That They May Be One

I wrote this article many years ago, before I had begun to study the essentials of the Roman Catholic faith. I no longer espouse the view that Christians and Catholics should seek unity in the faith. We are not of one faith. The Roman Catholic Church teaches a gospel that is distinctly different from that found in the Bible. The Bible proclaims salvation by faith alone (apart from works), in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. If any of these aspects is missing from a religious proclamation, it is a false gospel. The gospel of Rome is false on many fronts, but particularly in the area of salvation, where Rome requires significant work on the part of the penitent soul, even after death, before that soul will possibly be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. This is not the true gospel.

For that reason, I recommend that Christians cooperate with Catholics only in social matters in which we are not obligated to mix together in corporate "worship" or prayer. In other words, we may join together with Catholics to promote safety in our schools or to fight abortion at the ballot box, but we may not meet together in front of the Supreme Court and listen to a priest pray. It is not proper for Christians to be unequally yoked in this way.

In the 1970s, Barry Manilow performed the song "One Voice." The lyrics described a single voice singing out, all alone in the darkness. As the one voice continued to sing, another voice joined in, producing harmony. These two voices were joined by two more, then these four by another four. The eight-voice harmony was then increased in strength by eight more voices, then another 16, then another 32, and so on. Finally a majestic choir sang the same song, with fervor, strength and intensity. The one voice had become a musical army with such focus that it could not be ignored. The piece is moving and it carries a powerful message for pro-lifers.

When one activist stands on the street corner, he proclaims the truth; but he is only one voice, and is easily ignored. When that one pro-life activist travels to Washington, DC, for the annual march for Life, he is joined by hundreds of thousands of other pro-lifers. The magnitude of this group presents a message that is very hard to ignore. We experience the strength of this unity every year at the March for Life, but then we seem to forget it throughout the rest of the year. Until the next January, we find ourselves on the street corner, protesting this terrible crime, all alone—with one small voice.

Why does the pro-life community continue to fight internally? Could it be that Satan sees our army and realizes that the only way to defeat us is to encourage us to fight against each other so our efforts cannot form a united front? In order for our message to be clearly heard, we must rise above our differences and become united in our goal—to eradicate the sin of abortion from our land.

There is strength in numbers. This is a principle well understood by our opponents. When attempting to make legislative changes intended to further the pro-abortion agenda, our opponents always make a loud cry with a united, focused voice. If their numbers aren’t readily apparent, the spokesman announces how many people agree with him. We have the majority of Americans on our side, but we don’t present a unified front. This leaves the impression that we are just a few small and disorganized (albeit vocal) pockets of extremism . If we would come together and fight the evil of abortion as a focused army, our cause would not be perceived as radical or extreme, but would be recognized as mainstream thought.

This is a cause well worth the effort needed to get along with those with whom we disagree on other topics. Let us lay aside our differences of culture, race, locale, and even doctrine and creed in order to demonstrate to the world our agreement on this principle: abortion is a sin against Almighty God and it must be stopped. We need not abandon our beliefs in order to work together because we all agree on the sanctity of human life. If we set aside our doctrinal differences and focus on our agreement in this one area, we can produce amazing results. When we come together to fight for what we all know is right, perhaps we will find that our differences are not really so great after all.

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 14:5–6).