Unity in Jesus Isn't Like That
I didn't set out to say this in this space, but I've learned so much about coping with the impossible. So, after a prayer meeting, it didn't shock me to find myself in a church office, talking as if I'm living normally.
For once in many years, I chatted (just a little) without wanting to cry out that I've coped with an unimaginable hell. (Apart from the prayer meeting, I had thought that, when someone will finally interview me to re-enter the workforce after many years' trial, I may be tempted to tell that employer of my sometimes brokenness.)
But where I was, in the talking after the prayer meeting, gave me reason not to want to cry out — thank Heaven.
Another reason I didn't want to cry out in that office was that I had just spilled my heart for Christ; and realized I was learning to love impossibly, like Jesus. Even when I sounded as unloving as a clanging cymbal, even when I had a heart of muted angry rebuke, like when Jesus rebuked the unrepentant cities, I was loving — not completely broken.
Oddly, the rebuke came in response to a message about unity.
I was so relieved when the pastor asked for comments!
We get so used to substituting worldly concepts of love and unity for the love and unity of Jesus, that we lead ourselves to believe just about any babble this world believes.
Jesus didn't remain in complete unity with Heaven by "emptying" Himself. That may be something popular the world says, or some Bible translators say, but it's far from true.
Jesus remained in complete unity with Heaven (John 15:4) — in complete oneness with the Father — through worship, prayer, faithfulness made possible not only through movement of the Holy Spirit, but through having all His heart, all His soul, all His mind (Luke 10:27) with which to receive the Spirit.
Jesus tells us to abide in the church, in the vine, in our heart for living for Him. That's where our strength in Him comes from: abiding in Him through faith.
That means that, when we talk about unity in Christ, we're not talking about unity over issues of retribution or social justice. When we talk about unity in Jesus, we're talking about unity in the Spirit, the kind of unity that causes all parts of the church (the feet, the hands) — to work together with complete understanding of each one's role or gifting.
It's a closeness in Spirit that doesn't cause members of Christ's body to be destructive or impatient toward one another. It's a closeness in Spirit where everyone shares a vision and a hope, even if it's a vision and hope for a person (1 Corinthians 12:26) instead of for a social movement. Because, in Jesus, we know that, when even one member of the body is able to work with her own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12), to live honestly and more charitably in sight of those beyond her home, that's a blessing worth our rejoicing, in unity.
In Jesus, there has to be agreement in the Spirit, instead of in doing hell, so that "if one member is honored, every part rejoices with it," without rivalry (Philippians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 12:26).
Can we please have 1 Corinthians 12:26 kind of unity, no matter what church we're attending?
And, with that unity, can we understand that our individual gifts are not always based on our formal education (Acts 4:13).
After all, the gift of "interpretation," a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10) is only useful to Heaven when people are working together, trusting that each member is in Christ, with no one rivaling anyone, not even when there are disagreements, and not even when members have to be held accountable (Matthew 18:15-17).
Just think:
Were it not for inspired men working together in Christ, in agreement in Spirit, even when there were problems, we would not, today, have any Bible that any or us would understand.
As Christian editor William E. Paul writes in a paper titled "Development of the English Bible: How Our English Versions Came Into Being," maybe a good definition for the Bible is "God speaking through recorded manuscripts produced by inspired men ... in accurate and comprehendible language."
You would not believe all that men went through, together in Christ, so that we can read the Bible today. ... But that's an article for another day.
For once in many years, I chatted (just a little) without wanting to cry out that I've coped with an unimaginable hell. (Apart from the prayer meeting, I had thought that, when someone will finally interview me to re-enter the workforce after many years' trial, I may be tempted to tell that employer of my sometimes brokenness.)
But where I was, in the talking after the prayer meeting, gave me reason not to want to cry out — thank Heaven.
Another reason I didn't want to cry out in that office was that I had just spilled my heart for Christ; and realized I was learning to love impossibly, like Jesus. Even when I sounded as unloving as a clanging cymbal, even when I had a heart of muted angry rebuke, like when Jesus rebuked the unrepentant cities, I was loving — not completely broken.
Oddly, the rebuke came in response to a message about unity.
I was so relieved when the pastor asked for comments!
We get so used to substituting worldly concepts of love and unity for the love and unity of Jesus, that we lead ourselves to believe just about any babble this world believes.
Jesus didn't remain in complete unity with Heaven by "emptying" Himself. That may be something popular the world says, or some Bible translators say, but it's far from true.
Jesus remained in complete unity with Heaven (John 15:4) — in complete oneness with the Father — through worship, prayer, faithfulness made possible not only through movement of the Holy Spirit, but through having all His heart, all His soul, all His mind (Luke 10:27) with which to receive the Spirit.
Jesus tells us to abide in the church, in the vine, in our heart for living for Him. That's where our strength in Him comes from: abiding in Him through faith.
That means that, when we talk about unity in Christ, we're not talking about unity over issues of retribution or social justice. When we talk about unity in Jesus, we're talking about unity in the Spirit, the kind of unity that causes all parts of the church (the feet, the hands) — to work together with complete understanding of each one's role or gifting.
It's a closeness in Spirit that doesn't cause members of Christ's body to be destructive or impatient toward one another. It's a closeness in Spirit where everyone shares a vision and a hope, even if it's a vision and hope for a person (1 Corinthians 12:26) instead of for a social movement. Because, in Jesus, we know that, when even one member of the body is able to work with her own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12), to live honestly and more charitably in sight of those beyond her home, that's a blessing worth our rejoicing, in unity.
In Jesus, there has to be agreement in the Spirit, instead of in doing hell, so that "if one member is honored, every part rejoices with it," without rivalry (Philippians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 12:26).
Can we please have 1 Corinthians 12:26 kind of unity, no matter what church we're attending?
And, with that unity, can we understand that our individual gifts are not always based on our formal education (Acts 4:13).
After all, the gift of "interpretation," a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10) is only useful to Heaven when people are working together, trusting that each member is in Christ, with no one rivaling anyone, not even when there are disagreements, and not even when members have to be held accountable (Matthew 18:15-17).
Just think:
Were it not for inspired men working together in Christ, in agreement in Spirit, even when there were problems, we would not, today, have any Bible that any or us would understand.
As Christian editor William E. Paul writes in a paper titled "Development of the English Bible: How Our English Versions Came Into Being," maybe a good definition for the Bible is "God speaking through recorded manuscripts produced by inspired men ... in accurate and comprehendible language."
You would not believe all that men went through, together in Christ, so that we can read the Bible today. ... But that's an article for another day.
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