Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul... Acts 4:32, NKJV

It was a special weekend.  The sights and sounds of over 350 worshipers from four area churches in one place this past Sabbath were inspiring on many levels.  When the pastors from these four churches first dreamed of this event, it came from an honest awareness of a less-than-ideal history of sister church relationships and a heartfelt conviction that it was time to write a new story moving forward -- a story of collaboration rather than competition.  A silo-mentality of ministry (you do your thing, and I'll do mine) may produce some positive results, but we will always go farther together.  Last weekend's Mission Summit was about more than just powerful messages, excellent music, inspiring testimonies, and delicious food.  It was about collectively recalibrating our focus on God's mission and practically demonstrating that we are truly in this together.  Of course, this was just one of many steps we can and will take in that direction, and we celebrate what God is up to.  But how can we continue to grow in collaboration and togetherness, whether that be among our area churches or just the members of our own household?

RELENTLESS ATTENTION

Over the years, my oldest son and I have grown an interest in birding and bird photography.  Apparently, Facebook is also aware of our interests, and when I came across these incredible pictures on my social media feed, it instantly caught my attention. 

What's happening here is not a photo-editing trick.  It's a natural phenomenon among starlings called a murmuration in which thousands of seemingly ordinary songbirds fly with unimaginable synchrony.  Often their movement is a response to a perceived threat or predator, but as this picture captures, it's poetry in motion that for many years was an inexplicable mystery.  A couple decades ago, a team of theoretical physicists from the University of Rome set out to study what allows for thousands of individual starlings to fly as one, and they concluded that it boiled down to relentless attention:

"[T]he starlings' cohesion is built on relentless attention to a small set of signals.  Basically, each starling tracks the six or seven birds closest to it, sending and receiving cues of direction, speed, acceleration, and distance.  That shared habit of intensive, up-close watching, amplified through the flock, allows the group to behave as one" (Daniel Coyle, The Culture Code, 180).

Whether we are in pursuit of oneness in our household or collaboration among churches, the principle still applies.  

Oneness is the result of paying relentless attention to one another, sharing a habit of up-close watching and mutual response.  

In my own family circle, we've needed to increase our signal sharing and receiving now that both parents and all four kiddos have varying schedules and needs.  The minute we neglect to pay attention to each other's signals or assume that our personal decisions don't really impact others' experience, we begin to fragment.  The same is true not just in the family circle but in every sphere of community we're concerned about.  How do we guard against this fragmenting tendency?  We take a page out of the starlings' playbook and pay relentless attention to one another.  Like Paul says in Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

In our pursuit of oneness, we can be intentional about "assembling" individually, in small groups, and in large groups.  Why? To allow for the steady flow of giving and receiving relational signals, to know and be known by others so that we can encourage each other in preparation for Jesus' return.

SINGLENESS OF HEART

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. Acts 4:32, NKJV

Over the last month or so, we have dwelt on the portrayal of community in the book of Acts as a model worth emulating.  Here in Acts 4, we see what it looks like when God's people move in synchrony like the starlings.  Their oneness was so genuine and so concrete that they viewed each other's material possessions as held in common -- what's mine is ours.  But more than a relentless attention to each other's outward needs, this brief description points to an inward experience of oneness.  The early church's practice of sharing their material possessions started with an alignment on the level of heart and soul -- a harmony of desires, affections, commitments, and priorities.  But where did that "one heart and one soul" come from?  Look again at the verse above to see how Luke describes who exactly were of one heart and soul.

Yes, it was a multitude, but more than that it was a multitude "of those who believed" (Acts 4:32).  That's not just a filler phrase that Luke plucked out of the air.  It was a pointer to their uniting reality:  belief and trust in Jesus.  Faith was the defining characteristic of this multitude -- faith that was more than just intellectual assent that Jesus died and rose again, but entire dependence upon Jesus as their crucified Savior and risen King.  

Here's the point:  singleness of heart in a community comes when individuals exercise saving faith in Jesus.  

When Jesus becomes everything to us, when His death becomes our death, and when His life becomes our life, then His mission becomes our mission.  Every other concern for self will be swallowed up in living for Him and for others.  The story of Jesus will define us personally and unite us collectively.

So what will it take to be a people who have one heart and one soul?  Like starlings, let's invest in paying relentless attention to one another.  Let's take off the blinders and stop pretending that what I do doesn't affect what others experience.  But more than giving heed to one another, let's keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.  May we each renew our experience of trust in Jesus that we would be a multitude who truly believes that Jesus is our crucified Savior and soon-coming King.