By Michelle Allen
* All verses are from the NIV Translation, “unless otherwise noted.”
Ah, July 4th! So close, and yet so far away! As we prepare for the celebration, we celebrate not only our freedom, but also family, friends, the government, our soldiers, and everything else that made this holiday so. We see red, white, and blue, have family gatherings, hear patriotic songs, have an Independence Day Parade, and so much more. Sometimes, though, we might question what we miss, or take for granted….
The thing we take for granted is what really made the USA the way it is today. Rather, Who…. What about our Sovereign Lord and Savior, Creator of the universe, the Triune God? He is really the One who made the world how it is. We claim unity in God, if nothing else, then there are divisions in the church. How is this so?
Denominations, lifestyle, worship style, and more nonessentials of the faith have caused dissension and division.
For example, Baptists baptize believers by immersion. Presbyterians accept sprinkling water on one’s forehead in the shape of a cross. Baptists are unversalists (God saves those who will call Him Lord. Example: John 3:16), and Presbyterians believe in predestiny (God chose who He would save. Example: 2 Thessalonians 2:13) Reasons are unknown because they are unwritten in Scripture.) Catholics believe that Communion, when taken, becomes the True Body and Blood of God. Protestants do not ….
Why have these divisions? God calls for unity. We pray for ourselves, our families and friends, our soldiers, and our country. However, do we pray for its leaders and our church leaders? Do we pray for the unity of the Body of Christ? We seem to neglect this in our spiritual and physical lives….
Jesus even prays for the unity of believers as He will go to the Cross.
As John 17 says: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me” (John 17:20-23, NIV, capitalization added). Jesus also talks of loving one another in John 13:34-35, shortly before His death and resurrection. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
However, this is not all that is to be found about unity. The apostle Paul even wrote about this concept in the New Testament at least 3 times. This includes Romans 15:5, Ephesians 4:1 and 4:13. If even Paul, who killed Christians before he became one himself…
So, if unity is really that important, why not just forget our disagreements and be united in the Lord and our faith in Him. Why don’t we think with that mindset on July 4th and every day from now on?
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