardinal was saying yes to me, but to God. Then Heidi Baker took it to prayer with her Spirit-filled community in Africa, reporting back with a sense of excitement at the grace they believed the book was destined to release. Randy Clark only took twenty minutes to say yes. Others took months. The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Jerry Pillay, graciously agreed to take part. Francis Chan initially said no, as he was only willing to share if God gave him a clear message on what to write; then, when I reapproached him several months later, he had an inspiration from prayer and agreed to write his, now, beautiful chapter on Communion.

There were so many other signs and stories that helped me to see the book as a miracle in the making. 

We already agree on enough

The easily forgotten truth is that most of today’s Christians are now in agreement on nearly all the primary beliefs of our faith. While we still must work through secondary issues and interpretations in a humble posture of loving mystery and patience, the Gospel remains our clear and common guide as we navigate the truth of love and the love of truth. 

Surely, we already agree on enough, and can no longer afford to find excuses to delay our love one moment longer! My simple spirit tells me that if we can just set out together with a new resolve to listen and pray more than we speak, the Lord will join us on our road to Emmaus and begin to teach us together what we could not discover apart. While perfect agreement must wait, love and unity need not.

Unity is expensive—“dear” in every sense of the word. Just as Jesus paid the ultimate price by dying for us while we were still sinners, are we not equally called to go out of our way to love and forgive our neighbor well before we think they meet our standards? 

The long-standing sickness of division in the church is in dire need of love and hospitality from Christians of every expression. The front doors of our churches and homes must be opened wider to become places of a radical welcome where healing, honor, and tenderness are not limited by any set opening or closing times.

My prayer is that our pride and prejudice be exposed, challenged, softened, and ultimately healed so that we find ourselves able to love and accept others at a whole new level. As in the humility of King David we pray: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).