Facets of Fruit: Unity More than Milk

Unity in the church is a hot-button issue--and it should be! But how do we achieve it? Many think we should either avoid teaching or compromise on doctrines that are hard to understand, but there is a better way.
Show Notes:
Welcome back to More than Milk; I’m Hannah Rebekah. This week, we’re talking about the facet of the Fruit of the Spirit called unity. Again, this is not one of the aspects listed in the Galatians 5 passage, but we can be sure that it is a part of the Fruit of the Spirit because it is commanded by God (through Paul and others) of believers and promised through the power of the Spirit.
The idea of Christian unity comes from all over the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”
1 Peter 3:8, “Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers,  and be compassionate and humble.”
Philippians 2:2-3 "fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves."
There are many more. The theme we can see through these verses is that of having “no divisions” and the “same mind.” Before we get into what this means, let’s look at what it does not mean.
I have observed that most Christians (maybe all), at some point relatively early in their spiritual growth, reach a point when they look around and realize that there are so many different beliefs and disagreements between those claiming the title of “Christian,” and they feel a grief about this. I think this is a good, Spirit-led grief. We should be saddened that there are so many divisions within the Church. However, I have also seen that the common, knee-jerk reaction is to want to compromise on what we believe so that everyone can be together. “Maybe if we just focus on the gospel and not all the other theological issues, we can all worship together as one and not have these divisions.”
This is a deadly dangerous response. We cannot compromise on truth for the sake of perceived unity. First of all, Paul himself says in 1 Corinthians 11:17-18 that there must be divisions, otherwise we won’t know who the true believers are. “For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. There must, indeed, be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”
Second, if we look at the history of the church, we can see that the denominations which hide the harder and more controversial truths of the faith and focus solely on the gospel and other “easy” truths are the ones that quickly slip from truth all together. The gospel is upheld by foundational truths, such as God’s total sovereignty, the trinity, the virgin birth, the total depravity of man, and so many more. Without a thorough understanding of these things, the gospel loses its power and wonder.
God is never served by watering down or avoiding truths because they are hard or divisive.
So if that’s not the path to Christian unity, what is? How do we have the “same mind” that Paul and Peter command?
I want to look at two passages more in depth.
Ephesians 4:1-8, 11-16 says, “Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
“Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of th