The Unity of Believers

I recently watched an interview with a survivor of the 1918 flu pandemic. She shared many insightful things about her experience. She mentioned that her family was the only one in their little town who did not contract the flu—which she attributes to a daily dose of baking soda and prayer. But I think the thing that stood out to me the most about her interview was her observation that this and other catastrophes of the time period actually served to bring families and the community closer together. Even in the midst of tragedy and pain, people did not stop caring for each other.

And I’ve noticed this lately in our own situation. Even though society as a whole is practicing social distancing, people are still coming together…but in different ways. In our immediate households, families are taking walks, riding bikes, playing games, doing sidewalk chalk art, eating dinner together, and actually talking and laughing with one another. Suddenly, there is time to be human again and to be with the ones we love. The fast-paced “never seem to have time for anything” life is dwindling, and now there is time for everything, including each other.

I know that this coming together is happening in the community as well. People are checking in on each other—texting, calling, video-chatting, talking to neighbors and friends when they run into them, mindful of keeping reasonable distances, but engaging nonetheless because…we need each other. And would you be surprised that this need we have for each other is from the Lord? People need people, and the Body of Christ needs each other now more than ever. Why? Because we are One. Our unity as a Body is the Will of God. In fact, so much so that Jesus Himself prayed about this for us before He went to the Cross:

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20b-23 We are bound together in Faith and in Spirit just as the Lord intended. Jesus says the impact of that unity can change the world. The world will see this bond and the oneness and turn their eyes toward Him. That’s powerful stuff!

Today, do not neglect the unity of Believers. If you need to do a group text or email, make a phone call, video chat or the like to keep the unity going, then do it. Keep the love, keep the accountability, and keep the Faith. Daily, reach out to one another. Daily, draw close the Lord. And as we demonstrate our love for the Lord and for each other, the world will see and know that Jesus is Lord.

–Katie Botello