A heavenly & earthly distinction

The question:

What is the difference between heavenly unity and earthly unity?

The question stems from my talk on 'The Wider Body'.

This is best answered by seeing firstly what is this heavenly unity and secondly what is the earthly unity before turning to specifics.

Heavenly unity

The Bible describes Christians as people who are already gathered in heaven.

For example, Colossians 1:18

And he is the head of the body, the church

Ephesians 1:22

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over
everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills
everything in every way

It seems that when someone becomes a Christian they become part of the ever increasing body of Christ. They become part of that great multitude that no one can count on the last day; part of the group of the group gathered around the throne of God and 'the Lamb' giving them eternal praise, glory and honour.

This is what awaits us but there is also a sense in which this heavenly reality has begun.

Earthly unity

The Bible also describes Christians who gather in the here and now.

For example, 1 Thessalonians 1:1

Paul, Silas and Timothy. To the church of the Thessalonians in God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This letter is addressed to those Christians who gather in the town of Thessalonica

See also 2 Thessalonians 1:4

Therefore among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith
in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

And Galatians 1:2

To the churches in Galatia

Whereas above there was only one church to belong to here it seems that there are lots of churches that exist.

It seems clear then that our gatherings have a heavenly and a future dimension to them. Perhaps it is best to suggest that the local churches are a manifestation of the heavenly assembly gathered around God and Christ. As one writer has said,

Men and women are called into membership of this one church of Christ, the
heavenly assembly, through the preaching of the gospel. Because of one's
membership of the heavenly assembly gathered around Christ, Christians ought to
assemble in local gatherings here on earth. Apparently this responsibility was
not immediately obvious to some of the early Christians since they still needed
to be exhorted not to forsake 'the assembling of themselves together' (Hebrews
10:25)

So, what is the difference between heavenly and earthly unity?

Well, we are already unified in Christ and our local and earthly meetings should strive to show people the unity we have in heaven. The challenge that stems from this is to look at our own churches that meet under the Norwest umbrella and ask ourselves whether unity is being pursued amongst them. It also means that there is a primacy for people to know each other in our specific church rather than complaining about not being connected to other people from other churches.