Unity - Theoretical in the West, Vital in the East

The divisions of Christendom do not appeal to the Christians in these lands.  Christians in India, for instance, did not have a share in creating them.  They entered into this ready-made system, and it has not really taken hold of them …
We must have one Church.  We want a Church of India, a Church which can be our spiritual home, a Church where the Indian religious genius can find natural expression, a living branch of the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, a Church which, being visible symbol in that divided land, will draw all [persons] to our blessed Lord ...
Unity may be a theoretically desirable ideal in Europe and America, but it is vital to the life of the Church in the mission field.  The divisions of Christendom may be a source of weakness in Christian countries, but in non-Christian lands they are a sin and a scandal.

Source: V.S. Azariah  -  Talk given in 1910 at the World Missionary Council in Edinburgh, as found in the Mission as Common Witness section of Classic Texts in Mission and World Christianity, edited and with introductions by Norman F. Thomas