This past Wednesday, September 16, 2026, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen made an amazing declaration: Canada is being offered the status of an Associate Member of the European Union (EU)! The declaration has sent reverberations throughout the entire Union, and even garnered a typically disagreeable gibe from the US President. What remains a puzzle is that no one really knows what that means. The term “associate membership” is not even found in the EU constitution. No discussions about it have been recorded in the Commission. And while the term sounds official enough, there is no financial and legal framework in place. For example, the question of sovereignty is up in the air since member countries have to submit to EU laws and regulations over its own, as are financial obligations such as contributing to the budget of the EU, and having the Union determine economic rules for its member nations. Some have reminded us that it is on the basis of those inflexible rules that BREXIT occurred in 2020.
In the end, most people (with a few exceptions) agree that unity among nations is a beautiful thing, but that the conditions of unity have to be well understood in order for true unity to occur! Saying yes too quickly without knowing what one is walking into is just as perilous as being disunited.
This is food for thought indeed. Any group of people seeking a sense of unity must have agreed-upon values and a structure that calls for people to function in harmony with each other. Companies call this a “company culture”; organizations call this a “mission statement” and a “constitution”; nations call them “laws” that guide the leadership, the people and the nation-building tools available to them. For believers in Christ, the Bible properly read, correctly applied and diligently taught separates God’s people from the world and unites them by the power of God’s Spirit through God’s amazing love under the headship of His Son. Wander away from His Word for the sake of “unity,” and we are led into very broken places. Stay within His Word, and we will walk in unity through every difficult place. This is why Paul declares that relationships joined with unbelievers is like being disastrously “yoked together” with one who doesn’t walk in the same direction as the believer (2 Corinthians 6:14). In another place, he instructs fellow believers like two Christian women walking in Christ to lay aside the issues that divide them and be reconciled together in Christ (Philippians 4:2). Jesus Himself, when asked about the sensitive topic of husband and wife splitting up, looked squarely at His questioners and said, “What God put together, let no human being tear apart” (Mark 10:9). Over the next while, you will hear much about Canada’s response to this offer of “Associate Membership” with the EU. Pay close attention to the conditions of such a union. And pray for wisdom of our leaders, that we may know just what we’re walking into. But beyond all this, pray that we would have wisdom – to stay on the foundation of practicing God’s Word, and to walk in it in unity even though we may go through difficult times.
