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FAMILY UNIT

Topics: Church; Conflict; Criticism; Cynicism; Family; Unity

Reference: Acts 2:42–47

While interviewing a young African-American soldier on the eve of Desert Storm, ABC correspondent Sam Donaldson asked, “How do you think the battle will go? Are you afraid?”

“We’ll do OK. We’re well trained,” the soldier said, gesturing toward his fellow GIs. “And I’m not afraid, because I’m with my family.”

The other soldiers shouted, “Tell him again. He didn’t hear you.”

The soldier repeated, “This is my family; we’ll take care of each other.”

We have to start thinking of America as a family. We have to stop screeching at each other, stop hurting each other, and instead start caring for, sacrificing for, and sharing with each other. We have to stop constantly criticizing, which is the way of the malcontent, and get back to the can-do attitude that made America. We have to keep trying and risk failing to solve this country’s problems. We cannot move forward if cynics and critics swoop down and pick apart anything that goes wrong to a point where we lose sight of what is right, decent, and uniquely good about America.

That advice also applies to the body of Christ. We would do well to stop finding fault with each other and strive for unity.

—Colin Powell, My American Journey (Random House, 1995)