By Dr. Rebekah McCloud

A story is told of two men riding a tandem bicycle up a steep hill. After much effort, they finally made it to the top of the hill. The front rider said, “Man, that was a tough ride.” To which the second rider replied, “Sure was, and if I hadn’t kept my foot on the brake we might have slipped backwards.”[1]

As Christians, it’s critical that rather than ride in opposition like the two riding the bicycle, we stand together as a unified body of believers. Ephesians 4:11-13, says, God has called a variety of individuals to prepare his “people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

So, how do we obtain this unity. Simply: love God, love one another, help one another, and pray for one another. Deuteronomy 6:5 admonishes us to “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” It goes on to say, “these commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Amen.

When you love God with all your heart and with all of your soul, with all of your strength and your being, you can’t help but pass the joy onto others. It’s like Jeremiah 20:9 says and I’m paraphrasing here, His word will be in your heart as a burning fire shut up in your bones. The old folks used to say, “Didn’t our hearts burn.” Loving God is the first step to building spiritual unity. Let’s ask ourselves, do I feel the fire burning within me?

Remember, we should be working and walking in tandem with God. Let’s ask ourselves, am I peddling the bike in unity or do I have my foot on the brake?

Secondly, love one another. Love is a word that when spoken, almost everybody can think of one person or thing that they love. We love our spouses, children, families; our jobs, homes, cars; our lifestyles, our food, our clothes; our pastors, and our churches. We are a nation of “lovers.”  Or are we?

The Bible is filled with scriptures that talk about love. Probably the most quoted, is John 3:16 “For God so loved the World He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perished but have eternal life.” This speaks of God’s love for us.

The scriptures also talk about our love for one another.

• John 13:35 says, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
• Hebrews 10:24 says “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds;”
• 1 John 4:7 says, “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God;” and
• Colossians 3:14 says, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

To love one another, unconditionally, is something hard for many of us to do. If I had a dime for every time I heard about unconditional love in some shape, form, or fashion, I would have enough money to buy the Maserati that’s on my wish list.

The songwriter says, “…just as I am…” yawl know the rest. The poet pleads, “Please be patient with me, God is not through with me yet.” Romans 14:1-3 tells us to “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters… for God has accepted him.” If God has accepted our brother and our sister; we must do likewise, in love. Amen.

Now, even though we know this, sometimes loving no matter what, forgiving and forgetting no matter what, is difficult. How often have we heard these phrases:

• “Child, she done got on my last nerve.”
• “They almost made me lose my religion.”
• “I felt some kinda way; so I had to put my religion on the shelf.”
• “Lord, you gonna have to walk with me today; guide my feet, hold my hand and silence my tongue.”

Have we heard any of these? Have we said any of these? I have. The songs ask where is the love and what’s love got to do with it? But, the Bible says it best in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It reads “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  Love will last forever.”

There’s a popular Christian song that talks about God’s love for us and the chorus says “amazing love, how could it be, that you would die for me.” Stewards, as builders of spiritual unity, we should have the same love one another. Let’s ask ourselves, do I have and do I show the amazing love of Jesus Christ?

As we build a unified church, each one of us has a role in the body Christ. None is greater than the other. Whether we clean toilets or deliver the word, the Bible says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD.” And, if we do this, I believe that God will be satisfied with our work and we can’t help but be united and on one accord.

Remember, we should be working and walking in tandem with one another. Let’s ask ourselves, am I peddling the bike in unity or do I have my foot on the brake?

This week, let’s be intentional about building unity, about peddling together, about loving others and about showing the fire burning inside of us because of God’s amazing love. Amen.

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Note: Scriptures are from the New International Version of the Bible.

[1] Source: Working against Each Other, http://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/working-against-each-other.

4/15/18