Unity

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met 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.

— A.W. Tozer

I, Jonathan (editor), loved the above quote in high school. It makes sense, but it also needs explanation.

You see, loving God is seen in our love for one another. If we say we love God but hate our brother then we are liars (1 John 4:20). Yes, we must not focus on unity for the sake of unity, but we must also not look so far into heaven as to miss our brother and so miss God.

Abbey’s article describes how division and disunity affect the body. We devour one another for the most minor reasons all while saying we love God. Despite knowing this, despite knowing the pain we cause one another and the consequences of this pain, we seem to keep going. What causes this and what can we do? Sin is one answer, but we’ll want to unpack this for deeper understanding:

1. What will you expect?
In our previous edition, Hua wrote that we often expect Christians not to hurt one another. What if we started to expect that we need to provide grace for one another instead of expecting perfection? Have you ever done something which was misinterpreted by another from being something caring to something hurtful? How can we delight to show mercy and grace to one another instead of seeking our own justification?

2. What are we waiting for? Let’s go!
When I was in college there were two main Christian fellowships, a small multiethnic fellowship and a small fellowship run by a Korean church. I remember sharing my frustration with my friend because the Korean-run group never attended our events despite all my invitations. My friend wisely asked me, “Why don’t you go to their events?” To my surprise, soon after we committed to loving the Korean fellowship we started to see some of their members show up to our events until there was even a joint worship session together. Jesus didn’t wait for us to turn towards him. Jesus came to us and served and was obedient to God to the point of death.

3. Listen, pray, and obey!
In this day and age we often think formulas are the answers. Just tell me what to do and if I do it I will succeed. This is not enough. Without God, we are just needy people. With God, we are needy people with God, the all-powerful, all-loving. We’re not here to give you answers but to ask you to listen and seek God and to obey. Have some struggles or difficulties? Want to share about your journey? Let us know at [email protected].