Unity is a worthy goal. There are two paths through which people pursue unity: unity through selfishness and unity through obedience. While people decorate these paths with varied catchphrases and jargon, they remain the same, and only one leads to unity.
Those who pursue unity through selfishness often claim that others’ limitations on their liberty bring about the world’s problems. They cry out that all should be more tolerant of their choices and more permissive of their whims. This path, however, waves goodbye to unity in favor of the chaos of every person following their most recent and strongest desires. On the selfish route, none must question my wants, and consequences must be absent. This system breaks down the moment one person’s wishes harm another person. Total unrestricted freedom will never produce unity. Selfishness only divides (Prov. 14:12).
The path of obedience is the only path that can produce unity. To function correctly, the standard to be obeyed must be perfect and unbiased (John 17:17, Ps. 18:30). It must apply equally to all, being an objective standard that identifies what is praiseworthy and what is reprehensible for all (Ezek. 18:19-24, Acts 10:34). No man can arrive at such a standard by his human creativity (2 Pet. 2:20-21, 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Such a standard is only producible and bindable by a being beyond this world, infinitely powerful, wise, and loving. The God revealed in the Bible is the only being able to produce such a standard (Ps. 90:1-2, Gen. 1:1, Prov. 3:19-20, Rom. 1:20, Ps. 147:5, Jas. 1:13). God’s Word, the Bible, is His standard for all people, and obedience to it is the only path that brings forth unity.