Wednesday's Big Idea: Unity 2, Inside-Out

You cannot have too much of this good thing. In our prayer time we continued our focus on unity with emphasis on unity coming from the inside and working its way out. As we begin to think and pray about unity here are a few ways to think:

1) Unity begins with worship and son/daughtership
2) We can't expect outward unity (interpersonal) if we don't have inner unity (intrapersonal)
3) What are the sources of unity?
4) What are the byproducts of unity?
5) What are the antonyms of unity?

Since we have posited that inner unity comes before outer unity, what does that look like? Here are some things I came up with to compare and contrast:

Unity / Division
Focused / Scattered
Clarity / Confusion
Purpose / Aimlessness
Peace / Stress - Chaos
Harmony / discord

Internal unity is necessary for external unity because of the plankeye factor - remove the plank from your own eye, THEN you can remove the speck from your brother's. Inner unity shouldn't come at the expense of outer unity, though. Continue to be a peacemaker, humble and encouraging, full of invitation to the best of your ability. But success will be more easily had if one's own house is in order first.

A good self-check, I think, is for me to ask "Am I living, doing, acting, saying for God or for me?" or put another way, is what I am doing eternal or temporal? For me this is a huge question and ultimately it comes down to faith. I continue to seek and trust God and by His iterative process, by Him molding me and forming me I begin to conform to what He wants me to be. If we think about the potter's analogy, we need to be centered, molded/formed, dried, fired, glazed and fired again.

A good way to start is in prayer - personal and corporate. See you Wednesday?

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" (Eph. 6:18)