Community - A "Common Unity"

“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, Father, 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:20-23

There are many different kinds of communities. Sometimes they're called teams, clubs, groups....the one thing they all have in common is that the individuals are united by something. For a sports team it is the sport itself that provides the common unity and defines the community. The team members love of the sport is what brings them together. All of the members of a particular team begin to have a similar vocabulary. They begin to think the same thoughts and exhibit the same style of play. If you were to ask each one of them a question about their sport they would all have very similar responses. The longer they are together, the better they play together. Each member begins to recognize where they "fit" into the team. They begin to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of the other members. They work together to compensate for or overcome their weaknesses and develop their strengths. If you talk to people who have been on a team at some point in their lives, you will find that they were pretty close to their team members. Sometimes closer than they have ever been with anybody else in their lives.This type of community is powerful. This type of community is life changing. And it's only about a sport.

The type of community we are to have as Christians includes allot of the same elements as a human community. We should all have a common goal. We should all be able to give the same or similar answers to the same questions. We should all have unity of purpose. We should all have unity of thought. Not conformity but unity. Conformity would have all of us filling the same role within the body. Just as on a sports team, even though they all have the same goal, the same vocabulary, same thoughts, they all have very specific, unique roles on their team. If each person on the team wasn't receiving clear instruction from the coach as to what his or her position was, then they would not function at all as a team. However, If each member didn't also have the same overriding goal or purpose to define their actions and guide them, then they would not function as a team either.

The largest, most defining thing that separates a Christian community from all other communities is what our common unity is. Or better said WHO our common unity is. As important as activities, rules, traditions and ideas are -- These things are NOT what our common unity is. Our common unity is a living active spiritual being. Jesus Christ. We are called into a spiritual unity that far exceeds any type of unity we can achieve on our own. We are called to be unified with Christ and with each other through Christ. He is who we are to be centered around. Let this sink in: Christ is not a set of rules, activities principles or traditions that bind us together-- like sports or bunko -- He is alive and active!! He will supernaturally begin to spiritually unite us in thought and purpose as we all come to Him individually seeking His will for our lives -- asking Him what He wants from us. Asking Him what part of the body we are.

Encourage those whom God has given you influence with to go before God and ask Him what their spiritual gifts are -- encourage them to begin using their gifts to build up their small circle of friends. True community will only begin to happen when they begin to be unified with and through Christ. You can have a great group of christians who love each other and have fun -- but until they are spiritually united through Christ -- it is far short of what God calls us to. It may take years for this spiritual connectivity to happen -- it may only take months -- weeks -- days -- it all depends upon where you all are in your walk with God.

True spiritual unity and deep meaningful community begins with each individual becoming unified with God through Christ. Unity with God only happens when we are spending time individually in prayer, scripture reading, fasting, meditation..... Unity with God and with each other occurs as we become more and more like Jesus Christ.

What A.W.Tozer has to say about unity:

"Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life."


Father, I know this community and unity starts with me personally. Please show me the steps I need to take to draw closer to You today. Please enable me to encourage the other Christians I come into contact with to draw closer to you. Teach us how to draw near to you so that we may grow closer to each other as we converge into you.