Can spiritual unity replace communal unity?

I read something interesting this morning from Tom Ascol of Founders Ministries. Tom often writes very thought provoking stuff and is one of my favorite Reformed writers because he is not nearly as dogmatic about it as some other self-appointed defenders of all things Reformed. He wrote this morning about Christian unity and referenced a devotional from Octavius Winslow. Here is something Tom said that I found especially interesting:

Nevertheless, there are some who, rather than join in this movement of God's Spirit, seem intent on undermining with accusations of conspiracies and compromise. I pity such people. Their spirit is contrary to spirit of Jesus and the Word of God. Winslow understood that. And his morning thought for today could not be more timely.

I think anyone who has spent much time in the blogosphere and especially among the most common Reformed haunts will recognize what Tom is saying. There are some, few in number but with an especially loud voice and influence far beyond what is reasonable, who delight in searching for signs of “compromise”. I am as stalwart as anyone when it comes to the Gospel and standing firm for it. There is no room for compromise on the core essentials of the Gospel nor of the fundamentals of the faith like justification by faith alone. These are not the compromises that garner the most response. It is the secondary issues that divide us that generate the most passion: baptism, church governance, end-times positions, etc. and it is largely because of these secondary doctrines that we give primary importance to that the church is splintered and fragmented.

The quote from Wislow that Tom references is what really caught my eye:

The one family of God is composed of “many brethren.” They are not all of the same judgment in all matters, but they are all of the same spirit. The unity of the family of God is not ecclesiastical nor geographical, it is spiritual and essential. It is the “unity of the Spirit.” Begotten of one Father, in the nature of the Elder Brother, and through the regenerating grace of the one Spirit, all the saints of God constitute one church, one family, one brotherhood—essentially and indivisibly one.

Yes but also no. I absolutely believe that I am in the same church as a brother in Brazil or a sister in South Korea but the reality of our spiritual unity in the universal church should not excuse our division in the local gathering of the church. Saying I am unified with my brothers in my geographic area but then denying full fellowship because of denomination or secondary points of doctrine is a de facto denial of the universality of the church. It is not sufficient to say "I recognize you as a brother" in theory but not in practice. In many churches Christians who are not “members” are denied even the ritualized observation of the Lord’s Supper, much less the full communion of the body of Christ in a meal. Most members in a local gathering are expected to be mute, how much more so those who are visiting. Our "unity" is predicated on your adherence to our rules, rules that have no basis in Scripture but are as unchanging and inflexible as the strictest code in Scripture.

We cannot merely acknowledge our unity in Christ in theory but deny full fellowship with one another in practice. Unity in doctrine without a matching practice is not unity in any real sense and makes a mockery of the universality of the church of Jesus Christ.