Unity Amidst Polarization: What Jesus' Calling of the Twelve Teaches Us About Unity

The Context

We are all significantly formed by the conservative/progressive spectrum. Disciples of Jesus, unless relentlessly self-aware and quick to repent, are more shaped by the conservative and progressive binary than we are the life and teachings of Jesus.

Within this spectrum several important dynamics take place that lead to tremendous polarization:

We are handed a script. This script - filled with a long list of positions and talking points we must hold - is manmade. This script does not come from God. Jesus can never be contained in such a narrow and often self-righteous container. Even more concerning, this script is presented in an all-or-nothing fashion. Unless you agree with every part of the script you are pushed out by your tribe and stabbed in the back on your way out. Even resonating with a talking point from the other "team" is responded to with skepticism and disdain by our own tribe. When it comes to views on sexuality, immigration, taxes, creation care, the role of government, racial justice, etc the conservative and progressive scripts give little room for nuance, balance or humility.

We drift into silos. This sociological phenomenon of self-selecting into homogenous communities has been referred to as "the big sort", and it's happening across our country. Digitally, our own desire to be affirmed mixed with self-reinforcing algorithms feeds us a stream of news and views that push us into silos. As Bill Bishop illustrates in his book The Big Sort, movement towards homogeneity occurs in our physical lives as well. We are more likely to chose states, cities and particular neighborhoods based on living among people who share our same perspectives and lifestyles. As we navigate the world within a tribe of people who think, look and behave like us, the views of others seem more and more absurd.

We are given two ways to evaluate people and groups. We walk into the world holding a conservative container and a progressive container. As we encounter people, groups and institutions we try to figure out which container they belong in. Is my pastor a progressive? Is my teacher a conservative? Is my brother's girlfriend a woke liberal? Is my co-worker a card carrying republican? As the spectrum forms and shapes us, we inherit a ridiculously narrow and judgmental way of evaluating others. We can catch ourselves scrolling social media using a polarization and absurdly simple rubric to figure other people out.

Each of these dynamics - the script, the silo, the containers - leads to fierce polarization. Polarization is different than conflict. Plenty of conflict can be good and healthy. Instead, polarization arises within an antagonistic culture. It's conflict with a digging in of the heels characterized by demonization (the other is not just different, they are despicable) and dogmatism (my views are incontrovertibly true regardless of new experiences or insights).

This polarization doesn't seem to be much better within Christian circles. As has been well documented, there is a fracturing going on inside the American church. The primary criteria used to determine church commitment is often alignment with our own political and cultural assumptions rather than seeing ourselves within a larger identity that is Jesus-centered and recognizes we are part of a larger body of Christ that transcends nation, culture, theoligical framework and political affiliations.

As we grapple with our fracturing context it's critical to consider what unity under the leadership of Jesus looks like amidst the polarization within the church.

Considering Jesus' Calling of the 12

I think Jesus' selection of the twelve disciples has a lot to say to our current moment regarding what unity is and what it is not. As Jesus summons the twelve he is essentially creating his church, his inner-circle of people called to be with him and be sent by him. For Christians duped by the conservative/progressive spectrum Jesus' building of his community makes absolutely no sense!

We read in Mark 3:13-19:

These are the twelve he chose:

Simon (whom he named Peter), 17 James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”[b]), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot), 19 Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

Let me pause here and offer my favorite definition of unity. It comes from Richard Rohr:

"Unity is diversity protected by love"

These verses in Mark are a great example of how critical it is to understand historical and cultural context in biblical interpretation. A tax collector and a Zealot within the same small, tight-knot community is truly remarkable.

Matthew the tax collector. We learn from earlier on in Mark, and in Matthew 9:9, that Matthew is a tax collector. Tax collectors in Jesus' day were essentially government subcontractors hired by Rome to tax the people. Rome preferred to hire locals because they knew the people and local geography best. Taxes were extracted on everything from water, food, land, temple and travel.

The tax collector profession contained widespread greed and corruption. It was filled with inequity and systemic sin. Tax collectors would get rich by taking from others more than what was owed to Rome and then pocketing the rest. In the eyes of the jewish people, being a jewish tax collector was despicable. It amounted to Treason. After all, the Jews were a religious minority group under the grip of the Roman Empire. Someone like Matthew was getting in bed with the bad guys and benefiting from their systematic dominance. The gospels consistently show religious leaders viewing tax collectors as unclean and excluded from fellowship.

N.T. Wright offers a great analogy. Imagine how parking wardens are viewed today. They must encounter person after person exasperated at getting a ticket. "But I just went into the store for a minute!", "But I have always parked here!". Now imagine that the traffic warden works for a corrupt government that dominates and overpowers you. Worse yet, the traffic warden is rich off of expensive tickets and filling their pockets with the overcharge. Yikes.

