Revival and Unity
“Through the years, I have noticed the thing that most threatens and often shuts down an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is when we depart from God-given unity. Time after time, the refreshing and ingathering of souls in a revival crawls to a stop when the leaders of the movement begin to pull apart in different directions.”
I firmly believe that revival brings with it a new, deeper unity in the church and body of Christ. And conversely, revival can be lost when we do not walk in unity and honor relationships in the body of Christ. Through the years, I have noticed the thing that most threatens and often shuts down an outpouring of the Holy Spirit is when we depart from God-given unity. Time after time, the refreshing and ingathering of souls in a revival crawls to a stop when the leaders of the movement begin to pull apart in different directions.
This brings to mind Psalm 133:
“1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is; For brothers to live together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, As on Aaron’s beard, The oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For the Lord commanded the blessing there—life forever.”
We are all aware of how pleasant unity is when we have it, and how unsettling disunity becomes if we don’t. But this Psalm points out that disunity goes beyond earthly pleasantness. It also can affect the blessings that God wants to pour out. The body of Aaron is used here to demonstrate what my spiritual father, Alan Vincent, used to call ‘head and shoulders government’. All through the Bible, the word of God shows us that there is a God-given headship in His government. But while there is headship, we also have a need for shoulders (or the body of plurality) in an organization, that help share the responsibility of governing. The head needs the shoulders and the shoulders need the head. Neither of these parts can say, “I have no need of you.”
The anointing oil of the Holy Spirit flows down from the head, over the shoulders (leaders), and onto the whole body. The condition that makes this possible is the Unity of the Spirit that Paul speaks of. It is God’s desire and promise to command a blessing upon the body where unity is honored and maintained. If we desire God’s blessing and presence, it is important, especially for leaders, to protect unity and not break from the relationships God has placed us with. I think this is one way we grieve the Holy Spirit and limit his manifestation among us, when we as a body are filled with dissension and disunity.
Proverbs 18:1 says, “One who separates himself seeks his own desire.” There can be a strong temptation for us to go our own way or disregard the connections God has given us. But be careful! As Paul teaches in Corinthians, “We cannot say, I have no need of you.” And Jesus himself, as Philippians 2 tells us, “Did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped.” But He humbled himself and looked out not only for his own interests but the interests of others. Many revivals both in our current time and in the past have been spoiled by leaders looking out for their own interests. The unintended consequence of selfishness is watching the whole body lose the commanded blessing of God’s presence and power. One seemingly little thing can become a blockage from the fullness of what God could be imparting. Modern culture has lost its value for honoring relationships. We see no problem being independent, yet God intended things to be different.
I wonder if God, at times, longs to pour out His Spirit but will not do so when men and women are competing, separating, and seeking their own. In that same chapter of Philippians, Paul begs this of the church in Philippi: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”. And in Ephesians, he pleads with the church to “Be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Let’s choose to live together in unity and watch the Holy Spirit flow out of the commanded blessings of God!
