Every family I know has that one drawer in their home. When I was growing up, our family had this drawer in the kitchen. The “junk drawer” had matches, a hammer, a screwdriver, some batteries, duct tape, along with a bunch of other random items.
Our junk drawer always had at least one rubber band. I always knew if I needed a rubber band, I could find one there.
Some rubber bands would eventually be removed from that drawer because they were too old or weak to hold anything together. Often, I would break the rubber band or discover its weakness in a hard way.
In 2020, I’ve felt like the unity among us has been like one of those weak rubber bands, struggling to hold it's contents together and seriously over-matched.
In a time where we’re divided and isolated, maybe as divided and isolated as we’ve ever been, what “rubber band” can unite us and keep us together?
I would suggest that what can unite us and keep us together now is what has united and kept followers of Jesus together from the beginning.
Worship.
In a time where we are divided and isolated, worship unites us.
How does worship unite us? Well, consider these three ways.
Worship takes the focus off ourselves.
The human struggle has always been to resist the gravitational pull of self-absorption. We tend to focus on ourselves. Focusing on me will always work against the connection between us.
In the early church, the worship of the believers united them. We read in Acts 4 that “all the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.”
The focus had shifted from any individual and moved to the worship of their Resurrected Lord.
Worship takes the focus off our circumstances.
It’s always easy to focus on our life circumstances and determine our mood and viewpoint based upon what’s happening around us. This is especially true in 2020 with our present challenges.
Yet, focusing on our circumstances rarely, if ever, leads us to awe and wonder. Worship, however, takes the focus off our circumstances and turns it to God’s character and work, which often creates awe. This is the believers’ experience in the days after Jesus ascended into heaven, described in Acts 2.
“A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.”
Worship takes the focus off what is dividing us.
A scroll through your favorite social media feed, or an hour in front of your cable news network of choice, will reveal all of the divisions between us. Focusing on those will never lead to unity; it will only lead to anger, anxiety, and despair.
Yet, when we worship God in the midst of that kind of moment, our focus shifts from what’s dividing us to the One who can unite us. The One who prayed and gave His very life for our unity.
When Jesus prayed His final prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, before going to the cross, He could have prayed for anything. The fact that Jesus prayed these words, which are recorded in John 17, is supremely important.
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”
When we move into worship, our focus resets to the One who made us, who is bigger than us, and who we have in common. Jesus. When we worship with others, we reset our focus together. A 2015 British study indicated that singing together significantly accelerated feelings of closeness and bonding over the first month of a weekly pattern of group singing. Many of us can attest to the power of corporate worship because we’ve experienced the absence of it in 2020.
The lyrics of the song Together by For King and Country have arrived right on time and on target for this moment we’re facing.
We’re going to make it through this season of division and isolation. We’ve always made it through these periods.
The question isn’t if we’re going to make it through it. The question is how.
We will rise together by worshiping together!
This will happen in many ways. Sitting in living rooms watching our TVs. Sitting on lawn chairs and blankets. Standing socially-distanced with masks in auditoriums. Sitting behind our steering wheels driving our cars.
No matter the location or the format, worship has the power to unite the body of Christ once again. When we rise, we will rise together, with our focus on the One who has been raising His people up just as He was.
In a time where we are divided and isolated, worship unites us.
Share Your Story of Worship Uniting
We’ve read these stories from the pages of Scripture. In the weeks to come, we have more to share with you!
But we also want to hear your story. Have you ever experienced the uniting power of worship? When has a song brought you and another person together? When have you seen worship unite a group? A church? Or even a community?
Let us know in the comments.
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer who believes he has the best last name ever. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani and they are the parents of three “little savages.” He is the creator of the Free to Forgive course and you can read more of his writing at scottsavagelive.com
