“All for one and one for all, united we stand, divided we fall;” words immortalized in the book The Three Musketeers.
Easy to remember, concise, with pages of meaning. I love it when language is crafted to leave us spellbound in thought for some time. Prior to the nineteenth-century French novelist Alexandre Dumas’ writings, it had shown up in a lesser-known paper by William Shakespeare.
If you do much research, you can find that the sentiments of the first half of the phrase are found in Aesop’s fables and the latter in Jesus’ sermons.
The concept of unity is something the American mind cannot fathom. We were born in the heyday of rebellion. We broke off the tyranny of Britain during the age marked in church history as the Protestant Reformation, which began rather bloody but has been constantly divisive overall.
As democracy tries to gain expression, so do the individuals. As technology increases, so do the options in which those citizens can partake. More and more, as the world finds ways that should unite us, we see an opportunity to stand apart. When unity could create all things, we prefer freedom instead.
The separation among humans happened as they built a tower against God’s wishes. In fact, they were attempting to attain God’s stature, much like Eve did in Genesis 3, and that is why God broke their language. “[They are one people]…Nothing they propose to do will be impossible for them,” God states in Genesis 11:6. Teamwork is the greatest power this world knows.
The Israelites won every time the Bible states, “They fought as one man.” Nehemiah fixes the wall when all those folks come together and build together. It was called a miracle, in fact.
Jesus spends the bulk of his time with twelve people, knowing that if they work together, they will turn the world upside down. Jesus prays the night before the crucifixion, “Father, make them one as we are One.”
Acts tells us that everyone in the upper room on the day the Spirit fell was in one accord. They were in agreement. Heaven is displayed as a magnanimous chamber where all inhabitants constantly shout the same things to our King.
Can you imagine how powerful the church would be if we could unite behind the things that matter and forget the things that do not? Jesus leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one lost. Jesus knows that a house divided among itself cannot stand.
So, what is keeping the church from being in such a manner that the gates of hell can’t prevail against it? I believe it is disunity. We would rather like what we like than love who Christ calls us to.
I preached years ago that our entire existence can be summed into the phrase, “All about the Father. All for the Lost.” The story of the prodigal son shows us that the Father is the central figure of our existence, and that we have been called to get the lost into the house of God.
We split over vague interpretations, song selections, carpet colors, the pastor’s car or shoes and desires for attention. What if we were to unify across all denominations and styles to aggressively reach the lost while there is still light to do so? Can you imagine if the churches all united to bless those nearby and bring them close to the Kingdom? I think it might change everything. I know it would change me.
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