Psalm 133

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
Running down on the beard,
Running down on Aaron's beard,
Down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows His blessing, life forevermore.
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Unity. It's far more important to God than we like to think. Those of us from the U.S. - one of the most individualistic countries on earth - seem to especially struggle with community. But the concept of unity isn't just a challenge for rugged individualists. Even group-oriented societies have a hard time with true unity.

I think that's one reason God gave us two very clear, undeniable passages about unity. This Psalm, together with John 17, leave followers of Jesus with no doubt about God's will. He wants us to be in unity with our fellow believers. Those who are in the community of believers should actively seek unity, within individual churches but also across the church as a whole.

Our struggle isn't with understanding what God desires. It's with living out what that means. What is unity?

I think we have to start answering that question first by defining what unity is NOT. Unity is not uniformity. We don't have to look alike, act alike, or parrot each other's opinions. Paul makes very clear in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12-14 that God has equipped the church with various gifts, and as a result we all play different roles. Furthermore, we see in the example of the apostles that God used each one of them with their unique personalities. Rough-around-the-edges Peter could never play the same role as highly-educated Paul ... yet God used them both. He doesn't ask us to mimic others; we are to focus on being Christlike, not cookie cutters of our leaders or famous Christians. We can learn from others, of course, but our walk with God is unique and we undermine His intentions for us when we try to become like someone else. That's not unity.

Along the same lines, unity does not mean we have to be equally excited about ministry tasks. I know I'm not called to children's ministry. I love kids, but not in the same way that the children's church leaders do - they truly get excited to teach kids about Jesus. That doesn't mean I am out of unity with my church's Vacation Bible School focus later this month or with our ongoing children's church efforts. Likewise, the rhythm of my heart leaps at the idea of expanding the Gospel to unreached people groups, raising awareness about missions, being a "good sender" in fulfilling the Great Commission, immigrants in our country, and pretty much anything global. Those in my church whose heart leaps at the thought of 50 kids coming to next week's VBS are not out of unity with me. To fulfill the Great Commission and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth, God has to give different gifts and callings to believers, and we have to work together to make it happen. We can't just each pursue our own ministry interests without regard for others; that is at least part of Paul's meaning behind the words to the church at Philippi: "Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil. 2:4).

So what IS unity? Thankfully Scripture sheds insight here as well. Paul wrote about this to the churches at Corinth and Ephesus: 

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. - (1Cr 12:4-6 NASB)

being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. - (Eph 4:3-6 NASB)

We serve the same Lord. The same Holy Spirit works in us all. This "unity of the Spirit" is a gift that we have been given. I can rally around what He is up to, even if it isn't "my calling". I can help in practical ways, or pray, or give, or tell others who might be called to that ministry. I can trust God to put on the hearts of others what He desires them to do related to those ministries that stir the passions of my heart. I can know that above all things, God is orchestrating the work of missions. No one will ever be more interested in fulfilling the Great Commission than Him!

Bottom line: Unity recognizes how much we need each others. John Stott put it this way: "...stones need mortar in order to stick to one another....Each stone is cemented in with other stones and so is part of the building."

When it comes to working with other churches who may have different beliefs about nonessential matters, I can take a cue from Paul's words later in Ephesians 4. After addressing the unity of the Spirit which we have been granted but have to hold on to, he looks forward to a day when there will be a unity of the faith - when we have a mutual understanding of those things are not clear in Scripture. We don't have that yet, but in the meantime we can learn and grow together and see the value of gifts God has given to other church traditions. For example - Our women's Bible study group had a great discussion about how God has taught several of us to appreciate the holiness and majesty of God through some of the liturgical churches.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. - (Eph 4:11-13 NASB)

We can also appreciate that unity will never destroy the beauty of the diversity of the global body of Christ. African drums and dancing;  slow, vocalized Scripture reading of the Cambodian church; the silent whispered hymns of the underground church in China -- all these are expressions of the church that can be fully embraced within the unity of the Spirit. God is honored by all sorts of different expressions of worship - even those that don't look like ours. When we get to the throne room, we'll enjoy the fullness of unity and diversity, as John's vision shows the ethnic distinctions intact:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." - (Rev 7:9-10 NASB)

He reigns. He wants us to walk in unity, to expand that reign throughout all the earth. That is the blessing of life forevermore - a blessing far beyond what the Psalmist could envision.