Humility.

It’s one of those words that we use and seldom think about what it means. Humility means…

We think more of others.
We keep things in perspective.
We fight for unity over being right.
We don’t deny our gifts, just that it isn’t about us.

There’s 2 very different stories in scripture. One happens early on in the book of Genesis (Genesis 11).

The Tower of Babel was going to be a symbol of “how great” the people were. They were all unified, speaking the same language, and obviously thought they needed to show the “gods” of the time and each other that they were great and could even touch heaven by building a gigantic tower. It was their feeble attempt at unity, but it was built on pride.

God, seemingly taken back by the construction project, shows up and admonishes the people for building it out of pride. God agreed that there was nothing they could do when unified, but the pride that they were displaying was ultimately their reason for suddenly all speaking different languages and ruining the project.

Pride caused the fall of something great.

In Acts 2, we see the reversal of this story. Jesus has died, resurrected, ascended to heaven, and left his mark on His disciples. The disciples are hanging out one day when the Holy Spirit falls on them. The Bible says that suddenly they could all understand each other even though they were speaking different language. Peter, in a moment of Holy Spirit driven obedience, stands up and gives the sermon of his life. The church was changed forever.

Unity caused the building of something great.

Unity comes from a place of humility.

I accept that it’s not all about me and concede my wants. I decide it’s less about how great I am or we are and more about the big picture of the vision and eternity.

If you want unity in your team, your family, your church, or whatever you find yourself involved in, seek humility first. Let it begin with you. Look for ways to teach people to keep their gifts in perspective and the vision at the forefront.

That’s how movements are made. Unity.