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“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  Revelation 7:9-10

Family. It can be hard. Sure, we all know people whose immediate and extended families are super tight—they spend as much time as possible together, even live in the same area or neighborhood. That’s so beautiful. But more often than not, those bonds are frayed. Divorce, long-time hurt, unforgiveness, rivalry, and bitterness—sometimes just geographical distance—break apart family trees as if composed entirely of deadwood.

Then there is our national culture—divisive much? I realize that every generation makes this claim, but in my 50-some years of life, I’ve never experienced such vitriol among people groups. Rage and lawlessness are in vogue. And the America-hatred sentiment being spewed from every corner of our nation is astounding. “United we stand” seems to be a forgotten platitude of the past.

And when you zoom out to the globe in its entirety, well…Jesus’ warning of “wars and rumors of war—nations rising against nation” comes right to mind (Matthew 24:6-8). There are highly publicized battles that are streamed to our screens. But the tumult extends in every direction, with at least 13 civil wars being fought at this moment around the world.

Finally, even the Church—people and entities claiming to be surrendered followers of Jesus Christ—is skirmishing. We are forgetting the oneness we have in Jesus (Galatians 3:28) and quarreling about all levels of nonessentials, from rapture timeframes to carpet colors. (Now, there are recent splits occurring that involve true apostasy, with some “Christian” churches redacting or adding to God’s Word—but that’s not what I’m talking about here.)

So, why am I setting such a dark stage with all the above observations? Because there is Light that shines into this blackness! There is truth, grace, and hope that causes the darkness to flee, revealing the God-intended glory of unity. This is the power and majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! As I served on a mission trip in Poland last week, I was privileged to get a real-life glimpse of what John witnessed and wrote about in Revelation 7:9-10 (above). Although I still haven’t processed the full impact of this experience, I can share this much: The singular focus on the Lord and His glory has the power to dissolve fissures of disunity at every level. And I saw this power in real time.

The power to heal marital wounds. To tightly bond with local church members who had never met and, to the outsider, seemed to have absolutely nothing in common. This local “church family” quickly and easily extended to others from multiple denominal congregations from around the US. No “us-them” differences…just glorifying God and magnifying His Son. This love of Jesus, pouring into and then through His people on mission in this one area of Poland, transcended language barriers and crossed thousands of miles.

This all-too-short trip was a powerful celebration of the One who rescues us from the ultimate darkness (Colossians 1:13; John 8:12; Ephesians 5:8). It was over 150 people from different countries, states, ages, and walks of life—in tandem—responding to the call to “Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). It was a glorious family reunion that was merely a dim reflection of what is to one day come.

“Lord, for those who long to taste and see the goodness of the Lord, to experience a pure and undefiled unity that they don’t believe is possible…stir their spirit to “go into the world and proclaim the gospel” (Mark 16:15), that they may shine light into darkness—whether across the globe or in their neighborhood.

For His Glory

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Life