Unity

Have you ever seen a video of a single heart cell, beating all alone? It is so amazing to see this one little component of life throbbing away, knowing that it displays, in miniature, what all the cells in our hearts are doing, and doing in perfect sync.

Do you know what happens when you put two beating heart cells into the same space? They get closer, and their rhythm aligns, like two jazz drummers on stage, playing their own thing for a few measures, then coming together in unity to give the listener the thrill of hearing synchronicity appear out of chaos.

In a living human heart, all those cells in the heart grew up together. They were “from the same neighborhood,” one might say. It just makes sense that cells from the same heart would beat together, even if we don’t fully understand the way it happens.

But heart cells don’t even have to be from the same organ or the same person to beat together! When two living heart cells are placed close together, they will take a few seconds to synchronize, then they will beat in harmony.

In contrast, in a living person, a heart that doesn’t beat in unity will struggle. We call this arrhythmia. A few cells, or even a whole area of the heart can break into a different rhythm and go at a different pace than the rest of the heart. When this happens, the heart loses it’s ability to smoothly transport blood throughout the body.

Picture two people paddling in a canoe: One leads with a regular strong stroke, and the other follows that lead, copying the force, the rhythm and the direction of the stroke. When this happens, the boat goes forward a lot faster than it will when only one is paddling. But what if one person decides he knows a better way to row, and tries something different? What will happen to their speed then?

You can see this when you watch boat races (sculling). In four-person sculling, the coxswain’s job is to control the boat, calling out the rhythm so they each stroke falls into the water at the same moment, and all oars rise and fall at the same moment.

Even though the boat is heavier (the weight of five people vs. one), and there is more equipment (at the least, there are four sets of oars and life preservers instead of just one), and the boat must therefore sit lower in the water (creating more drag), more people rowing together precisely will cover the distance faster than just one person rowing solo.

And so we see how in physical examples, being unified taps into another kind of power.

Another kind of unity is displayed in factories, in mass production. Each person does a different job, but they all work on the same part, one after the other. One cuts the part, the next person assures that it’s perfectly round, the next person creates a bend, the next one perforates it, and the final person deburrs it.

Because each person does the same job over and over, they can do it very quickly. The only time lost is the time traveling to the next person. When complicated parts are made this way, production goes much faster. Or one could say, it equals more fruit.

(Jim was the materials/logistics guy for a plant that made muffler pipes, so I heard all about it, and have new respect for Henry Ford, the man who invented the assembly line and used it to great effect in the early days!)

So whether it’s heart cells beating at the same time, or several people working in the same rhythm to row a boat, or sequential unity present in a factory line, the principle is Unity. Oneness. Working as one, and for the same end.

Jesus prayed that His followers would have unity. And I have often thought that meant that they would be peaceful with each other, being kind and working together; it does include those ideas. But I believe that the underlying unity Jesus prayed for was for each of His followers, both then and now, to be rooted in the Spirit of God.

We can do great things when we are all working together. But Jesus wasn’t just praying for people to get along, or just to play nice and work together. He knew that though you can get things done faster, they may not be the right things. Look what they did with the tower of Babel.

Jesus explained that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that the only path to God is through Him. Jesus is God. He provided a way for us to connect, by paying the price for us to be able to do so. He, personally, came to fight for us, to set us free from sin and death, while still giving us the right to reject him!

Can you imagine that? It’s like a slave being purchased from the slave market, and the new master says, “Do you want to go home with me, and let me care for you? I have a place where you will be needed, and loved, and connected to myself and others. Will you come?” The slave has nothing, no possessions, no connections, and possibly doesn’t speak the language, but the new master hears him and speaks in a voice he can understand. It’s a dream come true for any slave.

When we respond to the voice of Jesus, calling us, He sends His Spirit to live inside of us. When our hearts hear His voice, we are like a single heart cell in a petri dish: We respond to God’s whispered “Live!” with a pulse of pure life.

And when we meet another person who is also responding to God, it is natural to synchronize and work together because the power of each one flows from God. When your source is the same, you cannot help but join in unity and work together, worshiping God in mutual obedience, as is shown in both life and fruit.

Jesus prayed for His followers just before He was leaving this world. And not only that, He prayed for you, too!

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17:11, 16, 17, 20, and 21)

This passage says a lot, and I don’t pretend to understand all the implications. But it’s clear that the unity Jesus means is not just connection to each other. It is connection to God through Jesus, which gives us the common ground to be unified with anyone, no matter where they are from, in this country and others all over the world. Perfect strangers will seem to be as close as family, and they are! If you both love God and walk with Him in obedience to His Word, then God will connect us all in perfect unity, in Himself.

Live connected, my dear friends. And for those we haven’t seen in so long, know that we love you and are continuing in oneness, praying for you and asking God to bless you!