Unity of the Spirit: Part 4 - How can the church enter in/rise to Level 1 unity?

In Part 1 we introduced the three levels of the unity of the Spirit that was present in the early church. To recap:

 Three distinct “levels” of unity of the Holy Spirit as found in Acts 2:42-47 are:

 Level 1 – LCD (Lowest Common Denominator)

(42) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Level 2 – Signs & Wonders

         (43) And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

 Level 3 – A lifestyle of mutual support and sharing all things

         (44-47) And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people

 In each part of this series we are considering one of the following questions about each level of unity of the Spirit:

A. What does this level of unity look like in the church?

B. What conditions are necessary for this level of unity to exist in the church?

C. How can the church enter in/rise to this level of unity?

D. What responsibilities do church pastors & clergy have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work of unity at this level?

In Part 1, we looked at an overview of unity: Level 1, 2 and 3.

In Part 2, we looked at Level 1 unity and Question A.

In Part 3, we looked at Level 1 unity and Question B.

 In Part 4, we will now look at Level 1 unity and Question C.

 The third question for Level 1 unity:

 C. How can the church enter in/rise to Level 1 unity?

 This question is moot since Level 1 unity of the Spirit is by default the LCD of Christianity. There is nothing less, in terms of the quality of unity in the Spirit. This is not a condemnation but an expression of validity. All Christian groups by default exhibit all the Level 1 characteristics of unity.

 This brings us to -

 The fourth question concerning Level 1 unity:

 D.   What responsibilities do church pastors & clergy have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work of Level 1 unity?

 The long answer is beyond the scope of this series. There are thousands of books written over the church age; however, the short answer is to live according to Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 3,4,5 to insure the church continues to grow in grace.

 Next time we will look at a higher level of unity in the Spirit: Level 2: Signs & Wonders.

 Louis Posthauer is the executive director of Hunters of the Harvest Ministry. He has been actively involved in the local church for more than 37 years and currently serves as a lay leader and teacher at Living Word Church of the Nazarene in Houston. For more information, visit www.huntersoftheharvest.org.