Our Hope: Loose Bricks Topple And Fall

Be united with other Christians.  A wall with loose bricks is not good.  The bricks must be cemented together. — Corrie Ten Boom

Words of truth.  When people work, play, or just spend time together, they are sometimes challenged to simply ‘get along’.  The ‘bricks’ that should unite them allow disunity to permeate the day.  Different goals, personalities, and ways of doing things can often bring arguments, hurt feelings, and cause the purpose of the day to be forgotten.  In other words, being different, and not knowing how to harness those differences,  can cause general chaos.  ‘Loose bricks’ will cause the walls to topple and fall down.

This does not mean the people are bad!  No, they are just people.  We are all different, in many ways, which can either make us interesting or make us push against one another.  And the latter is the goal of our enemy.   He finds great joy in seeing us struggle when trying to accomplish something worthy for the kingdom of our God.  And when we feed him this joy, we take away from the glory that should be shown to our Lord.  This was not what we set out to do.

‘Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’ Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

God has made us to be individuals.  But His purposes call for us to also live in unity.  Without that unity, ships can’t be built, fields are not prepared for the harvest, and the cities fall into ruin.  Family get-togethers are disasters, and friends are no longer friends. Nobody is happy, and our lives no longer have purpose, shared or not.

When we intentionally live in unity with one another, much is accomplished.  God’s will is done and He uses His people to do it.  He is glorified, and the people are filled with the joy that comes from serving Him, serving one another, and from the fellowship that comes from living with other Christians in harmony.  And this is the place we should find ourselves on a regular basis.

So, how do we achieve this unity?  By learning from, walking like, and talking as Jesus.  He has shown time and time again what it means to be Him in this way.  He was in unity with nearly everyone He met.  He lived in harmony with His disciples.  Even when a small issue between the disciples arose, He quickly ended it in a loving and kind way.  He saw the best in everyone; He looked at them with pure love in His eyes.  It was natural to Him to live easily among the people, because He had no sin.  He did not allow pride to keep Him from doing menial tasks.  He did not worry about what other people would say, such as when He allowed His feet to be dried by a woman’s hair.  He only showed love.

‘Jesus said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you.” ‘ John 15:15 (NIV)

We can learn by His example, and live among the people in love, which is in harmony, which is in peace.  Jesus shows us how to live together.  He is Our Hope, and He is the Teacher of how to love and live together in harmony, despite our differences, relying on our strengths and our faith to bring perfect unity.

When have you found yourself saddled with ‘Loose Bricks’, and how did you resolve your issues?

Blessings!