If you have been one of the hundreds of people who have been around the message boards for a long period of time, you probably already know a reoccurring theme is unity. Some say we have it. Others say we don’t. Some say we need stronger leadership. Others say weaker. This is a debate that has come up from time to time and yet we never have fully ironed out what should be done about it.

This article is the first in what will be a serious of discussions regarding unity in our scene. There is no doubt that we have been less united in the past, but are we really as united as we think we are and could we become even more closely united? This is exactly what I hope to examine over the course of the next several issues. Enough of the intro, let’s dive into the meat.

Background and Apologies

Several weeks ago we had a rather huge debate regarding the upcoming Cornerstone 2006 event. Well, truthfully, my posts turned it into a heated debate. After the customary five pages of mudslinging, again… mostly by me, one person finally made a statement that stuck with me and put some of that debate into perspective. It was something quite simple, yet I didn’t have a good comeback to at the time. I promise to get back with the person about that and well… it has taken longer than I first thought it would, but this article is start of my full response.

For the purpose of this article, I really want to step completely out and away from the original discussion that has spawned this article. I do want to share with you what got my attention and then move on from there. So, with out dragging this out any further, here is a paraphrased quote:

The very thing you are doing is not unity at all. It is the exact opposite because you are essentially convincing people that your way is the only thing that should happen and anything else is wrong. We do have that unity, you just are failing to realize it, or some people are failing to accept unity. I am asking you, please try to look at this as a positive effort. If we stop this bickering now before the event starts, we can have unity between us and show that the Christian Dance scene is unified already and is ready for a bigger exposure.

I really have several points to make regarding this statement. First, I don’t think we are all operating with the same definition of unity. Second, I think we still have several obstacles in our way before we ALL can be united. Third, I think there is a misunderstanding about disagreements in general and what they have to do with unity.

Before I go any further into this, let me say that I honestly could have handled the original discussion a bit more tactfully. I think the discussion was a good one to have, but I know I personally got a bit more heated than I should have at times and maybe made a few low blows…and actually I might have enjoyed some of those blows which was totally wrong for me to do. As I said in the discussion though, if God is truly telling someone to do something, they should do it regardless of whatever I say. I’m just another man with an opinion, an ego, and a rather large soapbox. God does call and should call the final shots, not me or anybody else in this scene. We just need to make sure that we really are listening to Him rather than listening to our own desires.

With that said, to all I offended in that discussion I’m sorry and I apologize. I should have treated the whole issue with more tact and respect. I failed you all in that regard and I am sorry.

So, now that all of that is behind us, let’s start talking about unity and what that really means!

The Definition of Unity

As I sat in Miami, FL in between sessions at a conference last month, I wrote down what I thought unity was. Here’s what I came up with on my own.

• Unity is working together in submission to one another.
• Unity is striving together as a group toward a common goal.
• Unity is following a clear plan toward that end together as a group.
• Unity is following clear leadership that is responsible for achieving the goal together as a group.

Dictionary.com had a few definitions as well:

• The state or quality of being one; singleness.
• The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.
• Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity.
• The number 1.

The last one seems a bit odd though doesn’t it? Until last Sunday, I would have ignored that definition and moved on, but of all things, we had a sermon about unity within the church. You see, our pastor left us for a new calling after 22 years. He has been the only pastor of my church. He built it from the ground up. Right now, there is evidentially a lot of tension between the contemporary worshipers and the traditional ones regarding how the church will proceed now. Our remaining staff and interim pastor finally made their decision that both styles of worship were needed in our church and announced that Sunday through a sermon on unity.

The key passage of that sermon was latter half of John 17. This is the longest prayer on record that Jesus said. It’s just before Jesus was arrested and so his mind was focused not only what was to come for him, but what would happen to the seeds he had sown during his time on Earth. In verse 11 Jesus prayed for his disciples saying, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.”  In verses 20-21, Jesus continues, “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.” So here’s Jesus, literally hours before his crucifixion and of his main concerns is that the disciples and those who carry on the Gospel today live as one in the same way Jesus and God are one. Just like the definition from Dictionary.com.

One Body

You see the number one is the picture of unity. It is not being a group of people who only get along. It is about being focused in agreement on what the goals are and moving in one organized direction. Sure we will all take different roads, but our goals are to be clear and we are to be united in our individual tasks in such a way that they all build up to meeting that one goal. Jesus here clearly refers to the union that he has with God the Father and God the Spirit as the trinity. They have common goals; they act and think as one, yet somehow they act as individuals and their specific tasks very. Christ is the redeemer. The Spirit is our intercessor in prayer and guide to God’s will. The Father is the head of it all. That’s a very loose explanation, but that is the picture of unity John 17:11 & 20-21 paints.

A more traditional explanation of how every Christian has a specific task or mission to perform is from 1 Corinthians 12 in the classic “Body of Christ” example. Here is what verses 14-20 say:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

Traditionally, I’ve always looked at this passage and viewed it solely as justification as to why I did not become a street preacher or minister of music and to justify whatever ministry I was into at the time… even when people were against me. What I missed was what it truly meant to be a part of one body. While a body made of just eyes cannot fulfill God’s desire for the church, neither can a body that has all the right parts, but desires to go in different directions and has different end goals.

If the right leg wants to go north, while the left leg wants to go south, the body is not going to go anywhere. More than likely, it’s actually going to fall down. It just is not enough that we know which part of the body we are. It is not even enough for us to know what each part of the body is supposed to do. We have to know when we are to do our part and to what end we are doing it.

Until Next Time…

So here’s are some things I’d like for you to think about until the next installment:

• Who do you think are some of the current leaders in our scene today?
• Are these the same leaders or have they changed over time?
• Do these leaders seem to be listening to God’s leading or their own?
• Are you listening for direction from God and the leaders of the scene or are you searching yourself out?
• Where do you think this scene is heading at the moment?
• Is it where God wants it to be?
• What is keeping us from reaching it if we are falling short?
• Are we moving as one body or many?

Well, that’s it for the first part. I hope it gives you something to think about. Feel free to discuss this one on the boards. It’s an issue that we do need to discuss. Next time we’ll take a look back through our history and see how united we were in the past and where we stand today.