Thoughts on Unity

The Drum Cafe came to my kids' school this week.  I had no idea what the Drum Cafe was (or rather, who they were) until my prayer group was interrupted by a sound I cannot describe even if I tried.  It was louder than thunder.  It made my whole chest cavity vibrate. It was amazing.

Imagine 300 drums beating out rhythms in unison. I don't know what it is about large crowds doing something in unity that makes me cry, but it does.  Whether it be singing a national anthem, cheering, or playing drums, I get a lump in my throat every time.  There's something grand and much bigger than the sum of our individual parts that occurs when people do something in unity.  And those are just physical acts.  What if we translated that into the spiritual realm?

I can't help but wonder - what would it look like if Christians lived out their faith in unity?  There is far too much division among us.  Too much focus on ourselves, our wants and style of doing things, and far too little humility and giving deference to one another.  The end result is that we shoot ourselves in the foot; we look like fools to the world because the message we preach is not the message we live out.

We could learn something from Drum Cafe.

"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 - so that they may be brought to complete unity.  THEN the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." - John 17:22-23 (emphasis mine)