Unity and Revival

For several years I heard preachers quote from the Ethiopians when we heard the reports of their great revivals and crusades. The quote went something like this: "We didn't pray for revival, we prayed for unity. And when we had unity, then revival came."

This is a perhaps a little simplistic, since there are many other elements that must also be present to have revival besides unity. For example, Unity + Carnality doesn't equal revival. Unit + Laziness doesn't equal revival. Nonetheless, the Bible does say that on the Day of Pentecost, they were 'of one mind and one accord', so apparently Unity is one important piece of the puzzle when it comes to revival.

So if unity is that important, then what does it look like and how do we get it? The biggest fallacy that most churches have about unity, is that it equates with 100% participation. Unless the average church attendance is less than 100, it will be impossible (and not even advisable) to have 100% participation in all activities of the church. A growing church may choose certain important functions and promote 100% participation in those functions (ie, EVERYONE ought to go to Sunday School), but they can't expect everyone to do everything, without stifling the overall growth of the church.

Instead, they may realistically attempt to have 100% participation in certain sub-cultures in the church. For example, 'We want ALL of our seniors to participate in the Seniors activities,' or 'we want all of our leaders in the Leadership class," or 'let's try to get all of our boys in Cub Scouts.'
Back to unity. If unity is not 100% participation, then what is it? Simply put, unity is when everyone in the group shares a common mission and is aiming for the same outcomes and goals. They may be approaching the mission and goals from very diverse directions but they all want the church or group to end up at the same place. This is unity. People with very different personalities and backgrounds can have complete unity, if they share the same mission and goals.