The Cost of Unity

 

Unity is such a wonderful concept, isn’t it? It sounds admirable and certainly is something we should all not only long for but work toward. The problem is this. Unity is costly. Jesus told those gathered to count the cost.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 14:28-30

Most of us, I am guessing, did not think about the cost of discipleship when we chose to follow Jesus. But it probably also did not take long for all of us to find out that being a disciple has personal and maybe even professional costs associated with it.

The same is true with unity. Our reading this Sunday speaks of attributes that lead to unity and those that lead to disunity. In the unity category, we have “humility, gentleness, and patience,” and on the disunity side, we have “deceitful scheming and the trick people play to deliberately mislead others” (Ephesians 4).

It is easy to see how these characteristics work, but still, the question in my mind is what is the cost of unity? It costs us to be patient when everything inside of us is screaming “Hurry up!” It costs us to be gentle when we are not feeling gentle. It costs us to be humble when we know we “are all of that and a bag of chips.” Yet, Christ asks us to take up our cross. Paul advises us to “grow in every way into Christ.”

Why? I believe it is because the cost may be great, and we should be soberly aware of it and agree to bear it. But greater than the cost is the benefit. When we choose to live in ways that honor God and use the measure of grace given to us, we grow those wonderful branches that are attached to the tree that is God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). When we are attached to that tree, we cannot help but prosper in spirit and in truth. We cannot help but grow in health. And our health cannot do anything but strengthen the entire tree.

Friends, I invite you this weekend to explore your connection to the true Tree of Life that shelters us from harmful rays, provides stability in wild winds, and nourishes us with strong roots. Explore your unity with our Lord and Savior and how, while costly, it cannot be compared with the immeasurable blessings we receive in return.