Dislocated Unity

Two full and intense days of teaching, worship, and prayer came to an end yesterday evening, as we celebrated communion together.  We had the privilege of hosting about 30 people from different churches here in the Guaymas/Empalme area as well as some "out of" from the neighbouring area and Hermosillo.  The theme was Called to Unity in Christ and two of our teachers took us through Scripture that challenged us to drop so many of the walls we have setup over the years as Christians, doctrinal barriers about things that don't carry the weight of Salvation but nonetheless have divided us.  This is not to be mistaken with a "light" Gospel message but rather about truly rallying around the powerful, life-changing Gospel message and leaving the peripherals out of the equation, learning not just to tolerate each other but to love one another - this becomes the powerful witness that the world needs to see.  This is specifically what Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17.  He was actually praying for us and for this witness!

I love the way one of the teachers illustrated the lack of unity.  Scripturally we see that the church is not divided - there is only one church.  Christ will not come back for "churches" or denominations but for His one Church, His Bride, so often illustrated in Scripture as a body - not many bodies but one body.  However our disunity is as though this body has parts of it that are dislocated, not separated as though there are arms and legs cut off from the body - we are joined together as one, but functionally we are as though parts of the body are dislocated.  What happens to a dislocated shoulder?  At first there is tremendous pain and our arm becomes severely inhibited, virtually nonfunctional.  Not only is the arm affected but the rest of the body is affected as well, without the use of this important member.  But if it is not treated, eventually the pain may subside somewhat or rather, we simply become accustomed to living with it and not only with the pain but also with the disability.  We learned to compensate but in reality, we are not functioning to our full capacity.

What a vivid picture of disunity!  It's interesting to note that this is the second of three conferences here in the area, all planned by different groups, completely separately with no coordination whatsoever between each group, all about the same topic: Unity as Believers.  This theme is on the hearts of many people and appears as though God is wanting us to understand something, something integral to the very message of the Gospel.  John 17 paints this picture so clearly for the sake of those lost, for the purpose of bringing glory to God.  Verse 21 says:

"...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." - John 17:21

Thanks to everyone who was praying for this time!  We are excited and encouraged to be a part of times like these and are looking forward to the start of a new course in January.

¡Dios les bendiga!