I was thinking over the weekend about unity. It just seems to be a word without much meaning, unless one looks at something like the tragedy in Charleston South Carolina where nine wonderful people were murdered simply because the color of their skin was different than the person that murdered them.
Our country is becoming more divided by the day. We are divided along racial lines, also between the “haves” and the “have-nots”, those who believe in climate change and its detractors, men-hating feminists and their targets, gun control vs. gun rights, pro- life vs pro-choice, gay marriage vs. traditional marriage, Roman Catholic vs. Protestant, Democrat vs. Republican and so on. These are not ideas that are debated intellectually in a civil manner, rather a visceral hatred spawned out of hell that too often states either you believe the same way I do or I’ll destroy you.
Unity is about bringing these warring factions together under the common bond of the love and grace of Christ. The family and friends of those lost in the church massacre to a person forgave the very person who took away the lives of their most cherished loved ones. I could feel their pain as they blurted out their grief and yet in the end in true Christ-like manner they forgave the one that took away from them what can never be replaced. He was white and they were black. Imagine if we were put in the same place. My flesh tells me how I would naturally react, but my God is powerful and these people are living examples of His love and how we should react.
My wife has been in the hospital for several days and yesterday she got out. I was driving down to pick her up and as I neared the hospital I saw a young black man walking down the road. He had on big baggy pants, a jersey tee shirt, and a baseball cap sitting sideways on his head. He looked to be a typical gang banger as he stared at me with a look dripping with hate. In fact his look was so cold that I checked the handgun I always carry for protection to ensure I could get to it easily in case trouble developed.
I was stopped at a red light and I thought I would try something that this young man had probably not seen a white person do in a while. I smiled widely and waved. The young man looked at me and immediately smiled and nodded back.
Civility begins with being . . . well civil! Just because someone fits a certain profile or in fact we strongly disagree with them on an issue does not mean that we have to hate them. It was said that the Pastor who was slain had met with Hillary Clinton the day prior to the shooting. I’m no Hillary fan, but I would have loved to have gone to Charleston to hold hands and pray with the family and friends of the slain and mourn their loss with them yesterday.
Unfortunately division is prevalent in the church beyond the pale; it is one reason that the church is losing the war against the decay and darkness that is destroying the moral fabric of our nation. There are some 43,000 denominations in the world.
Why?
Because we are divided! And too often it is over the most petty of arguments. Jesus did not want His church to be divided. In His longest recorded prayer in John 17 He prayed five times for unity within His church. The church began as one, but men and their hard hearts spurred on by the originator of division satan, have ignored God’s Holy word and divided it beyond recognition from its early beginnings. Jesus stated in Mark that a house divided will fall. We are almost there and it is time to forgive, forget, and get on with reconciliation and unite under the banner of Jesus Christ.
If we choose to ignore God’s word there will be consequences. We are already seeing them! Smile at someone today and be genuinely friendly. Demonstrate the love and grace of Christ in all that you do. It is an important first step. There is no room for hatred in God’s church . . .
John 17:21
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one–as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
June 22, 2015 – Click here to listen