Unity BEFORE Catastrophe

What If The Church Was In Unity BEFORE The Catastrophe?

As I shared in a previous post, the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me – and to many others – about the central importance of brothers dwelling in unity. Our Father’s desire is to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, and He wants that process to intensify now, even as we await the culmination at the return of Jesus.

This week, through the tragedy of Harvey hitting Houston, we have read accounts of the Body of Christ coming together to serve the community, and those stories are powerful and encouraging. However, my question is – what could have been prevented, or at least re-directed, if the commanded blessing of God was over a city and region because the fragrant aroma of brotherly unity was fresh in the Lord’s nostrils? Would this be the way to stop the hurricane in Houston, or the tornado in Kansas, or the earthquake in California, or the volcanic eruption in Washington?

As hurricane Harvey was developing and beginning to engulf the Houston area, I was meditating on John 17, where the focus of Jesus’ prayer – just before His ultimate self-sacrifice on the cross – was that His disciples would know the same love and unity that is between Jesus and Father, SO THAT the world might recognize and acknowledge who Jesus is as the sent Son of God.

Beloved, get this: the focus of Jesus’ prayer just before the cross was unity among His followers, with the end in mind that the whole world would comprehend who Jesus is! In other words, the power that will make the outreach efforts of our local congregations successful is released through unity among the followers of Jesus.

Where do we begin? It all goes back to Psalm 133, where the oil of blessing flows from the Father onto Aaron’s head. Aaron’s ministry is vertical ministry – the service of worship. Yes, there must come and will come a time when we have all knowledge and agreement on theology and practice, but we must begin by worshipping together. We are called to lay down our tribal priorities – not permanently, but just for a moment – and come together to minister to the Lord and to speak blessings in His Name. That fragrant aroma pleases Him, brings the promise of commanded blessing, and who knows – maybe the result is the authority to divert the storm that otherwise would devastate.

It begins with worship. We must find a way to come together.
Gary Wiens