The Pursuit of Happiness Daily Devotional -8

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2 | ¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ² make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

The early church sought an unheard of oneness. In a rigidly hierarchical world, divided by race, nationality, language, status, and religion, Christianity taught unity. Paul argues that Christ encourages unity, the logic of love compels it, and participation in the work of the Spirit demands it.

Demonstrating accord, “having the same mind,” sharing a single binding kind of agape; all these expressions refer to oneness and unity. What a calling in our country, where politics and ideology and geography seem to set people and areas over and against each other. Early church unity was not denominational, structural, or enforced by a top heavy system of control. It was rooted in friendship forged across all kinds of barriers, in common experiences of worship and mission, and in shared theological affirmations.

Why is unity so hard today?

Tags: love, unity, oneness