Unity

The last few weeks have had me thinking a lot about unity in the church and how often the church is known more for its disunity instead of its commitment to stay together through thick or thin. Our church connected with other churches in the area to celebrate a conference with speakers coming in who focused on unity in the church and among the different churches and denominations and traditions represented among the churches participating. It was good to work together and to reflect on what we can learn from each other and what we have in common in worshiping God, rather than focusing on our differences.
I'm teaching through Romans during a weekday class and one of Paul's great desires for that church is unity, and on Sundays this fall I've been working though Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus and the theme of unity is strong throughout the whole letter.
Paul talks in Ephesians about being mature and how unity is a sign of maturity in the church and I made the connection in my head with Jesus' prayer in John 17, "  "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." When you grow up you become more willing to give up things so that you can bless others. In the church, it looks like this, "I'm willing to let you have things your way because I want you to be blessed. I'm willing to accept that we will not always agree, even about what the Bible says, but our relationship with Jesus and each other is more important than my insisting on being right." 
How many breakups in the church or relationships are based on wanting things your own way instead of caring about unity? How often have we said that unity is important, but when it gets too uncomfortable and things don't go our way often enough, we go our own way? 
I believe that too many Christians often don't really care enough about what Jesus has taught or desired about unity. Too many are more concerned about their own level of comfort and their own desires than Jesus'. How else do we explain the number of church splits or Christians who leave their churches for another because the new one better serves them rather than work on  your relationship with the church? 
Hard words, but the call for unity in Scriptures, especially in the New Testament is challenging me to reflect on my own heart and relationships; both with God and others and how committed am I to others and how often do I walk away from people because it's too much effort to express grace and work  through our differences. I may put fancy words around my decisions, but often it comes down to what I want and what's easiest for me, a mark of childish thinking instead of maturity. 
It's in unity within the Body of Christ, the church, that the world sees that God has sent Jesus and that God loves the world even as God loves Jesus. Isn't unity worth all the effort and sacrifice it takes if that's true? What might that look like where you are?