Question of the Week: What is Christian Unity?

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul writes, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple." Because the majority of us read this verse in English with little to no knowledge of the original Greek, the fact that the "you" in this verse is plural is often missed. Paul here is not talking about the destruction of our "personal temple", our individual bodies, but rather the "the corporate temple", the Church.One of the major themes in the book of 1 Corinthians, (and the rest of the bible for that matter), is the desire for God's church to be united. As Jesus was praying for his future disciples in John 17, his main prayer was that that they may be one, just as him and his Father are one (John 17:20-21).Unity amongst believers is one of the greatest testaments to God's presence, grace, power, and love. Uniting diversity without the presence of tyranny is impossible without God.Sadly, as most Christians look through the history of the church and look around at our current state, unity is not the word to describe it. We are a fragmented body subdividing at an alarming rate.So what can be done about this obvious problem? Some suggest letting go of everything, let truth be completely relative, and gaining unification through means of tolerance. Those who oppose this criticize the laxity put on truth. If tolerance is the only path to unity, how can their be any distinctiveness in the Christian religion that sets it apart from anything else.So here's the question: What is Christian Unity and how can we get it? This is a topic very dear to me and I am jealous of your thoughts as I pour into it over the next few weeks (I'm working on a sermon dealing with this topic, which I'll share more about next week).If you have a suggestion or an idea, please leave a comment below and join in the discussion. Thanks!