Together we are Stronger

Intuitively we know this to be true. You remember from school, don’t you. It is easy to break one stick. It is nearly impossible to break a bundle of sticks. One lone column cannot hold up a wall, but dozens together can hold up buildings. What is true with sticks is true with people. Nothing is more important than our unity in the Church.

At that time, Jesus came to a home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.”

Mark 3.20-27

Christ wasn’t teaching about sticks and columns. He was teaching about faith and people. The Holy Trinity is the standard of unity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not just united in agenda, but love, faith, and desire.

The devil is the standard of division. “The one who divides” is his name, and his sole agenda is to divide us from God and each other. He tried with Christ through temptation, and he is constantly trying to divide us through our ego.

Every time we think we are better than somebody else, we are divided. Every time we are in a room with others, but not with them in faith and love, we are divided. Every time we sit comfortably in judgement of the sins of our neighbors, we are divided.

God wants us to be united. The devil wants us to be divided. Every time we allow division, we allow the devil a victory in his war against God. Every time we unite, we serve a blow of defeat against the devil. That is why the devil is constantly working to separate us from each other and God.

Unity in the Church has always been the goal of the Fathers. Ecumenical Councils gathered to retain and restore unity in the Church. Our global Church is under attack, and we must pray for our unity to be restored. I’m not talking just about church borders. I’m talking about faith.

Fighting over borders is how the devil begins to break us apart. He will not stop with border disagreements. He will tempt us to pretend that borders are a matter of faith. We can’t allow that. Nor can we further the separation by fighting amongst ourselves with self-righteousness. More divisions mean more victory for the devil.

Remember the words of Christ, “That they may be one just as We are One.” (John 17.22) Anything that does not unite us to God and each other, serves the devil. Don’t be a lone stick waiting to break. Be part of the bundle, and together we are stronger against the devil.