WE is Better Than ME
Scriptures
Acts 2:1,46-47 (KJV), Psalms 133:1 (KJV), Ephesians 4:1-13 (ESV), Genesis 2:18 (KJV), Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV), 1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV), Proverbs 6:16-19, Leviticus 26:7-8 (KJV), Matthew 18:18-20
“WE”
Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus.
“These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”
“Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?” —Charles Schultz
In the Cambridge, Minn., Star: “Isanti County Commissioner Tom Pagel has 100-percent support from his family, not 10 percent, as was stated in last week’s article on Pagel’s announcement to seek re-election.” —Reader’s Digest
About being in community with fellow Christians and fellow human beings, Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk from Kentucky, wrote, “I cannot discover God in myself and myself in Him unless I have the courage to face myself exactly as I am, with all my limitations, and to accept others as they are, with all their limitations” (Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island [New York: Harcourt, 1955], xvi). This pairs well with Ephesians 4:1–3, where Paul writes, “I … urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. —Acts 2:1,46-47 (KJV)
There is simply no Pentecost, no early church impact without unity.
In Acts 2, when the church was united, God fulfilled His purpose.
In Acts 4, when the early church was threatened, they unified. From their unity, came a shaking and great boldness.
In Acts 12, when Simon Peter was taken captive, the church united in prayer. Restraints were loosed.
In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were in prison, they united in praise. Deliverance came.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! —Psalms 133:1 (KJV)
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, —Ephesians 4:1-13 (ESV)
CALLED TO “
”
Paul reminds Christians, that one of the main callings of the church is to have unity (Ephesians 4:1–6).
David Guzik writes, “A worthy walk before God will be marked by lowliness and gentleness, not a pushy desire to defend our own rights and advance our own agenda” (David Guzik, “Ephesians 4—Living to God’s Glory,” Enduring Word Bible Commentary, 2018, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/ephesians-4/).
• Eugene Peterson writes, “The gospel is never for individuals but always for a people. Sin fragments us, separates us, and sentences us to solitary confinement. Gospel restores us, unites us, and sets us in community. The life of faith revealed and nurtured in the biblical narratives is highly personal but never merely individual: always there is a family, a tribe, a nation—church. God’s love and salvation are revealed and experienced in the congregation of the people” (Eugene H. Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John & the Praying Imagination [New York: Harper Collins, 1988], 42).
WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN “ME”?
!
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. —Genesis 2:18 (KJV)
YOU CAN’T HAVE UNITY, UNLESS YOU FIRST START WITH “U – N – I”
Unity involves others.
Unity needs a partner.
Unity is found in community.
A church is a community (Greek, koinonia) of individuals revolving around others with one hope, one faith, one calling and one purpose.
Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one (John 17:11).
Paul said that we should keep the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3).
Paul prayed that God would give this spirit to His church (Romans 15:5-6).
Our approach to unity in the church sometimes reminds us of the old limerick:
There once were two cats of Killkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many.
They fought and they spit,
they clawed and they bit,
till instead of two cats there weren’t any!
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. —Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)
THE
OF “WE”
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. —1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
God hates…HATES, those that sow discord and calls it an abomination.
These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. —Proverbs 6:16-19
Beware of those that cause divisions among us.
Division is a sin against Christ’s body.
We are never more powerful alone than we are together.
“WE” IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN “ME”
One puts a thousand to flight; two ten thousand.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. —Leviticus 26:7-8 (KJV)18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. —Matthew 18:18-20
HOW to get to “WE”
HOW CAN “WE” (UNITY) BE ACHIEVED?
START with
AIMING FOR THE
The bottom line for unity in the Bible is to BE OF ONE MIND!
When my relationship with God is not where it should be,
My relationship with everyone else suffers!
When things are right with God, you will find it much easier to handle relationship with others.