BY PASTOR BRANDON YOUNG
Togetherness is the state or quality of being together. Is it possible to be together, yet divided? Is being together really unity? As you can tell, I am full of questions today. These are questions that the Lord has posed to me recently in my studies, and I will do my best to address them in this column. The Bible tells us in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” The verse tells us that it isn’t enough just to dwell together, but we must be unified. Unity is oneness. The dictionary says unity is the state or fact of being one undivided entity. A body is a great example of unity. All the parts doing different functions, but working together for the overall good of the person. We are the body of Christ as the church and we must be united to function properly. Here are some everyday examples of togetherness and unity.
Let’s begin with togetherness. You freeze an object in ice. The object keeps its own identity. The ice and object are together, but not unified. Once you melt the ice, the object can be removed easily. For unity to occur, the objects combined would lose their identity, and it would be impossible to separate the items. For example, when you combine eggs, flour, sugar, etc. to form a cake mix, each of the items lose their own identity. Once the mixture has been stirred together and baked, it is completely impossible to separate the items back into their original forms. The mixture has been made in to a solution. The ingredients lose their separate identities and form something different. This is what unity looks like! Unity is all for one and one for all! It is losing yourself with all the ideas and opinions of self for the betterment of the whole.
It is definitely possible to be together but separate. You can be in a group, yet all your troubles and cares belong solely to you, and no one jumps in to help. Folks can stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and be together in the same place at the same time and never be unified. This happens every Sunday in worship services around the country! People meet together in God’s House, but they are not unified. It is still every man for himself, and this is not the will of God. The Bible says in Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Unity is when we help carry the burdens of others. My problems become your problems and vice versa. Also, my success becomes your success and vice versa. We lose our own identity as a part of the body of Jesus! It is all about Him!
Check out this passage from Mark 2:1-5, “1 And again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Many of the folks were together in the house listening to Jesus teach, but four men united to go get a man born lame carrying him to Jesus. Once they arrived, they could not get the man inside for the crowd gathered, but once again they worked to remove the roof and lower him down to Jesus! This is a perfect example of real unity! These four men did not just sit in the house and listen to Jesus, but they went out as his followers, sacrificed their own wants and needs for his. There are so many that need to get to Jesus, but the church must unite to get them there.
If there is ever a time for us to put aside our differences and unite, the time is now! The word division is constructed of the word vision with the prefix “di”, which means, “double”. Double vision is dangerous. We need God to give us a singular vision! Here is the prayer Jesus prayed on behalf of the church in John 17:20-23, “20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Jesus prayed for us to be united because he knew that would be the only way we could carry out his will on this earth. The church has met together for years, but I know there is so much more we can do if we unite!
(The Solution Column is provided by Pastor Brandon Young of Harmony Free Will Baptist Church, Hampton, and his associate, Hunter Greene.)