How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! – Psalm 133:1
We live in an increasingly polarized and divided world in which different voices clamour to be heard. Too often conversations cease to be productive, and I wonder whether in our desire to be heard we have forgotten how to listen.
We live in an increasingly polarized and divided world in which different voices clamour to be heard. Too often conversations cease to be productive, and I wonder whether in our desire to be heard we have forgotten how to listen.
In this context it gives me hope when churches work together. Instead of criticizing and viewing each other with suspicion, it is encouraging when churches in our area connect. I’m encouraged by our church’s history of partnership with Trulls Road Free Methodist Church and by efforts to collaborate with other churches in the area. I’m also encouraged by connections between churches in our home denomination, the Christian Reformed Church. It is a joy to be able to worship together through the bi-monthly Sunday evening LIVE services and to participate in events like the upcoming combined service in the park in Orono on Sunday June 30, 2019.
When we partner with other churches we recognize that there may be differences in theology. There may be different ideas about how to structure leadership in the church, how to do worship, or the best way to serve our communities. However, at the end of the day, we are one in Christ.
In the days leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus prayed earnestly for his followers. In John 17:20-21 Jesus prays, “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.”
In the days leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus prayed earnestly for his followers. In John 17:20-21 Jesus prays, “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.”
Jesus casts a beautiful vision of a unified church pointing the world to him. My prayer is that we would continue to live into that vision, recognizing that unity does not require uniformity. May we lean into a counter-cultural way of relating to one another – a way of respectful relating that is quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19). In doing so may we point the world to the source of our unity – Jesus Christ!
- Nicole
- Nicole
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