Simon the Zealot. There is plenty debate among scholars as to whether Simon's designation as a zealot refers to his temperament or his affiliation. Perhaps this designation was primarily about Simon's disposition as being someone who was zealous for the OT law and for Jewish serration from Rome. It could also mean that Simon was affiliated with the party of the Zealots. After all, many people who had the temperament also had the direct party affiliation.

If being a tax collector was on one side of the spectrum, being a Zealot was on the other. Zealots were passionate revolutionaries who were determined to overturn Roman rule. They were willing to give their lives to fight enemies - both internal and external - that threatened the coming of the Kingdom of God as they envisioned.

New Testament scholar William Barclay puts the contrast between Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector this way:

"Christianity began with a very mixed group. In it the two extremes met. Matthew was a tax-collector and, therefore, an outcast; he was a renegade and a traitor to his fellow countrymen. Simon the Cananaean is correctly called by Luke ‘Simon the Zealot’; and the Zealots were a band of fiery, violent nationalists who were pledged even to murder and assassination to clear their country of the foreign yoke. The man who was lost to patriotism and the fanatical patriot came together in that group, and no doubt between them there were all kinds of backgrounds and opinions. Christianity began by insisting that the most diverse people should live together and by enabling them to do so, because they were all living with Jesus.”

It's probably not a stretch to say that having a Zealot and a tax collector within the same small Jesus community would be as extreme - perhaps far more - than a MAGA hat republican and a BLM t-shirt wearing progressive being served communion together.

Much could be said here, but Jesus' selection of his disciples teaches critical lessons about unity under the leadership of Jesus.

Unity clearly does NOT mean uniformity. How could it?! If Jesus was going after a comfortable, homogeneous community in which people more-or-less processed culture and faith in similar ways he did a horrific job. Uniformity is about patrolling the boundaries to ensure that no one who is different gets in. Jesus clearly doesn't do this.

Unity is about diversity protected by love. It's protected by love because Jesus has brought the community together and his way of life becomes - little by little - the way of life for the community.

With this in mind, a caution and an encouragement are in order as we pursue unity in the church.

Caution: Are calls for unity actually disguised attempts at uniformity?

Sometimes when we call people to unity what we really mean is: you must agree with me, you must conform and you can't question or push back. Basically, you need to shut up and get in line.

In these instances we put spiritual language over our our pride and fear. In our pride we assume we have the market on truth and therefore other ideas and perspectives are to be self-righteously discarded. In our fear someone's question or idea is threatening and we work to silence them. Proclaiming unity sounds a lot more palatable and spiritual than declaring that no one can push back on our authority.

Inside the church lots of contentious and messy conversations must be had on topics like race, sexuality, justice, etc. Side-stepping these difficult but important discipleship conversations is not a strategy towards unity. It's a strategy that leads to artificial harmony instead. And within this artificial harmony we abandon critical discipleship conversations to social media and news outlets. Avoidance may keep the boat afloat in the short term but there is a leak in the hull. Creating communities built on uniformity and/or avoidance of hard conversations does not lead to a healthy and flourishing church.

Encouragement: Diversity ENHANCES.

Diversity enhances 1) the witness of the church to the truth and beauty of Jesus and 2) our own personal growth.

What's surprising about a group of people getting together who share the same social location with the same beliefs and cultural preferences? Nothing. This is the predominant way that relationships form. Just go to a golf course, a bowling alley or an online affinity group for that. As Fritz Heider's balance theory suggests, we typically form relationships based on achieving cognitive balance (comfort) and therefore congregate with others who like, affirm and believe what we do.

As the body of Christ transcends the racial, social, political and cultural categories that divide us, we actually proclaim the goodness and beauty of Jesus. There is an authenticity to our witness that Jesus really does have the power to transform lives and create a new humanity of people being restored to their true identity as children of God.

Additionally, when we self-select into a homogenous community we stunt our own growth. Indoctrination into a certain location on the progressive/conservative spectrum reduces curiosity, increases self-righteousness and cuts us off from people and perspectives that will challenge our thinking and push us towards truth.

When we jump ahead to Mark 14 we see Jesus sharing his last meal with the disciples. They have had a front row seat for three years. As Jesus breaks bread and offers wine Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector are still there. They both are sitting at the table. What a powerful image. And we refuse to be in community with others who think differently about CRT, have a different LGBTQ theological perspective or voted for someone different?

May we have courageous conversations amidst disagreement and difference. And may we cast aside the small identities that we inherit from the conservative/progressive spectrum and pick up our big identity in Christ. Our unity depends on it.