Unity, Harmony, Oneness

Dear readers, friends, and family,

I have officially been living in the UK for two weeks and already so much has happened. I’ve been to Northern Ireland, Liverpool, Wales, and volunteered for UCB at a youth conference called Soul Survivor in Somerset. The only part of the UK I haven’t been to is Scotland. (…Roadtrip?) I’ve met so many people who work at UCB and many other people as well, but I’ll get to that a little later.  

As usual, I’ve been thinking about what to share with all of you, and I’ve decided to talk about unity. Unity is so powerful and important, and I truly believe it is something that the devil fights against because if we are united, there really isn’t a thing we can’t do.

So what does unity really mean at its core? I like to ask the dictionary. Merriam Webster says:

uni-ty
1a :  the quality or state of not being multiple :  oneness
b (1) :  a definite amount taken as one or for which 1 is made to stand in calculation
 2a :  a condition of harmony :  accord
b :  continuity without deviation or change (as in purpose or action)

I think the first moment I truly started to grasp the importance or power of unity was when I went to the Passion conference in January. I remember being in awe that so many denominations were under the same roof with the same purpose: to worship God. The stadium was packed with people, and as we sang along to the song being played, the worship leader stopped singing and the stadium was filled with only our voices. One of us singing or even a few of us singing wouldn’t have made much of an impact: we may not have even been heard amongst the mass of people. But when all of our voices rose together, it was powerful and breathtaking.

As I mentioned, I was in Northern Ireland last week. I’m sure everyone knows how the Protestants and the Catholics have a long history of fighting against each other. I knew that, but seeing the walls that were erected between the communities and hearing about the history broke my heart. I thought, here are two denominations that both believe in God, yet they fight because they don’t exactly believe the same thing. How horrible is that? We’re to love each other, but instead we tend to tear down each other or erect walls between one another (literally and metaphorically).

"Peace" wall in Belfast that separates a Catholic and a Protestant community. 

Have you ever wondered why there are so many denominations? We have Baptists, Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, Full Gospel, Methodists, and even Non-Denominationals (which is honestly one in itself) just to name a few. Why are there so many and why is there hostility between them? I truly believe it is because that’s exactly what the devil wants. He wants us to be out of harmony with one another and fighting over quite silly topics because when we’re out of harmony we can only do so much. If we put aside our differences and only focused on God and his purpose for us, we could turn the world upside down.  

But don’t just take my word for it; let’s see what the Bible has to say.

“Stay away from foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they grow into quarrels. And a good servant of the Lord must be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and patient. The Lord’s servant must gently teach those who disagree. Then maybe God will let them change their minds so they can accept the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:23-25

 “But stay away from those who have foolish arguments and talk about useless family histories and quarrel and argue about the law. Those things are worth nothing and will not help anyone.” Titus 3:9

Arguing doesn’t help anything. But rather it causes a divide between people, and divides put us out of unity. There will be times when people don’t think alike and maybe one of them is truly correct, but we have to be patient and kind in correction. Then again, there are subjects and topics that no one really can have the absolute right answer to and arguing is useless. Discussion can be profitable, but arguing will get us nowhere.

When the team and I went to Northern Ireland last week we spent most of our time with a youth group there. Their kindness was truly inspiring. When we arrived, they welcomed us, and we played volleyball with them for probably close to an hour. We only just met them, but they let us into their world. They could’ve shrugged us off, but they didn’t. Darbi and I stayed with two sisters and their parents while there, and we were treated as part of the family. They took us to Carrick Castle and to a waterfall, and we hung out with other people in the youth group too. They wanted to make us feel welcome; they wanted us to see all we could see while there. Darbi and I now refer to them as our Irish family, and we know we’ll always be welcomed back. That’s what the church is supposed to look like. It may not be convenient or easy to open up your home to someone, but one of the girls read a verse in 1 Peter about opening your home to strangers and she listened, and I’m so glad she did. But that’s unity, friends.

Left to right: Darbi, Bethany, Devan, and me (of course). Bethany and Devan and their parents and now Darbi and I's Irish family (oh, and Josie aka Juicy, their dog, too).

Here's one with Chad and Sammy just for fun. :)

The church is not a building, but it’s a body. We’ve started telling parts of the body that we don’t need them because they’re “different,” but we need every believer in order to function as God wants us to. We’re all his children and he loves us all the same. Ephesians chapter 4 talks all about unity. But here is one verse that sticks out to me and is important for us to remember:

“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Ephesians 4:16

The family of God cannot function as it should if we don’t accept each other and love each other. Each of us has a specific purpose and once we truly believe that and see each other as God sees us, we’ll be a healthy family.

So where do we start?

First off, I’d like to say it was definitely difficult for me to move here and leave my family behind, but I have felt such a unity and comfort between myself and the other members of the CreativeLab and UCB interns. We cook for each other and make tea for each other, and we serve one another. We may all be from different backgrounds, but it doesn’t matter. We all love Jesus and want to see him do marvelous works, and we want to be a part of it. But you can’t just go out and save the world without first starting with the people around you. At times I’ve been a little in wonder at simple things like someone pouring my water for me at dinner or people putting food on everyone’s plates. It’s beautiful to me. It’s how things should be. We should always be looking for ways to serve even if it’s small because you can’t become a missionary to Africa without first filling up someone’s glass or asking them how their day was.

Unity, harmony, oneness. They’re not just large scale. They’re small scale. But even things on the small scale are weighty. They’re not difficult concepts, but we’ve made them seem impossible. In reality, we simply need to focus on our love for God and his love for us and show it to others and walk it out in our every day lives.

In closing, here's a few snapshots from my journeys so far.

Dunluce Castle, Northern Ireland

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland 

Ballyclare, Northern Ireland

My feet got soaked in the sea at the causeway. I miscalculated the height of the tide. 

Chai latte in Belfast, Northern Ireland 

View of Liverpool from a radio tower.

Where The Beatles first played.

I have many other photos and if you're interested in seeing some more just go to my 2014 photo album on Facebook. 

Just a FYI, but my next blog is going to be more on the light hearted and slightly comical side and will discuss what I miss about America and things I've found interesting and different about the UK including but not limited to: fascinations with the American accent, phrases, and sink faucets.