Group Dynamics and Unity
I’m a B&R fourth generation; attended meetings for over 40 years. I ran up against a challenge when I began to study about two subjects. No. 1: Truth and No. 2: Group Dynamics. We’ll discuss the last one first.
In Group Dynamics, in order to have a functioning group, unity is a requirement; and a great group teaches unity, so it’s a circle. The same exact “fellowship” and “unity,” the ability to have friends anywhere on the planet, is found among Jehovah’s Witnesses and US Marines. For example, all one Marine has to say to another is, “Semper fi” or anything that indicates that he’s in the Marines, and there is a unity in the Marines that is well known throughout the world and even among the enemy.
The same thing is found in the corporate environment, such as IBM. IBM made the blue blazer and red tie synonymous with success and professionalism for a long time. There is unity in any and every group, and I found that it has no proof of truth. It isn’t a proof of truth. It is a proof of great teaching that the taught believe and have become comfortable with what they believe. That’s all.
Unity is a requirement for any group, organization, etc. to be successful. A part of the unity is promoting unity and teaching it to new members, so that unity continues. If any organization (that includes churches) of any type or character begin to teach or insinuate in any shape, form or manner that unity is a proof of truth and/or that it’s a proof of God’s hand or blessing upon this organization because of unity, then that is the beginning of danger.
Now that we’ve handled the “mechanical” aspects of unity, we can go to the foremost, that of Truth. All we want to know as a child of God is, “Do we know truth?” You could say, “Do we know the Truth of God” or you could say it purely, “That we know God and God knows us?” because God is Truth.
What I found in the Bible was that knowing truth did not always produce unity. In fact, there were times that only a handful of people were left who knew truth. And all around them were people who were trying to destroy that little handful. And when Christ (The Truth) came, He did not produce unity. We are not promised that there will always be unity if and when we find Truth, especially, sometimes even among our loved ones, our family. The conclusion that I came to was that my focus had to be totally and completely on Truth, and be willing to risk all for the sake of Truth—whether that produced unity or not,
I believe that God was encouraging me to put my whole focus on Truth; to be willing to risk it all for the sake of Truth; not to be worried about signs of what might be Truth, such as peace, unity, quiet spirit, no anger, and all the signs that we normally associated with truth, because there were times when God (Truth) was angry when he was at war. The most important mission in my life was to know God. To know my Savior (Truth), not a mechanism, but Truth.
When that happened, everything changed for me. Now that I look back, it’s one of the things that I’m most grateful for, and has brought me in total unity with heaven, and has brought a peace that is beyond my previous comprehension.
Anonymous