Introduction & Part II
I must admit that I am a bit of a hoarder regarding thoughts, ideas, ponderings, and, might I say, flashes of brilliance that come my way. I am constantly putting pen to paper, sticky notes, and napkins, which at the time seemed like a monumental revelation. It’s an attempt to capture that whisper in the wind so that I may engage it at a later time. As I sit to put words to the page on this leg of my journey, I have uncovered one such whisper. Tucked away in my file of ‘great thoughts,’ the following from January 2006 makes me wonder a bit if this was merely a whisper that I heard or a divinely planted seed that has now come to harvest some seventeen years later.
“In a time when division is the root of every story on your local newscast, there is an intense need for some sort of unity.
But unity in the complete essence seems impossible, as it would require we all agree on everything all the time…or does it?
There is true unity to be had; it is more than believing what I believe, but knowing WHOM I know.
This is a look at the unity of the Church, Christ’s body of believers in this world.
Across racial, denominational, international lines, there is Unity of the body, and it is knowing the Trinity,”
“Unity In Chaos,”
The Heart of the Father
The Prayer of the Son
And the gift of the Holy Spirit
Kammy Schuppe
~January 2006~
As much as a piece of me would love to think that my great and beautiful mind is the sculptor of these words, I know better! But I admit I am excited about the unfolding of the words to follow. To see what this seed of thought looks like in full bloom. I pray you will join me on this journey as a child of wonderment, listening for the Still Small Voice in chaos and confusion. It’s beckoning us…can you hear Him?
Welcome to Part II
Last time we looked at unity through the lens of “uniformity.” As if we can cookie-cutter a believing community to all look alike, dress alike, and act alike and that is how the Kingdom of God is supposed to manifest in this earth realm. That is ridiculous, in idea and expectation.
There are no two humans who are gifted the same, who have had the same life experience, and who could manifest the Kingdom identically as another. We are UNIQUE in our person and our imaging of Yahweh…He made us that way!
Unity ≠ Conformity.
If uniformity had an evil twin, it would be conformity. Conformity takes uniformity to a legalistic level. It is about obeying the rules; and fulfilling expectations—whatever they may be. It’s about our ability to mold our behavior to some expected outcome with a flesh-driven need to please the one we conform to.
Conformity comes to us all the time and in many forms. Generationally, socially, politically, and religiously it is a constant in our world; it’s all around us constantly. Uniformity has many aliases, some seemingly harmless, and perhaps they are, while others are dangerous to the very spiritual life of a believer. I will not define which is which to you, but here are a few possibilities to ponder.
Tradition Serving
Denominationalism Submission
Liturgy Legalism
Doctrine Fitting In
People-Pleasing Acceptance
Regardless of the term you use, the external guidelines that are submitted to, or even the good-hearted reasoning behind them, you just cannot have true unity by enforcing uniformity or conformity. Just because there is a status quo of properly dressed rule followers doing their due diligence does not mean that you have the proper environment to cultivate true unity. Unity is a divinely driven force that human compulsion can not legislate. Individuals must encourage, experience, and obey it to its fullest potential.
Unity is Oneness with the Divine Three, THREE IN ONE.
An instructor teaching the rhythms of the human heart stated that if you took all the cells of the heart and laid them out on a table separate from each other, they would each beat in their capacity. Joining them together to make the human heart, it takes an electric shock to get them to beat in unison.
This is the true vision of unity. Individuals—stand-alone—unique entities that join as one powerful life force.
It is what we saw in the upper room when Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost. An electric shock from heaven descended upon a group of Christ-trained disciples to bring Glory to The Most High God. The person of Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh in the book of Acts, and all flesh includes us today!
May we seek and learn what our understanding of Unity truly is in the world of chaos! May we shake off those areas where we have embraced uniformity and/or conformity for some subtle feeling of fitting in. May we truly embrace our unique identity and expression of God within the Kingdom of His Christ!