Union With Christ: A Key Doctrine For Global Partnerships

Union with Christ forms the webbing that holds together everything else Paul says. It forms the canvas on which Paul paints a picture of the Christian life. Behind all his magisterial teaching—including his teaching on justification and ecclesiology—you’ll find the doctrine of union with Christ.

This doctrine is also behind Paul’s missiology. Reflecting on union with Christ in Ephesians can help us appreciate a key aspect of missiology: partnership.

Every missions organization will speak about the necessity of and opportunities for global partnerships. In particular, church-to-church partnerships are expanding rapidly as changes in technology and travel make collaboration more possible. It is easy to appreciate such partnerships when we hear how funds are used to support training pastors or how a prayer request was answered. But what theological doctrines underpin and shape our understanding of partnerships? What gospel truths keep us pressing in even when language and culture make this challenging?

Unity and Equality

The body is Paul’s primary metaphor in Ephesians for describing our union with Christ. Just as all members of a body are united and work together, so too the church has been knit together (Eph. 1:22–23). We’re united to the body of Christ, and he’s the head of the body.

But Christ’s headship isn’t an image meant to demean us; rather, it’s explained in terms of love and sacrifice. Just as Christ is head of the church and gave up his life for her our of love, so too a husband, who’s the head of his wife, should sacrificially love her.

For global partnerships, Christ’s headship implies no one should domineer or overpower in the relationship. All members of Christ’s body—whatever their function or location—share equal standing that sustains fellowship. Too often, the partner with more money or connections is seen as the more powerful in the relationship. Jesus’s headship corrects this and honors both participants.

Unity and Hostility

In an age of war and unrest, unity is often forged in unhealthy ways, born out of hatred or fear of others. The logic follows that if you share a common enemy, you can unite against them. These bonds are tenuous because they’re built on division and fear.

All Christians have a common Enemy. Ephesians is replete with references to this Enemy: the “devil,” “the evil one,” “prince of the power of the air,” and “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2, 6:11, 6:16). This epistle uniquely prepares us for battle and equips us to face this Enemy’s schemes. However, our unity isn’t based on our shared opposition to the Enemy but on our communion with Christ.

Paul argues that church unity is founded on Christ’s work on our behalf. We were once dead in our sin, but God made us alive with Christ (2:1–6). Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, the wall that once stood between us and God has been destroyed—along with the wall of hostility between people (vv. 14–16). God in Christ was making both Jews and Gentiles into a new, united people.

What are the implications for us? First, we should be willing to build partnerships across boundaries that once separated us. Churches from warring nations can partner together and display a prophetic unity that testifies to King Jesus’s power. Second, when global partnerships come under attack from the Devil, we must rely on a foundation for unity that’s stronger than a shared opposition to the Enemy and is forged in Jesus’s sacrificial love. Our union with Christ gives global partnerships hope in the face of hostility.

Unity and Uniformity

Do healthy global partnerships mean that over time there’ll be fewer differences between us?

In Ephesians, Paul constructs an understanding of unity that doesn’t equate to uniformity. He argues that in Christ, we’ve all been given different gifts. Some have the gift of teaching and others have the gift of prophecy. God has given the church the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers for the building up of the saints for the work of ministry (4:11–12). This means the diversity of gifts becomes exactly what the church needs to be built up and equipped for the good work God has called us to do.

Maturity comes not despite but through diversity. Global partnerships shouldn’t be dismissed as a luxury for churches with margin in the budget and ample volunteers. Rather, we should appreciate that this sort of trans-local partnership will lead to a maturing of the local church.

Our union with Christ creates unity but not uniformity. Through the diverse gifts, we come to realize our unity with Christ more fully and maturely.

Value of Global Partnerships

The value of partnership isn’t based on what you can receive or accomplish through the relationship but is based on our union with Christ. His work and our identification with him highlight the beauty and necessity of partners.

Our unity bears witness to the gospel’s power to reconcile and save sinners. Building partnerships isn’t transactional or utilitarian. It’s an act of worship and participation with Christ in his mission.