In relation to our need to be connected to Jesus on a personal level…
Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the “us” of the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish “I.”
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.
So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity”-conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social religion is perfected when private religion is puriļ¬ed. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier.
–A. W. Tozer
Great Point!
We will not grow stronger in unity by simply trying to like each other more (we will still get irritated with each other). Instead, we will grow stronger in unity by individually growing closer to Christ. The closer each one of us becomes “in tune” with Christ, the more united we will find ourselves with others. It is only through Him (and our growth in becoming more like Him) that we will become people of love, charity, compassion, & patience, and therefore become the united Body of Christ.