Unity

Today’s Passage – Psalms 133 – 139 

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 23 – 24; Psalms 56 – 60; Proverbs 12)

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” – (Psalm 133:1-3)

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; … And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” – (Acts 2:44, 46)

“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” – (Philippians 1:27)

The local church cannot function as it should without unity. We have been studying the Book of Acts on Wednesday evenings, and once again, last night, we saw the phrase “one accord”, which is repeated over and over again throughout the book. One of the great characteristics of the Church at Jerusalem was the fact that they were of one heart, one mind, and one purpose. They all had a burning desire to see the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ communicated throughout the world. They wanted to tell everybody about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought to have that kind of unity of purpose today in our local churches. It seems that Christians today are divided as to what the church is supposed to be all about; but our purpose today is the same as in the early churches: the communication of the gospel, and the fulfilling of the Great Commission. It’s all about getting people saved. That was Jesus’ purpose – seeking and saving the lost; and it should be ours as well.

I believe the lack of unity in many of our churches is due to the fact that the preachers are not clearly communicating to the congregation the purpose of the church. We are sending mixed messages, and we have failed to “keep the main thing, the main thing”. If preachers were to clearly instruct about what the church is supposed to be doing, and then keep that purpose before the people regularly, the individuals within the congregation would be forced to make a decision to either get on board, or leave. I don’t want to see anyone leave our church, but it is better for them to leave than to be working against the direction of the church. I praise God for the unity that we have at Jersey Shore, but I want to see us even more vehement in our desire to strive together for the faith of the gospel.

By the way, unity does not mean  that we will all be cookie cutter copies of each other. We are all uniquely gifted by God, and we have different personalities, backgrounds, etc.; but we should all have the same goal. Find out what you can do individually within the body of your local church that will help complement what the other members are doing to advance the purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is pleased with unity, and He can accomplish much with a church that is unified in the purpose of winning people to the Lord Jesus Christ.