By Tyler Henry
Every week we say together, as a church, Romans 15:5-7 to conclude our service. It is a great reminder of how the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth brings all peoples together under one gospel. Paul in verse 5 speaks directly to unity within diversity when he says that we ought to live in harmony with one another because of the commonality and unity we find in Jesus. We ought to hold on to that verse and pray through that verse every day.
The tensions are high already and praying for harmonious living is key to dissolving some of, if not all, of these tensions. We find all throughout scripture the mercy of God towards us and others that may be different than us. We ought to imitate that mercy, love, and desire for unity! For he calls us to be holy because he is holy (1 Peter 1:16 c.f. Leviticus 19:2)! God repeatedly shows himself to be faithful in breaking down barriers between people groups and between himself and humanity. Jesus shows mercy to the Samaritan woman in John 4 when no one would have even gone near her because of her ethnicity. Jesus brought together the tax collectors and zealots who were politically opposed to each other under one gospel as disciples.
We need to pray for this type of unity that the Son brings through the Holy Spirit. How, though!? You may be thinking, “It is so hard to pray for those that just do not understand where I am coming from because we are so different and diverse! And quite honestly, I do not want to pray for them!” I implore you to remember Matthew 5 when Jesus calls us to “love our enemies pray for those who persecute you.”
Jesus does not tell us to do the easy thing, but the hard thing. The hard thing to do is to pray earnestly and sincerely for them and to then get to know them because they are just as much your brother or sister as the person you choose to sit next to on Sunday. Listen to them over lunch, invite them to go fishing with you, introduce them to your spouse, or something else of the like! It shows your beliefs are affecting your behavior. Living out what you believe, that all are fallen image bearers that desperately need the love and grace of Jesus just as much as you do.
Praying for this unity within diversity is so important in our broken world. And like prayer for all of the other things we are praying for this month, it is vitally important that when we do it, we do it with a gospel-changed heart that desperately seeks to see all of humanity come to know the truth of the gospel.
