Ezekiel 37:24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd.”

The Bible keeps coming back to the theme of unity. However, this isn’t sameness, nor a coerced union, nor something dreamed up by man in competition with God. God Himself foils that last one, as in the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:1-9) The unity that God desires is from the heart, from a common commitment to one Lord. Splits and divisions are all too common even in the Church, but the answer isn’t humanistic programs and slogans, it is humble submission to Jesus Christ as Lord on the part of all parties involved. Theological differences would either be resolved or understood to be unimportant, if only hearts were fully submitted to Christ. When Jesus Christ, the Son of David, is King indeed, then there is unity among His subjects.

This theme has been prominent in my ministry, and is why I don’t claim a denominational label. It seems that a major function of most denominations today is to differentiate themselves from other denominations, and that only builds walls. The source of that is largely pride, and human pride never produces good fruit. As even Paul recognized, sometimes groups get so far off track that those who are committed to Christ have no choice but to distance themselves, but that is a sad thing indeed. (1 Corinthians 11:18-19) However, in our human weakness we tend to take pride that “we are the pure ones,” not realizing that pride immediately makes us impure. I’m not to be proud that I’m nondenominational, but rather reach out in love to all who likewise love God. I have found I can have real fellowship with people with whom I have some very real differences. That’s not forgetting the differences, but rather focusing on our common commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As C.S. Lewis observed, one thing we can be sure of is that when we get to heaven, we will find out that we were all wrong on some points. The fact that we aren’t all wrong on the same points is why we need to be willing to let God teach us through one another.

Father, thank You for Your grace to me. Help me be an open channel of that grace to all around me, discarding all pride and giving You all glory. May I be a useful tool in Your hands to bring unity within the Body of Christ, not by human programs but by Your Spirit, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!