United In Strength

Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

- Mattie Stepanek

Our strength, as followers of Jesus Christ, is a reflection of our unity with one another. Even secular novelist, J.K. Rowling, recognized this when she wrote in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

The Apostle Paul tells us in both 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 that we, the church, are one body made up of many members.

Each one of us brings unique gifts and talents to the table that, when unified with every other member, creates a strength that can move mountains, for the sum of those parts is greater than the whole.

However, when we are not unified, our division weakens us as a body of believers, and what we can accomplish is greatly diminished.

I love the story of the doves who discovered strength in their unity:

Once upon a time, there was a flock of doves that flew in search of food led by their king. One day, they had flown a long distance and were very tired. The dove king encouraged them to fly a little further. The smallest dove picked up speed and found some rice scattered beneath a banyan tree. So all the doves landed and began to eat.

Suddenly a net fell over them and they were all trapped. They saw a hunter approaching carrying a huge club. The doves desperately fluttered their wings trying to get out, but to no avail. The king had an idea. He advised all the doves to fly up together carrying the net with them. He said that there was strength in unity.

Each dove picked up a portion of the net and together they flew off carrying the net with them. The hunter looked up in astonishment. He tried to follow them, but they were flying high over hills and valleys. They flew to a hill near a city of temples where there lived a mouse who could help them. He was a faithful friend of the dove king.

When the mouse heard the loud noise of their approach, he went into hiding. The dove king gently called out to him and the mouse was happy to see him. The dove king explained that they had been caught in a trap and needed the mouse’s help to gnaw at the net with his teeth and set them free.

The mouse agreed, saying that he would set the king free first. The king insisted that he first free his subjects and the king last. The mouse understood the king’s feelings and complied with his wishes. He began to cut the net and one by one all the doves were freed including the dove king.

They all thanked the mouse and flew away together, united in their strength.

As we say here at The Church at RB, “Everyone has a role to play.” This is not a statement to guilt people into serving, but an acknowledgement that there is strength in unity.

When we serve together, great things will happen. We are definitely better together.

Pastor Ken

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