Shaming of theTrue 

A fresh and unique blending of two traditionally disconnected topics---spirituality and sports. Follow Sly Young as he attempts to accomplish the feat of playing professionally in the three major sports using positive character traits taught through scripture.

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April 26, 2011

                                                                                        U-N-I-T-Y

PSALMS 133:1-Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

U-N-I-T-Y is such a good and pleasant word. Whether it is rapped about by Queen Latifah or described as the difference between an individual finger and a united fist clenched for a mighty blow in the movie “Soul Food”, the concept is the same; together we stand but divided we fall. This is true for a church, family or definitely a sports team.

A companion term which can be closely tied to unity is harmony. The beauty of harmony is that it is usually associated to musical components. You immediately think of a choir or singing group harmonizing or the blending of musical instruments. Each part is totally different but together the combination is precious. God through David goes on in this Psalm to liken harmonious relationships to the precious oil anointing of a priest and the place where the Lord commanded blessings eternally. What a wonderful reward for unity, anointing and the blessing of God for evermore (133:3).

Being united will overcome most if not all disagreements that arise in almost any relationship. The unity will always supersede the individual focus and/or point of view in a church, family or team environment.

Let’s look at the church setting which was the primary concern of David in the scripture. Churches have a way of producing division, which is the opposite of unity. Differences in how a church should be run will cause a spilt faster than you can say banana. Disagree with the Pastor, start your own church. Problem with the congregation, start a new church. The choir director won’t let you lead a song, start your own church.

The goal has to be oneness in the belief and purpose of God. Though some people get their jollies causing strife and bringing down others, churches must be the example for the world to see the pleasant affect of harmony. Prayer will always help the focus of a church but a commitment to agree on the purpose being to work for God will redirect conflicts and petty disagreements.

Similarly families owe it to each other to raise unity above personal interest. Personal agendas divide, unity keeps families strong. The primary fiber to hold a family together must be an oneness among each individual to reach certain goals and priorities. A family must recognize that unity is strength and then convince each member that two or more touching and agreeing on something will result in success. Failure is almost always the end result when a person chooses a plan or behavior that places one family member above the group. Unity’s requirement is to always place the family above individual wants and needs. It also demands that each person consider the affect of a decision on the other members.

A common example is the father who decides to work overtime to make more money for his family. On the surface it seems to be an outstanding sacrifice made by the individual. Now if we dig deeper the overtime requires that the father work weekends and nights so that his two children never see him, except when he is either sleep or grouchy from the long hours. They grow up to think that working is more important than their interest, games, performances and basically their life. The father’s intent in no way was to be an absentee parent but the result is just that. Is the purpose of a parent to teach priorities and values to their children? This situation, though unintended, has taught its family members to value money over parent/child time together. Is the priority a bigger house, car and wardrobe? Or should it be quality time with your family?

These are hard choices which could produce lifelong debates, but the attitude and goal of unity makes the decision and lifestyle easier for the individual member to commit. Lastly, the realm of sports is so obvious that we can all agree on its good and pleasant anointing and blessings. If you have been blessed enough to have participated in or been associated with a winning team or program, one thing is for sure. The unity and harmony was evident and constantly maintained. Good teams have a way of establishing a oneness that will always handle the adversity, that will always, and I mean always come. It gets back to the common denominator in all the situations, which is a higher goal or priority. What is good for the group is always good for the individual parts, but what is good for the individual is not always good for the group. A question that will get to the root of whether or not the members are buying into the importance of unity is quite simple. Using a baseball example, would the player choose to hit two home runs and lose the game or get no hits, strike out twice and win the game. The answer seems obvious for a unified and harmonious team. The goal and priority is to win the game. The reality is that there are many athletes who would chose the two home runs. What they need to learn and eventually believe is that unity and oneness is far better than individuality. Harmony in groups and relationships is as precious as the anointing oil meant for priest. Unity is like the dew on the mountain where God pronounced His eternal blessings.

                                                                              Fred Tudor

Fred Tudor is a twenty-two year employee of the Cincinnati Public Schools as a Health and Physical Education teacher. He has been coaching at the high school level in Greater Cincinnati since graduating from Wittenberg University in 1979. His coaching stints includes stops at his alma mater Walnut Hills High School, Hughes Center High School, and from 1990 until present coaches at Wyoming High School. His church home is Cincinnati Bibleway Church in Madisonville, Apostles James and Grace Blue Pastors. Contact Information: 513.328.2767 E-Mail: Info@CincySportsWorld.com