Much of the suspicion and stigma directed at discernment in the church comes cloaked in the language of unity. If you refuse to go along with the prevailing current—if you dare to question what is being taught—you are quickly branded as divisive. The oft-quoted phrase, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials tolerance, in all things love,” is frequently invoked. While this sentiment can be beautiful in its proper place, it is now wielded to minimize doctrine and silence those who would contend for the faith.
Churches today teach that doctrine divides, and so what we supposedly need is tolerance and love for the sake of unity. The result? The list of “essentials” is whittled down to a bare minimum—usually just the identity of Jesus and a few historical facts about His death and resurrection. Everything else is dismissed as “non-essential,” and thus open to endless reinterpretation or outright neglect.
But pause and consider: If unity is truly based on the essentials, why are these not the focus of our teaching and conversation? When was the last time you heard a message on the riches of Christ as our inheritance, on justification by grace alone, on the believer’s identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, on the high priesthood of Christ and His present heavenly ministry, or on the literal hope of the Millennial Kingdom? These are not peripheral matters—they are the very core of the apostolic message. Yet, in most institutional churches, these themes are ignored or even dismissed as “non-essential.”
Meanwhile, leaders are free to introduce aberrant eschatologies, allegorize away the clear promises of God, confuse works and grace, and substitute humanistic agendas and pop psychology for sound doctrine. The sheep are told to be open-minded and tolerant, while the leadership pursues whatever agenda suits them. In this environment, “unity” is no longer a fruit of the Spirit but a control mechanism—a means to stifle dissent and brand any who question as troublemakers.
Who Are the Real Divisive Ones?
Scripture is not silent about the true source of division. Paul writes:
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Romans 16:17-18)
It is not those who cling to apostolic doctrine who divide the church. The real division is caused by those who, through “good words and fair speeches,” introduce teaching contrary to what the apostles delivered. The simple—those who do not question, who do not compare what is being taught to the Scriptures—are deceived. The paradigm has been turned upside down: those who have departed from the truth now demand unity, while those who hold fast to it are labeled divisive.
This is not a minor issue. When doctrine is minimized for the sake of a superficial peace, error is tolerated and the conscience is dulled. The sheep are told not to “quibble” over non-essentials, but in reality, the leadership operates almost entirely in the realm of what God never called us to prioritize. The result is a broad, shallow unity that is at odds with the unity God produces in truth.
Doctrine Produces Fellowship—Not the Other Way Around
The early church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). The doctrine was not an accessory to their fellowship—it was its foundation. The message of Christ’s person and work is what brings us into genuine fellowship with the Father and the Son, and with one another. To believe and respond to this truth is to enter into the only fellowship that matters.
Today, “fellowship” has been reduced to socializing, keeping the peace, and caring for practical needs. These things have their place, but they are not the fellowship that the apostles knew. The unity being promoted in much of the church today is a global movement of inclusiveness, diversity, and tolerance—arrived at by abandoning doctrinal distinctives and embracing unscriptural practices “for the sake of getting along.” This is not biblical unity. True unity is perfected as believers are sanctified and grow together in the knowledge of the Son of God. It is found on the narrow road that leads to life, not on the broad path of compromise.
Doctrine Divides—And Must
It is true that doctrine divides. Jesus Himself said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Paul declared, “There must be divisions among you, that those who are approved may be made manifest” (1 Corinthians 11:19). Division, when it comes by way of fidelity to apostolic doctrine, is not a tragedy but a necessity. It is the means by which God preserves the purity of the faith and the reality of fellowship.
John, the apostle of love, was uncompromising:
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (2 John 1:9-11)
To receive or endorse those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ is to share in their evil deeds. Separation from persistent false teachers is not optional—it is commanded, for the sake of preserving the truth and the conscience.
What Is Lost If This Error Is Accepted?
If we accept the error that unity and tolerance are greater than doctrine, we lose everything that matters: the clarity of justification by faith, the assurance of our sonship and inheritance, and the cleansing of our conscience before God. The finished work of Christ is eclipsed by human agendas. The distinction between the covenantal promise and human performance is blurred. The church becomes a place where error is institutionalized, and the believer’s conscience is continually violated. In such an environment, genuine fellowship is impossible, and the inheritance of the saints is obscured.
The Necessity of Separation
This is not a call to separate over every minor disagreement or to refuse fellowship to those who are simply growing in their understanding. We are to receive all who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But when teachers set themselves over the flock, consistently resist and pervert the truth, and demand obedience to their own agendas, the time comes when separation is not only justified—it is necessary. When error is institutionalized, when the conscience cannot be satisfied, and when truth is continually contradicted, the only path left is to withdraw.
To stand for the truth is to stand for the only unity that God recognizes: unity in the doctrine of Christ. Anything less is a counterfeit, and to accept it is to share in the very division and deception that the apostles warned us against. Let us therefore continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, knowing that true fellowship and unity are found only in the truth that sanctifies and sets us apart.
