Unity's Message

A little over a month ago the President presented his State of the Union address. This annual speech was presented to a unique crowd. Unlike most addresses where the members of Congress find their seat next to their buddies of their own political party, the members were intermingled as a display of unity and solidarity over the tragic events in Arizona. It was fun to listen to the experts after the speech who seemed at a loss for words over the display. This speech will standout in history not so much for what was said, or how well they come together to enact what the president presented, but because of the unity that was displayed between the two parties.

Unity stands out in our world. Its different, its unnatural for us as fallen human beings. Why? Because it requires humility. In Mark 10:45 we find Jesus acknowledging that His purpose in coming to Earth was to serve and die. But examine the context and you see His reasoning for making this claim is that among his disciples a disagreement had broken out with James and John making a request for prime seats in the kingdom. His statement not only rebukes them, but it provides the key to restoring unity among the group as a whole. Ironically, the disciples argued about this again at the Last Supper (Luke 22:24), likely before Jesus washed their feet to show them once again the example of humility they were to follow (John 13:1-15).

The state of the union this year was different because they were united. People will likely remember it and talk about it for years because Congress didn't sit by their friends, but were mixed up. We as the church should display unity as people who are one in Christ (Ephesians 4:3-6) so that when people walk in our doors they see people enjoying community and relationships with others despite our differences. The message of unity is that something unique and different is taking place, and certainly the church has a Savior and God that is different and unique, who unites rather than divides, and restores even those who have broken. This is a message that we live out when we humbly serve those within our church as Christ commands.

Rather than looking at this from a large scale view of the church, I prefer to take individual churches and ask are we united? In my case, do I display the humility with my brothers and sisters in Christ at Countryside that is necessary for us to be succeeding in proclaiming the message of unity in Christ?