Is Unity Possible?

The one big thing we have learned about isolation is that there is a big difference between isolation and solitude. As people we crave connection. In the book of Genesis we see that God says it is not good for man to be alone (Gen 2:18). Faith flourishes best in community.

As soon as Jesus left the earth bodily, the believers met together in community.

The church at Corinth was a church with many problems, with serious divisions, with at least four different groups trying to lead it, so Paul writes with some barely concealed exasperation- 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:10 (I will highlight the important words):

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1:11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 

1:12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Community is about connecting to something not taking away from it. We can be so consumed about what is happening around us, we miss what is happening right in front of us, the Corinthians missed this point. They could not see their own errors right in front of them.

1 Corinthians 12:27

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Human flourishing is directly linked to how we are connected to God. Psalm 92:12-14 says-

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,  they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.14 They will still bear fruit in old age,  they will stay fresh and green,

It is not what we do occasionally that leads to flourishing, it is what we do consistently.

Two questions for this week-

1/ what is one thing I can do to connect better with God this week?

2/ what is one thing I can do better to connect with another person?

Written by Ian Jannaway