Unity

Unity is important. There is something beautiful that happens when people come together for a common cause. It could be gathering for Worship, for a concert, for a rally, for a protest, or even the dinner table. There is something magical about people coming together. There is no greater feeling than being a part of a community that enables us to belong. At the end of the day, that’s all anyone really wants… to belong.

Belonging is tricky because we need to be sure that we are unified around something loving and healthy. I recall once in my adolescence, all my friends gathered to smoke cigars after the football game on Friday night. I had zero desire to smoke, and haven’t since. Still though, I wanted to belong. The weight of peer pressure can be intoxicating. The problem was not my need to belong, that’s perfectly human. The problem was that what was unifying my friends and I was destructive, not to mention the trouble we’d get in if caught.

So, what is it that should bond us and bring us closer together? What is worthy of our unification? Unfortunately, we highlight our togetherness by excluding everything/everyone that doesn’t fit in. In order to share our common identity, we often have to exaggerate the difference. What were my friends and I talking about while we were smoking? How lame everyone else was for not doing the same thing. See, our feeling of belonging came at the expense of everyone else. That kind of belonging is not God-filled.

Our country is talking a lot about unity, but what unifies us? If we play up our American identity, making especially sure that Americans feel like they belong, then that also has a dark side. Without thoughtfulness, we can begin to turn against everyone who is not American. Before long, we can develop animosity toward outsiders. This can be problematic. My friends, citizenship is not big enough.

Our church talks a lot about unity, but what unifies us? If we lean in to our Christian identity, then of course, everyone who does not identify as Christian will feel ostracized. Overtime, everyone who is not Christian becomes the enemy. Protestants and Catholics become adversaries when we stanchly identify as one or the other. My friends, religion is not big enough.

It is my deepest desire for everyone to feel as though they belong. One’s identity being accepted, both inwardly and outwardly, is directly associated with one’s happiness. To belong is all anyone longs for. What if we belonged to God? We belonged to this intangible, untouchable, mysterious entity that unites all of humanity. A God that undergirds all of Creation. A God that is both Alpha and Omega, and everything in between. A God who’s only identifying characteristic is love. Our commitment to love is strong enough to bond us! That is the God we belong to. That God, my beloveds, is big enough.

You belong,

Pastor Lucas

Photo by Lucas Sankey