Unity

How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people 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 on the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

                                               Psalm 133

David writes this song for God's people to sing as they go up to the temple to worship. It's a simple song of praise, only three verses long, which give thanks to God for working unity among the varied throng that goes up to worship together. 

In verse two David likens this unity to the annointing oil poured on the head of Aaron and his sons which set them apart as priests to serve in the temple. David says unity is like this oil which was itself a picture of God's Spirit anointing someone to set them apart and empower them for a special purpose. David's point is that the unity God's people enjoy is a special work of God. It is the power of His Spirit that binds us together. This is a truth that the church today needs to be reminded of badly. 

As humans we naturally tend toward disunity, conflict and strife. It takes hard work to maintain unity among people so broken and imperfect as ourselves. Sometimes even with hard work, it seems like it would take a miracle for us to stay unified. And that's exactly what unity is for us. Unity among God's people is a work of God. Though David knew this, we can appreciate it even more fully from a New Testament perspective because we know that it is God's Spirit in every believer that unifies us. No matter how different you and I are, no matter how much we disagree, even if we have nothing else in common, we have enough to be unified because of this: God's Spirit dwells inside us both. The Spirit in me recognizes the Spirit in you, and it binds us together. 

But that unity is under threat right now, perhaps more so than at any other time in my life. Between politics and the COVID-19 pandemic, our country seems to be more divided now than it has been at any other time in my life. And some believers have allowed the division they feel over these matters to overpower the unity they feel in the Spirit with their brothers and sisters in Christ. You have every right to discuss your political views, but Christians on both sides of the aisle have left civil converstaion and civil disagreements behind and have resorted instead to insults, slander, name-calling, hatred, and treating all those who disagree with you like they don't deserve even the most basic human dignity.

Some of you who claim Christ have posted unChristian and terrible things about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, Barak Obama, and others. And some of you who claim Christ have posted unChristian and terrible things about Donald Trump, Melania Trump, the Trump children, Amy Coney Barrett, Mitch McConnel, and others. And not just these but you also publicly slander and insult all those who vote for or support them. You publicly accuse and slander your brothers and sisters in Christ on Facebook and then sit beside them on Sunday morning and smile at them as though nothing happened, and somehow you think it won't affect your ability to worship together?! It can't be so! It is shameful. It's embarrassing. And it threatens to tear our churches apart. 

Quite frankly some of you need to publicly repent. You need to get on your Facebook page and apologize for trying to fight the evil you see in your opponents by committing the very same sins you claim they're guilty of. You who rail against abortion (which I do believe is murder), are you guilty of murdering your opponents in your heart by your anger, hatred and insults (Matthew 5:21-22)? You who rail against hateful rhetoric, are you guilty of calling your opponents names and insulting their appearance or intelligence? You claim the moral high ground and point out their sins, all the while you double their wickedness by how you treat them and those who support them. 

Feel free to disagree with the other side. Feel free to do so strongly. Make arguments and point out inconsistencies. But do it without hatred, without name-calling or slander, or attacking anyone's appearance or intelligence. Do it without assuming that those on your side are without vice and those who oppose you are without virtue. Or have you forgotten that the tongue is a fire (James 3:5-6)? Some of you have engulfed your life, your church and your country in a wildfire forgetting that even if you win all you will have gained will be charred and ruined. 

Repent! Keep the unity of the faith. May God renew unity in our churches and in so doing may He renew unity to our nation.