I think the church isn't in unity because man in his fallen state has to believe that "I'm right and you're wrong", and enter into endless discussions and battles with one another about who is right and who is "wrong" rather than operating as Christ's body... healing the sick, setting the captives free, preaching the gospel, loving one another.
Should we pretend that we are *all* right (and nobody is wrong), even though we disagree about many things? I agree that we should "preach the Gospel", but I think you and I would disagree about what the Gospel is. So, it seems to me that if we are going to preach the Gospel together, we have to come to agreement about what the Gospel is. Pretending that the disagreements are unimportant or insignificant is naive. We can never resolve these disagreements until we are honest with each other about their existence and their seriousness.
are going to be surprised to find that Jesus just wanted to KNOW YOU. To be the LORD of your life
Christ is omniscient; He already knows everything, including all human persons. Some might be surprised to learn that they had spurned Christ's appointed means of coming to know Him, love Him and serve Him, i.e. the Magesterium, the sacraments, the Church, the Saints, the Fathers, the Tradition, etc.
-A8
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29For he taught them as ONE HAVING AUTHORITY, and NOT AS THE SCRIBES.
No, but I think we can all start at the fact that NONE of us has it all right. Jesus was the only man who ever lived on this earth that had it "right". No person, no church, no single interpretation is "right".
Good grief, even before the Apostles were gone, they were already having problems with peoples' interpretation of the gospel and their fleshly human selves. Only Jesus can be our head. Any human person is subjective, fallible, and going to interpret differently from the next.
I think we're all going to find that we put a little too much focus on one thing or another.
I just wish we could play nicely together.. And, in fact, the majority of the churches in my area do, despite our differences. Jesus first ...