Unity: Emulsion, or Solution?

Over at TitusOneNine, commenter Spencer proposes that the unity of disparate views in the church should be like a solution of salt in water, not like an emulsion of oil in vinegar:

... Christ clearly calls us to be like-minded. That is we are to be of one mind, uniform in thought and spirit. ... As an analogy, I liken the difference of this fake unity vs. biblical unity to the difference between an “emulsion” and a “solution”. An emulsion is a combination of different elements which do not mix well due to their incompatible nature such as oil and vinegar. This is not unity as Christ has called us be. Christ has called us to be in “solution”. A solution is a homogeneous mixture of elements so that one is entirely dissolved into the other such that neither is distinguishable from the other, for example salt in water. They are no longer recognisable individually, they have become “one”.

Commenter Tom Roberts takes issue with Spencer's analogy, arguing in part that "the grant of free will is a direct product of how He expects us to see things differently, and He will judge us based on our distinct approaches to righteousness."

My two cents worth: The emulsion analogy is an imaginative one. It seems pretty obvious that many of our different views are indeed oil and vinegar. Each is "useful" (tasty, nutritious) in itself, and even more so when thoroughly mixed. But if you want to mix oil and vinegar to achieve this greater usefulness, you've got to vigorously shake them up, forcing them to mingle with each other. And if you leave them to just sit, they won't stay mixed, but instead will separate, going their separate ways -- and losing the benefits of emulsion.

Comments

Spencer's right, I think this perfectly illustrates the different views on unity between progressives and conservatives. Mainline or progressive Episcopalians mostly seem happy to have separate "oil & vinegar" groups - such a thing isn't a barrier to unity in their eyes. "Unity" for the AAC-type conservatives means dissolving all opposing viewpoints until only their's is left...