I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV)

What do you think of when you hear the word unity? Do you see a group of people acting as if they like each other simply to keep the peace? Everyone wearing the same t-shirts as they file through the potluck line? Far too often when I think of unity I think of what could be, not what is. The word unity itself is interesting because it is something that each individual must work towards, but you have to have a group to be able to have unity. This is something that can be difficult to navigate because each and everyone of us have our own thoughts about how things should be done. I have my own ideas of how a people should be unified and I unfortunately assume too often that my way of getting there is the fastest way to do so. I want us to be there now, forgetting that there is work that God is doing in each of the people around me individually that in turn affects the community of people here.

Last week at El Faro we decided to have “La Semana De Unidad” or Unity Week among our staff and missionaries. Our kitchen was closed, we had no groups, and we asked everyone to clear their schedules so that we could work, eat, have fun, and spend more time together than is normal for us. We began the week with our Monday night devotion where we started a new study taking us through the book of Hebrews. Tuesday we all gathered in the parking lot and headed out into the village to construct the outside walls and kitchen for one of our very own cooks, Sebastiana. Wednesday we had a morning full of games and in the afternoon we all cooked and threw a dinner for one of our own who is saying goodbye to us this week. Thursday found us taking a boat ride up the river to Finca El Paraiso and we all had lunch together in Rio Dulce. Friday morning we got our work boots back on to pour the concrete floor in the house that we built on Tuesday. The goal of the week was not to simply work and have fun, rather it was to get our entire team together to work and do things that we normally never get to do altogether.

As I was praying for us and thinking through the different ways that we might be able to be more unified as a body here at El Faro it was as if God slapped me right in the face through several different conversations with people and one class lecture I was listening to…The Church (universally) and more specifically the people in close proximity to me are all a gift from God helping to sanctify me, or make me more like Jesus. I love when God smacks me in the head with a truth that I have known for a long time but had forgotten.

Are you living in community with other Christians? What is your relationship with them like? Do you see the people that you go to church with as a gift from God to help make you more like Him?