In One Accord

"All the believers were together and had everything in common."
Acts 2:44

Recently as I was reading the book of Acts, I noticed something in the second chapter that I really had never put together before. I suppose I knew it, but I had never paid enough attention to really notice that this one thing was absolutely key to the birth and growth of the church. Without it, we might never have had the writings of the rest of the New Testament or the church as we know it today. The theme of Acts 2 is unity.
    When the 120 came together in Jerusalem to wait for the promised Holy Spirit, they were all together in one place. When the Holy Spirit came, everyone was filled, not one person was missed. When Peter stood up to preach his first sermon, all the apostles stood up with him. And they continued this unity through the explosive growth of the Jerusalem church. Whether it was 120 or thousands, they lived together in unity.
    I believe this is a theme that we must pay attention to. The church today has become fragmented. Denominations have developed, each with their own 'brand' of the gospel. Doctrinal differences have separated the church to the point that there has been disdain for other believers. Unity seems to be far away. The things that separate are trivial in comparison to our great need for unity in the Spirit. If we center our lives around the theme of Christ our Savior who was crucified and resurrected for us, the rest of the issues pale in comparison. The power and infilling of the Holy Spirit is available to all who have received Jesus as their Lord. It is not weird or blasphemous. It is real and vital to every disciple's life. Unity in the Spirit is vital to the continued, growing success of the church.
    We live in days when the great harvest is nearly ready. It is a harvest of souls. I believe that unprecedented numbers of people will come to know Jesus in these days. In order for this harvest to be completed, the church is going to have to rise up in unity to do the harvesting. We are not called to create factions in the church, we are called to make disciples. In that call there is great responsibility to speak a pure gospel without prejudice toward our own set of beliefs. We proclaim the gospel of Christ and him crucified. This is essential. It's time for the church to unify around this theme. Then we can truly say that we live in one accord.