ONE HUNDRED PIANOS!

TWO WAYS TO TUNE

In his wonderful book, "The Pursuit of God," A.W. Tozer writes of one hundred pianos being played together as a metaphor for unity in the body of Christ.

Pianos must all be in perfect tune with each other if the music they play is to sound right. If they are out of tune, even slightly, the music will sound dissonant and annoying.

Tozer makes the point that pianos can be tuned in two ways. One is to tune to each other. The other is to tune to a standard, internationally accepted pitch. The pianos may be tuned perfectly to each and yet not be tuned to the standard. If another musician whose interment is tuned to the this standard pitch tries to join in, the music will again sound dissonant and out of tune!

If instead, the pianos all tuned to this standard, they will also automatically be in tune when they come together!

Such is the case with church unity!

Unity may be forced. It may be part of a program or demanded by the leaders. Members of a congregation may make the effort to "tune" meticulously to each other. Yet they can still be out of touch with the standard.

You may have guessed by now that God is the standard! Unless we are in tune with Him, we are out of tune, regardless of how much "unity" we have with each other!

WHEN WE TUNE OUR HEARTS TO GOD, WE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE IN TUNE WITH EACH OTHER!


Churches often stress unity in the sense of agreeing with everyone and everything. This, however, does not produce genuine unity! In fact it produces an underlying disunity with a false united front. Members disagree in their hearts but put on a "united face" for the sake of visitors. Underneath there may be bitterness, pent up anger or power struggles but outwardly they appear to all be on the same page!

This type of unity is a far cry from the unity which comes from the Spirit of God! When a body of believers is diligently seeking and hungering after God, they cannot help but have a greater genuine unity than the programmed unity of those who "tune" to each other!

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:3

Notice that it is THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT! THE HOLY SPIRIT NEVER FIGHTS WITH HIMSELF!

He is not the cause of disagreement or disunity. But He is the cure for them! If as individuals, we are lacking in the fullness of God, it will reflect in our community life. Try as we might, we will simply be too weak and unequipped to produce the unity of the Holy Spirit!

The message is clear. We cannot expect to produce the beautiful harmonious streams of the music of the Holy Spirit if we are not tuned in to Him!

But if we seek Him diligently, lay down our own will, yield to Him and allow Him to fill us, we cannot help but be in tune with others who have done the same!