Romans 15:5-6–Cry for Unity with Purpose

Romans 15:5-6–"May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Unity is a great thing.  In many ways it drives much of the human experience as we seek and define unity amidst the immense diversity that is always around us.  Humans seem to yearn for unification, it is, in many ways, the very thing that drive so much of our lives.  We can unify behind entertainment, like sports teams or favorite movie franchises, or we can unify behind a common goal or experience, such as the GLBT community or human rights.  And while there are a vast number of unifying principles or ideals, they are all paltry and counterfeit in comparison to the single most vital thing that unites all persons and peoples who have ever lived and will ever live (save for Christ who remains uncreated)–We are made to glorify God.

It's in our DNA, our very genes cry out in worship to the Creator of the universe.  And despite our best efforts to suppress or to misplace this reality, it is inescapable.  After all, even the atheistic artist can compose beautiful and intelligent art that, by its very nature, worships the Creator!  But as in this human experience we are faced with the proposition of either discovering or manufacturing unity in diversity, we are faced with the dilemma: what unifies us?

The answer, as is so often true of honest questions, relies solely on the singular and profound theological reality of our existence and our identity.  Every human that has every lived was born bearing the image of God.  This is the utmost truth about us.  It is this astonishing truth that provides for us the very essence of unity under the strains of overwhelming diversity.  For the image of God is born just as much in the life of the drunkard as it is on the saint.  It often turns out that what caused the drunkard to turn to drink in the first place was that he either never knew whose image he was meant to bear or he is more interested in bearing his own rather than His.  In both cases, the fault, it turns out, is not on the One whose image is borne, but on he who illegitimately bears it.

In both cases though, that of the saint and the drunkard, they are, ultimately, unified in the fact that they each bear His image.  Therefore, unity is only held at the distance of recognition: that we would recognize the reality of our unity and that this recognition would only be crystalized through a unified glorification of God!  That is what the aforementioned verse is about, and we would do well to pray for the very same thing that Paul is praying for, too!