Greetings,
Few things in life are as deeply rewarding as being unified with another person or persons. Those are David’s sentiments as expressed in Psalm 133, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren dwell together in unity.” He wouldn’t have said that in regard to unifying with others in order to go out and do evil. People can and will do that as we well know. Human history is replete with war and its carnage as a result of nations unifying in self interest. In like manner, individuals can unify to smear someone else’s reputations etc.
The unity that David spoke of binds people at their inner core – it’s deep, enduring through both good and hard times. The kind of unity associated with destruction, on the other hand, is shallow and lasts only as long as self interest is being served. Both forms of unity do share common ground – they are both spirit driven. The spirits involved however, are polar opposites. One we wrestle against and one we work at yielding to. The apostle Paul spoke of that yielding work when he said, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3). The humility, gentleness and patience we extend to others as we bear with them in love is the same as yielding to the Holy Spirit. That is what it looks like. It is directed away from carnal self interest and toward the good of others. That is how we keep the unity of the spirit which is the only thing that can deeply bind us in peace regardless of our circumstance. It should be clear then, that the good and pleasant unity we so much desire is contingent upon yielding to the Holy Spirit. It all depends on whether or not we do the work of yielding that Paul spoke about.
The Holy Spirit can be resisted however. Of Israel and his own persecutors, Steven said, “You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you (Acts 7:51). The stiff necked can resist the Holy Spirit in how they fail to care for one another or in whether or not they listen to and heed God. Both tables of the law come into play – love toward God and love toward man. Zechariah wrote, “Thus says the LORD of hosts; ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow and fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother’” (Zechariah 7:9-10). Those who resist the Holy Spirit refuse to listen. They refuse to get their shoulders in the harness and do the work of heeding God. Because of this, their hearts grow hard and they are able to refuse any part or principle of God’s law they choose and thereby do whatever their own will might happen to be. And such resistance to the Holy Spirit only ensures shallow, superficial or fickle interaction with someone who willingly puts their shoulder into the harness to strive to listen and to do. Those who resist the Spirit can offer no depth of relationship with others, which would contribute to endurance in every trial. In short, it weakens unity within the body of Christ. None of us wants to do that to others.
Now is the time to renew our spiritual vitality. In Hebrews 12:12-14, Paul said, “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed. Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”
Let us strive for unity in the spirit with all of God’s children.
Marshall Stiver
