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Unity


           With all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 18b-10)

          The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16)

          But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

          Some folks dream of unity. That’s really the utopia of the song Imagine.[1] This is the siren call of some: everyone living in peace and at peace. The problem with this is that peace requires submission. You have to lay aside your agenda, or I have to lay aside mine, or we both have to lay aside ours and pick up another. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, if we could trust the leadership of the one whose agenda we pick up.
          The problem is, while some folks are pushing the idea that there is no “us and them,” today’s passages make it clear that there are at least “us” and “them.” God’s mysterious purpose revealed in Christ is unity under Christ. There are people who are calling for unity, but their unity does not involve Christ. Some of them make that “does not involve” an active restriction, it “must not involve Christ.”
          I struggle with the idea of unity. Too often, it seems to me, “unity” means “uniformity.” It means hive-mind. It means group-think. It means that I am required to give up being myself, and have another self imposed upon me. I have less if a problem when the one who gets to set the rules is God, who loves me and has shown me that He wants what is in my best interests. It’s  different when a Human, or a hive-mind of humans, insist that I give up myself and become part of their entity.
          If there were no difference between those who have unity under Christ and those who have or impose unity sans Christ, Scripture would not mention it. Why discuss a difference that doesn’t exist? Why promote a difference that isn’t important? But we are told to put off the world, and put on Christ. We are told to not be conformed to the world, but to be conformed to Christ. Any artificial “unity” that ignores this difference in kind is not of God.
         I’m not suggesting that we should hate “them” – whoever “they” are. We are commanded to love our enemies – but that doesn’t mean they aren’t our enemies. It’s possible for us to live with them peacefully, but we are to love the Lord our God with all our minds, souls, hearts, and strengths. We are only to love our neighbors as ourselves. The difference is important.
If you are in Christ, you are part of the unity that will be fulfilled at the right time. You have the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit is at work in you. You can be kind to them, but you aren’t one of them – and trying to be – or worse, trying to force others to be – won’t change that.








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