While we continue to serve and support our friends in Ukraine during this time of war, there is much we can learn from the great example they have given us of the power of unity amid hardship and strife.
When someone is involved in battle, they don't care what labels the person next to them carries, as long as they are shooting at the same enemy. Skin color, cultural background, religious preference – it all goes out the window. Because when you’re in a war, you’ll never win by shooting people in your own foxhole.
In fact, not only are Ukrainians more unified than ever during this time, but all of Europe is growing in unity as Ukrainians seek refuge across the continent. People are hearing their stories and expressing support for them, understanding that any of them could have been in the same position, with just a minor difference in geography.
No One Knew We were at War or Who the Enemy Was
It was very different during the first crisis in eastern Ukraine in 2014, as no one knew who the separatists were. Those who came in and took over weren’t wearing a specific military emblem and weren’t identified with any particular nationality. No one in the rest of the country was really aware of what was happening, so they weren’t offering to help the eastern Ukrainians. Our EEM Ukraine director and her family had to move, leaving her nice home and farmland to settle as strangers in an unfamiliar place. Meanwhile, in other regions of the country, people weren’t even aware there was a conflict, and no one really knew who the enemy was.
When viewed through a spiritual lens, this could very well be said of us today. Many Christians are oblivious to the spiritual war going on in our world. We aren’t personally impacted by the many social and cultural conflicts that have arisen and have no understanding of what persecutions our fellow believers are enduring. We’re often apathetic, keeping the Gospel message to ourselves yet complaining that our culture has drifted further from its biblical foundation.
Similarly, we don’t recognize the presence of the enemy, who in 1 Peter 5:8 warns us is prowling about like a roaring lion seeking to devour its prey. Instead, many of us would rather see someone who believes differently than us as the enemy. Meanwhile, our true enemy feeds on the division that accompanies denominationalism.
A Common Enemy Brings Unity
Fast forward to 2022, and it’s a completely different story. In the early morning hours of Feb. 24, the entire nation of Ukraine was under attack, with explosions in nearly every region affecting the country’s critical infrastructure. Those in the less affected areas acted quickly to open their doors and receive those escaping the hardest hit towns and cities. No longer were there eastern, western, or southern Ukrainians. They were all Ukrainians, united in their enmity with a common foe – one everyone recognized this time around.
It also didn’t matter what the refugees’ faith beliefs were – all churches opened their doors to everyone regardless of denomination or doctrinal differences. People just wanted to help each other. This shared crisis brought together an entire nation of people who were experiencing the same grief and the same sorrow and facing the same enemy.
What if All Believers were Unified in the Same Way?
We’re seeing God use the war in incredible ways. The Ukrainians don’t care if their fellow citizen in peril is Orthodox, Catholic, Evangelical, or Pentecostal. Shouldn't we all adopt this biblical attitude?
In Jesus’ final moments before the betrayal that would send Him to the cross, He prayed for His disciples and all those who would believe in Him, that we would be one in the very same way that He and God the Father are one (John 17:20-23). His heartfelt prayer was for the earliest Christians and for us today. He knew our world would be torn apart by politics, racism, and inequalities, so He prayed for the unity of all who believe — “so that the world may know.” This is the beautiful outcome when there’s unity in the Church — others will know Him.
If the purpose of unity is to show the world Jesus and draw people to Him, then divisiveness will do the opposite. It will cause doubt and drive people away from Him. We need unity so that people will come to know Him.
One Body and One Spirit
It was likely Jesus’ prayer in John 17, which influenced six men to draft and sign the Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery on June 28, 1804. The document expressed a desire to dissolve their recently-formed presbytery because they recognized that denominational bodies and creeds of its kind were inherently divisive. The words they penned encouraged the members of other such organizations to do the same and unite in simply following the teachings of the Bible. “We will, that this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large; for there is but one Body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling.”
We must recognize that we as believers are in a battle – an all-out war for the souls of the lost – and we all fight the same enemy. We must not allow cultural, social, and denominational issues to divide us, taking our eyes off the true foe. We need to find that John 17 sense of unity – of true oneness with one another – if we are to win this war. Let’s remember our friends in Ukraine who stand as one in defense of their nation, and in doing so, have shown themselves to be way more resilient than expected.
If we can do the same, we can prove the admonition from Ecclesiastes 4:12: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” It’s more than encouraging – it's outcome changing – that we stand in unity with the God of the universe Himself as the third strand in the cord uniting believers around the world, “that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:22)
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Khanchit Khirisutchalual
Bob Burckle and Dirk Smith are President and Vice President, respectively, of Eastern European Mission, which has been providing Bibles to the people of Eastern Europe since 1961, now reaching 32 countries in 25 languages. They launched a humanitarian effort when Russia invaded Ukraine and are still accepting donations which go straight to their partners serving refugees on the ground in Eastern Europe. See more and donate at www.eem.org/ukrain eaid