Is Unity Possible?

I have often wondered: "How long was the church of the first century gathering in the spirit of unity before divisiveness entered the scene?"  For certainly our ancestry of faith has found the idea of unity something to reach for yet falls short in attainment.  For example, Acts 2 paints the picture that there was something amazingly unique about these early followers.  It states that "all the believers were united and shared everything (2:45)." There was a tangible unity there, something that marked them as different, or maybe unique.  Yet something changed...for it isn't long before we see issues arising. And in many ways, we have been chasing this elusive image ever since.

It reminds me of our beginning narrative...a Garden marked by beauty and freedom where God wandered through and conversed with Adam and Eve.  In this place was all they knew and needed yet there was just that one thing that they couldn't have...
             Power. 
The power to know...and when they chose to grasp for that power, the Garden becomes closed to them.  Ever since, we have been desiring that initial freedom and connection with God.

Now fast-forward to the Pentecost moment- the Spirit of God descending on each person and the beauty of this God-moment is marked by the unity among them.  The typical struggles of flesh seem to dissipate for a time...no more struggle over power but instead a mutual care to the point that not one needed anything!  They found a unity around the story of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit.  There it was- for a moment, each person unique yet unified.

Yet something happened.  Just as the dismissal from the Garden, these early followers began dealing with the realness of a people that may have alternative motives, selfish ambitions, or a taste for power (see Acts 5!).  And with that taste, we have watched close to 2,000 years of divisions, arguments, and debates but certainly not unity. 

Is unity even possible?  With well over 10,000 denominations, with our long held traditions and new innovations, with our own desire to be right, to be better than others, can we find a place around the table where our ways can yield to the way of Jesus?  Paul is pushing this in his letter to the Philippians- quit chasing after what you want!  Quit looking out for just what you get!  Quit fighting and take on that same character as the one whose name we bear...

        Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
         But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings.        
         When he found himself in the form of a human, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to  the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8)

Are we willing to live like that?  If we seek to find unity in this body of Christ, we must take on the humble nature of a God-man who gives up all power in order to help us find release from our taste for power. I think unity is possible...only when we stop the power struggles- having to be right, or better, or the deciding factor of 'truth'.  Instead, let's begin reflecting the heart and soul of the one named Jesus who chooses humility as the way to life and unity!