All of the Christian groups I visited said that they shared these four fundamental beliefs along with the other groups. I asked each of them why they were not associated, or even really in contact, with the other Christian groups despite the clear Biblical directive to be unified within the body of believers. None could give me an adequate answer.

The "body of Christ" at Harvard, instead of being a coordinated group of believers with different gifts and shortcomings working in tandem, is running around like Cousin It from "The Addams Family," lacking coordination, and therefore sending conflicting messages about what the truth of Jesus Christ offers.

It makes sense that whenever any group of people is trying to convince others of its beliefs, the members draw together rather than finding points of division. For example, after the primaries, political parties will lay down the nitty-gritty nuances of policy to draw supporters to their party's fundamental platform as represented by one candidate.

Birds of a feather fly together, unless, apparently, they are Christians. As for myself, I have chosen the group that I believe is doing the most to draw together Christians of different backgrounds and experiences. But there is so much more work to be done to achieve unity. I challenge the leaders of all the Christian groups at Harvard, and offer my own services in this endeavor, to create an infrastructure among the groups.

The existing groups should not all be dissolved; there is legitimate justification for most of the groups' outreach to their specific communities. Rather, they need to create a network to enable Christians to have their specific needs addressed, while still in the larger context of the citywide, nationwide and worldwide Christian community.

As a Christian, I believe that more important than any academic revelation, people need to experience the overwhelming love and peace available free of cost through a relationship with God. To share this good news though, Christian groups need to take a good, long look at their secular counterparts and their own primary directive. If Christians cannot be unified, the persuasiveness of their beliefs will forever be counteracted by their hypocrisy in action.

Benjamin D. Grizzle '03 lives in Thayer Hall.