Blessed Unity

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   Recently, I had the great privilege of attending a pastors' prayer retreat at Camp Tadmor, located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains just outside of Lebanon, OR. I needed to arrive early because the morning before the retreat began, the trustees from Church Venture Northwest would be having our quarterly meeting. One of the main topics on the agenda had the potential to be a hot-button issue. As the time to address that item drew closer, I was anxious to see how things would play out. The regional executive director got up to explain the background of the issue, and then he went around the room and provided for each of the area trustees an opportunity to describe where their churches stood. Two proposals were presented, and after much discussion, one of them was approved to go before to the churches at our annual meeting in March. By God's grace, what had the potential to be contentious did not turn out that way.

   David writes in Psalm 133, "Be hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. it is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever."

   It is easy to display unity when things are going well, when everyone is in agreement on everything, or when our disputes are only on areas that are comparatively trivial. How challenging it is to focus on unity when we find ourselves at odds over things that we feel strongly about. What if a husband and wife disagree on how something should be done around the house, employees are concerned about the direction the bosses are taking the company, a church can't seem to agree on budgeting priorities for the coming fiscal year? How do we display unity in times like these? I'm not talking about something that involves a clear point of Scripture, law, ethics or even safety. In times of dispute, where important debatable issues are at stake, this is where Christian unity is most important and where its demonstration can have its greatest effect. In those times when it seems most challenging, when our pride is most confronted, let us lean on God's grace to enable us to demonstrate the unity that will become a pleasing aroma to the world around us.