On December 16, 1773, a group of men had finally had enough. A boat came into port with goods from the home country, Great Britain. The British had been supplying the American colonies with goods for several years at this point. But the Americans were growing tired of the outrageous taxes associated with these items. These colonists had moved to America to get away from the controlling power of the British government. But the control they fled from followed them to the new world. They had tried to part ways the nice way, but now it was clear, it was going to take a fight. These men got together and developed a plan. They were going to reject the supplies sent to them to make a statement. They didn’t want to be colonies anymore; they wanted their freedom. They knew this kind of statement would be dangerous, and they may face a potentially violent backlash. But they were living by Patrick Henry’s words, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” On that cold December night, when the boat finally arrived, they destroyed it all and threw it overboard instead of paying for the goods. Cargo boxes filled with tea stained the ocean brown. That night would go down in history, The Boston Tea Party. And it catapulted the American Revolution that led to America breaking its ties with Britain and becoming its own, free country.
What’s often forgotten about the American Revolution is the Americans shouldn’t have won. We had fewer men, worse supplies, and next to no training on paper, but we did have one thing the British didn’t, unity. The American men had united around one goal, freedom. This one mission enabled people from different backgrounds to come together and fight for what they believed. A whole country, standing behind one mission, we don’t have that anymore. Our country now, in 2020, maybe more divided than it’s ever been before. The Kentucky flag states, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.” Right now, America’s falling, and we’re falling hard. Jesus said it himself in Mark 3:24, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” At the rate we’re going, we may not be standing much longer. But there is hope; we can stand tall once again. We can rise in unity, but we have to find our mission. The colonists united against their enemy, but what do you unite around when your enemy is yourself? To me, the answer is clear. We must unite around the truth. The question is, what is the truth?
Watch the news for 10 minutes, and you’ll get at least two different versions of the “truth,” listen to two public officials, and you’ll get two opposing “truths.” So, in a world where everyone has a voice, and everyone claims a different “truth,” where can we find the real truth? It’s not in a news station, an article, or a politician, but in a savior. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. Jesus didn’t say he was true, or that what he taught was true, but he said that he himself is the truth. Nothing can be true that is apart from Jesus. If we want to get to the bottom line of what is true and what isn’t, we need to return to the source of all things true. When we chose to accept that Jesus is the truth, everything else falls in line. But in a world full of chaos and destruction, how do we get everyone centered around the truth that is Jesus?
Well, it starts with the church. How can we expect a world of non-believers to follow the truth when we can’t even unite around him? The problem is not in who we believe in; it’s how we approach believing. There are different groups of believers or “denominations” who believe they have the right approach to the truth. But it’s that very mindset that causes the divide. Do you think every person that was a part of the American Revolution thought they should approach it the same way? Impossible, there were differences in opinions, beliefs, and strategies. But they didn’t let that stop them from being united around their single cause, freedom. We can’t let our differences in opinions stop us from being united around our single cause, Jesus Christ. The time for unity is now, and it starts with you and me. We must center ourselves around the truth, and only then will we experience a united kingdom.