Image courtesy of Collin Anderson on flickr.com

Image courtesy of Collin Anderson on flickr.com

The more I learn about unity the more I realize it’s a big picture type of concept. The drive of unity focuses us on what we have in common as opposed to our differences, which tend to separate us. (Click To Tweet)

Abram and Lot shed the light of God on our idea back in the book of Genesis. The two men were herders of livestock and traveled together from Egypt to Negev and then Bethel in Chapter 13. Well, the land there couldn’t support them both. Quarrels broke out amongst their herdsmen. Yikes. Abram, being Lot’s uncle, could have just taken up and resolved the matter however he saw fit. However, he offered Lot first choice, saying “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Abram, being a sound leader, took the initiative to resolve the conflict. He took the higher road for the sake of unity. This all took place in the midst of hostile neighbors. Even today believers allow the evil one to dwell in their midst when they gossip, point fingers and focus on differences instead of the amazing grace and the love that brings us together.

Unity demands we recognize that everyone will never agree on everything, and that we accept this. The  devil is in the details. According to usingenglish.com, the idiom means “When people say that the devil is in the detail, they mean that small things in plans and schemes that are often overlooked can cause serious problems later on.”

Details are to unity as gossip, rivalries and disagreements are tools of the devil – a mechanism to bad news.

Through the example of Abram and Lot, we find unity moves forward through the following initiatives:

– Having an attitude of goodwill, the spirit of cooperation and love, is the greatest unifying force. Abram put others first for the sake of unity.

– We’re able to unite for the sake of conquering common goals when we set our minor differences and personal agenda’s aside, and focus on the big picture.

– Jesus prayed for future believers in John 18: 20-21, “My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one.”

Though Abram and Lot had to part company, they did so remaining as one body of believers. We can rest assured that as believers in Jesus we can always unify as one.

So God made an intricate design in each of us. His design is for us to fit together, perfectly, and complimentary. Like a puzzle, each piece fits together in just the right place. Together, they make a beautiful picture of unity in our world today.