Unity

Unity
“Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” - Psalms 133:1
 
In recent weeks, our brother John Meyers has been reminding us of the importance of unity in the church. He is wise to do this. Any time a leader leaves, a power vacuum is created. We don’t like to think of power in the church in that sense, but we are, after all, broken people, and many of us find power attractive. When people sense that vacuum, the church (or any organization, really) can become very vulnerable to disunity and the resulting chaos. So it’s good to be reminded of the importance of unity.

Here's a fun fact: Currently, the above verse is written on the whiteboard in my classroom at school. My school has a yearly theme, and this year’s theme is “Better Together.” And the emphasis is on—you guessed it—unity. We have t-shirts and everything. Now, we’re a fairly affable bunch at Central Christian, and for the most part we get along pretty well. Again, we are broken people, so of course it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows; but in general we spend more time working together than we do arguing.

But there’s more to this thing of unity than just not squabbling, isn’t there? This past Sunday, John reminded us of the fact that we are many parts, but one body. That understanding is an important part of living and working in unity. There’s a song based on the above verse, but it substitutes the word “harmony” for “unity.” As a musician, I like that. Harmony is richer than unison. It makes the music more interesting, doesn’t it? We are many voices, and no two are alike. Take away one voice, and any song we sing won’t be quite the same.

But the voice that matters the most is the voice of the Savior. Below Psalm 133:1 on my classroom whiteboard is this quote by A.W. Tozer: “One hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” I think he got that one right. Unity isn’t just getting along or having close fellowship. It is understanding that above all other things our unity is in Christ. We are the living stones of His temple, fitted together with divine purpose for the goal of growing the Kingdom of God.

Dr. Hurley reminded us on Sunday that we do not walk or bear burdens alone. Our fellowship and camaraderie are important, but they don’t exist in isolation. They are an outgrowth of the very heart of Christ, who desired that the world would know Him by our love and our unity. He has given us the means to achieve it, even when we don’t all agree.

All we need do is listen to His voice.

Thanks be to God.