In Christ, there are no divisions among people, there is only unity. In Christ, it does not matter if we are rich or poor, black or white, male or female; we are one.
Of course, culture tends to interfere… But when culture tells us that we must be divided along any lines, culture is wrong!
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
– Galatians 3:26-29
Sometimes we need to really remind ourselves that our culture is not what counts when it comes to our relationships with our brothers in Christ, for what matters is the “in Christ.”
And what a glorious testimony this is! In a world where people are divided by so much, we are one in Christ! Oh, if we would only remember this glorious truth…
In reality, there is only one division left, and that is “in Christ” or not in Christ. The really great news is that all are invited to enter unity with Christ; let’s be certain that every single one receives an invitation to dwell with us in unity and peace.
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The Spirit is loud this morning, this idea of unity has been so very heavy on my heart. How do we get there is the better question. I believe it requires intentional prayer and the heart of God’s people to want it. There seem to so few of us who have that heart.
Hey Melissa
I think you’re right about that, there aren’t so many of us, but it seems like there are a lot more now than there were 25 or 30 years ago. I think God is moving in His people and something’s “up” 🙂
Yes!
Thanks for that Don.
Yes sir!
Unity is a strange thing. I have seen the most peaceful people operate without a need for it. We are active elements and the chemistry of our nature is that we become more active the more we unite. That means more creation of everything; cities, art, governments, wars, communications, problems, solutions, etc. Unity is not an answer, just a degree of activity.
No, not an action for sure. I think of it more as a state of being…
I think I can handle that, but I might wonder if I am refusing half of Gods gift. Many times I find my life more enriching when I do not unite with any group that uses words to create a sense or perspective. When I let go of any social ideology that lingers in me (and there are many in all of us), I feel more sensitive to the spirit. I am weary of words altogether, even my own. Only in the absence of words can I feel something greater. I feel like the spirit shows me a harsh and beautiful world here that we are unable to appreciate because of our ideology which is formed by words/symbols that can only point to what we are referencing. Anything so magnificent must be a challenge to see as a whole. We are definitely all connected by default with everything. When we start saying we should unite we do it as groups at a time, which is a fast way to create division. Here we have Christians uniting, there we have Atheists uniting which creates the divisions. I do not think they are bad though. It is like the division of land and sea. They constantly collide with one another to form a beautiful beach with many active life forms. Can you see what I am trying to convey? Everything has meaning if we are able to see it instead of judge it. Nothing is out of place. Nothing is wrong. I feel like I should be basking in Gods gift to us instead of thinking of how I can imagine it better. Sorry for the long comment, but my mind has been thinking about this concept for about a year now and I suppose I would like our thoughts to collide to form something like a beach!
It’s interesting that you mention “words”. Words are fascinating little creatures, because as someone once said. “Words mean things”. Words bring divisions or they can bring unity and unity, harmony and achievement… because they mean things. I wonder what would happen if we all placed a higher priority of God’s Word than we do on our own words.
Oh well, maybe I’m just a dreamer 🙂
That would be a wonderful day as well! I also imagine words like “form” which require division and contrast. The words always get my mind going in circles lol! Let us keep dreaming always though!
🙂
I enjoyed this conversation very much. Thank you for spending your time with me!
In this culture of earned equality where one group of people must strive to be like another group deemed to enjoy more equality, I like the term “co-equal in Christ” because even though we are different with different gifts and abilities, we all have equal value in Christ. That equality is the heart of unity.
Nicely put Pam, thank you.
Christianity is an exclusive club in which everyone is invited–a glorious paradox and mystery. as one pastor has said, we much realize “what’s at stake” when it comes to our unity, that is, a world that is dying and needs desperately to witness our community. Thanks for a significant post!
I agree heartily with you; thanks for sharing your thoughts so eloquently!
By the way, any thoughts on how more this unity can be spread in social media?? In practical ways??
What were’re doing here is one way. I’m working on a little project that might shed some light on this subject, which I will let everyone in on soon; stay tuned!
We need to understand that Jesus is clear about our need to be united today however have the extreme problem as the Apostles indicated both during Jesus ministry and later with the early congregation that we do create divisions.
Remember James words about the rich man attending a meeting and the poor being told to sit at the feet – or Paul speaking of the divisions based on who had planted the seed.
So seeing divisions isn’t a rare thing but it is how we personally deal with them. Acts 10: 34 helps us to settle God’s view and we want to reflect that as Jesus did and Peter explained.
So when disunity is present are we the peacemaker or do we fuel the the feud?
Interesting post as usual Don – thanks
Great points as always, thank you!
Matthew 19:6 came to mind (well the sentence rather than the verse cataloging):
“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
How no one expects a married couple to be clones, in fact maybe expects each to compliment the other’s strengths and weaknesses. That is a “strong marriage” of partnership. Yet when it comes to “church” we seek clones so often. And yet …
Great post Don! Thank you.
…and yet… we are fallible humans who tend to screw up. 🙂
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There’s a reason for Christian “unity” in the Holy Spirit, addressed in Ephesians 4: “…Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” I don’t see this as the hold hands in a circle and sing kum ba ya kind of socio-political unity, where much seems to be pointing to a one world religion and a one world government. There’s a lot of evidence pointing to that kind of unity, but it does not seem to be under the direction of the Holy Spirit. It may seem like a direction against “unity” to caution the church about it, yet is every kind of unity God’s kind of unity? We cannot have unity under gross error and falsehood being passed off as Christianity. Truth cannot be sacrificed on the altar of carte blanche unity. Did that make sense? Could it be that there will be a unity under the kingdom of darkness and unity under the kingdom of God, and diametrically opposed to one another? OK, I’ll say it – the pope for example is coming on strong for unity, but considering many of his positions which seem more aligned with the current political correctness, it would be at best counterproductive for those who truly love Christ to hop on that bandwagon.