EMPOWERED TOGETHER Rev. Charles W. Kinman, PhD, LMFT (retired) “…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity…” (John 17:20-23) The book of Acts reflects the heartbeat of the church, everyday people living with God among them. As He lived among their believing hearts, our Lord accomplished His purpose of establishing an integrated people who were eager to serve Him and do good in His name.1 God intended these people to work together in a unified purpose, making them the strongest sociological force on earth, not by might, but by the power of His Spirit in us. This flourishing fellowship provides the most enriching environment to encourage our spiritual health. In Oklahoma, our superintendent, who pastors us, says, “We are better together!” This is not just a slogan or cliché. His vision for us fulfills God’s purpose of inviting us to gather in close fellowship. Jesus prayed His direct purpose in John 17 for His disciples and those of us who would believe their message. He had intentionally “given” something to accomplish the close connection of believers to one another—so we may be one as He and the Father are one. Today, we as God’s people experience His purposes (Eph. 1:3-12), both individually and corporately, to know Him as the “Father.” Our embrace of this relational connectivity
transforms us into His children in the oneness of the Kingdom family. Through that unity, He intended us to know Him and be known by Him through the same love shared between Jesus and Himself (John 17:23). How can two different people become “one?” God fashioned all living things to interact relationally and environmentally to survive, reproduce, and achieve higher order. All the world has followed this. Throughout history, cultures have attempted to collect and preserve knowledge in libraries from many fields of study and experience. These data stores would provide foundations for future generations on which to build. Collective wisdom connected whole societies together with principles that stabilized and allied people. As people learned the same information and skills, their ability to work together increased, providing them with progressive connectivity. New knowledge reformed people’s practices and thus changed how their lives interacted with others. Recent discoveries in neurobiology reveal some of God’s intentional design for this connection. Beginning with basic parts of the brain, Daniel Siegel, a renowned neurobiological researcher, stated, “With a left and right hemisphere physically separated and functionally differentiated, we can achieve more adaptive function if we come to integrate them into a whole. This is how, I believe, creativity emerges not from one side or another, but from their integration.”2 This complex science proves individual well-being and maturity increases the more this collaborative integration process takes place. We are smarter when we use both sides of our brain. Relationally, this concept is writ large. One example shows that men work mainly from the left brain, and women act primarily from the right. The left is more purpose-orientated and linear in function. The male brain appears more differentiated, allowing the separate
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