One Accord

Click on the graphic, or here, and spend five minutes with this group. OK, so you don’t have five minutes, so let me tell you why I was captivated.

I wasn’t familiar with the movie Perfect Pitch, nor the song When I'm Gone, also known as The Cup Song - but I was captured by the 600 students and staff of the Irish Colaiste Lurgan in Conamara's rendition in Irish. Nice melody, and no understanding of the words so I had to look up the lyrics and movie theme. Not recommending those at all - rating should be higher than PG-13 according to the reviews I read.

But look at those students working together. If you watch the clip, you’ll see the cooperation, the coordination, all working for the same goal. They are in one accord.

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (Philippians 2:2-3 KJV)

You and I both know there are rivalries in that school – between a couple of girls, a couple of boys, student and teacher, teacher and class, staff and teacher. Not all 600 of the participants get along. There are jealousies – guaranteed in a group that large. There are slights, there are favorites, there are arguments and dissension. But not in this clip.

In this video everyone is on board. Hand claps are timed, cup slaps are together, cups moved within a second of each other. Cooperation, of one accord.

We know the twelve disciples had some discord – good example of why are in the verses preceeding:

And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. (Mark 10:41 KJV)

Yet these are the same men, along with others:

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, (Acts 2:46 KJV)

Out of the fourteen verses with “one accord”, all but two are in the book of Acts. The first use is in Joshua where the Children of Israel were joining him to battle, the other quoted above from Paul to the Philippians. It could appear that elsewhere and else when, there wasn’t much accord.

When we work with one accord, we are concerned with the work at hand, not with competitions, jealousies, slights or things that bring discord. So, when we look around us, how do we stack up as being in one accord?

With our family? We don’t have to agree on everything, but we should be in one accord regarding our family’s importance and togetherness. Sure would cut out a lot of divorce if the single accord was to maintain a family’s structure while understanding there will be differences.

Are we in one accord with our employer? Do we understand their goals? Are those goals in accordance with ours and our family? Some employer demands are detrimental to the family structure and adjustments must be made somewhere – which goals come first? Which should last a lifetime, or through generations?

How about congregations? Where the Lord’s work is to be done – are they in one accord? Perhaps if we are in one accord with the Lord and His service, our church will be too. Under His direction, we will live with one accord.