Wednesday's Big Idea: Unity

This is a new series I'm starting called Wednesday's Big Idea. Every Wednesday a group of men gather to pray and generally a theme emerges - either explicitly or implicitly. This is where I tell you what I think the Big Idea was, the supporting scriptures that came out (or that I think would work) and some analysis of the idea.

If you want to get in on the prayer time, please come! 6:00am, every Wednesday, Sylvan Hill Church, Portland, Ore.

Unity - Psalm 133
"How good and pleasant it is for the brothers to live together in unity!", thus David opens the 133rd Psalm. David recognizes that the oneness of God's people is a good thing. It was what we were designed for and certainly God desires it for us. The following scriptures support that argument quite forcefully:

John 17:20-26
Psalm 86:11
Isaiah 2
Matthew 22:34-40

I'm sure you can find more. In contrast take a look at Proverbs 6:19 these are strong words - "There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:...a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."

Unity is a critical element for us, without it we are divided and ineffective. But how do we achieve unity? Rick offered these four observations about unity:

1) Unity begins with God. God was undivided at the beginning (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and remains eternally unified. God is our source of unity and our unity begins with worshipping Him. His desire is that our hearts are one, focused on loving Him and living for Him.
2) We were designed for unity. "It is not good for a man to be alone" - (Genesis 2) God made us to live in commUNITY, starting with our families and extending to those around us.
3) A God-focused life brings not just interpersonal unity, but intrapersonal unity. We begin to see unity within ourselves - what we do, why we do it, how we do it. (see The Real vs. Ideal Life for my struggles with this.)
4) The divided becomes unified when God is the utmost, central, highest thing in our life. This point affirms my thoughts that God-focus is the first step in clarifying our purpose in life.

How, then, should we pray? It starts with worship of God, turning our divided hearts into undived hearts (Psalm 86). It then moves on to John 17 ("I pray that they may be one as we are one.") Finally, we rejoice in the goodness of the fellowship of the saints (Psalm 133). If there is division, seek ways to unify and above all else pray! Especially pray together. Few things melt away division as well as hearts joined together in prayer to worship and glorify God.

More on this in a later post. Until then, that is Wednesday's Big Idea.