The Bible is packed with so many commands and words of wisdom that it’s easy to pick and choose the ones we want to heed. Not murdering seems straightforward and obvious enough. Other commands, like the call to deny ourselves, are much tougher to put into practice consistently.

It’s hard today, however, to think of something more overlooked and unappreciated than the early Church’s need for unity among its members. From the very beginning, such cohesion was both paramount and elusive, but it was always something early leaders worked hard to achieve.

Paul opens his First Letter to the Corinthians with the appeal “that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10, NRSV).

The call for unity precedes the Resurrection. At the Last Supper, Jesus prays for this, asking the Father that his followers will be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one (see John 17:20-21). Jesus asks this “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Perhaps this appeal for unity has always been an ideal. In Christianity’s 2,000-year history, has it ever truly existed? But just because something may never be fully realized doesn’t mean that thing shouldn’t be striven for. If it did, then all our attempts for world peace are futile.

Yet I can’t help but think we Christians have lost not simply the hope of unity but also the sense that it even matters.

In that regard, who can blame us? After all, for the past 500 years, Christianity has been defined by its differences—not to mention the infighting of denominations. We have not emphasized why any denomination exists in the first place: to share the message of salvation and redemption through the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Admittedly, it is much easier to pretend Jesus’ and Paul’s pleas for believers to be one aren’t in direct conflict with the sad state of things, that our obligation as baptized Catholics is merely to peacefully coexist with our separated Christian brothers and sisters. After all, the fight for unity would make life, especially in the eclectic environment of these United States, uncomfortable.

Further complicating matters, unity doesn’t necessarily carry a positive connotation. In a culture that worships individuality, unity sounds an awful lot like that dreaded word “conformity.” Who wants a society of mindless drones who think and act alike? Could it be that unity is no longer desirable?

Jesus, Paul and the rest of the early Church certainly did not want all believers to be exactly the same. There is certainly room for diversity within unity. In Chapter 12 of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, he compares the Church to a body; its many different body parts come together to form a single body.

As an athlete, I like to think of this in terms of a team. Ideally, each team member has similar goals and will be internally driven to achieve them. At the same time, everyone has a different role and a different method. Maybe one player needs a coach in his ear at all times to perform at his best while another player needs to listen to classical music.

All team members do not have to think alike to be successful, but they do need to have their eyes trained on the same prize. As soon as players start playing for themselves instead of the team, for example, there will be major problems.

Likewise, Christians don’t have to worship exactly the same way, but they must share fundamental values. It is our baptismal duty to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). As Jesus says, “no...house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25).

Tyler Blue, a former editorial intern in our book department, graduated from the University of Dayton and is now pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University.