The goal as one

God has set apart the faithful for himself. Daily I feel the pull of a world that craves inclusiveness. "Join us. Our unity is our strength."

The goal is to speak as one. And I think of Babel. There, the people joined to a build a tower to their own abilities. Some think they united to build stair steps to heaven, to enter the divine kingdom.

God rejected their efforts, knowing that this kind of unity would lead them into more trouble. If they built this tower, they'd work together for other projects that would not lead them to God but to further depravity.

Unity in God is a beautiful thing. Unity without God leads to projects that serve lower desires.

To be set apart for God is to be given the freedom to pursue the things of Philippians:

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (Phil 4:8)

Working together

A big issue in last fall’s election among Christians was whether to vote. Some said they could not vote in good conscience for either presidential candidate and so didn’t. Others said that withholding a vote was in reality voting for the candidate who was ahead in the pools, maybe not the best choice for Christians.

We won't know what we could have done if we'd worked together as believers.

This isn’t the first time Christian groups shot each other in the foot.

In Colorado, we had an amendment on the ballot to define life as occurring at conception. But the two most prominent pro-life groups in the state couldn’t work together on promoting the issue.
We move forward slowly because of the infighting.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, addressed the same problem there. The church was debating which hero to follow. Paul? Apollos? Cephas? Christ?

Paul appealed to the church so that “all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Cor 1:10)

Earlier, Paul had asked the Corinthians to be holy, which means they would be set apart from the others in Corinth for God’s purposes. Now Paul asks them to be united with one another.

Separated from the world, united with fellow believers.

That was Paul’s hope for Corinth – and one that we still don’t have down today as followers of Jesus.

Paul’s fear was that “the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Cor 1:17)

Our challenge today is to encourage healthy discussion among believers but to avoid the angry divisions that divide us. Our goal should not be to win but to be sure the cross of Christ is expressed in power and authority.

In the light of that, our opinions don’t matter nearly so much.

One Israel?

Yesterday, we discussed Achan's disobedience which led to a shocking defeat for Joshua's army at Ai. Achan and his entire family died because of his greediness. Did you ever think that was unfair? They hadn't done the crime but they got the punishment.

Israel had a different understanding of community than we do here in America. When God told Joshua, "Israel has sinned," we in America would rise up to shout: "NO! Achan sinned." We would stew over the 36 soldiers who died at Ai because God found disobedience in Israel. Wasn't that unfair to them?

But Israel did understand, for the Hebrews knew the idea of unity better than we do. They rose and fell as one. When one sinned, they all sinned. When one was punished, they were all punished. When one was honored, they were all honored.

This corporate identity is foreign to those of us raised on cultural independence. But it's important as we follow Jesus. Paul in his letter to the Roman church explained that sin entered the world through one man, Adam. (See Romans 5)

We understand that to mean that we are all infected with the same sin nature because of Adam's sin. But, if sin came to us through one man, then redemption also came to us through one man.

If we're all free agents and lone rangers, then Jesus' work on the cross wouldn't apply to us. We may treasure independence and rights, but we need to set that aside to understand God's work for us.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. (Romans 5:18)