In March, 1984 there was a malfunction at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Northern California. It triggered a chain reaction of events that darkened the lights for millions of people in six Western states. The blackout occurred at rush hour which caused hundreds of traffic jams in all the major cities. The trouble originated in Round Mountain, California substation, about one hundred miles south of the Oregon border. A circuit breaker tripped and circuits all over the West automatically shut down to protect themselves.

One little circuit breaker, tripped in a remote rural area, hundreds of miles away changed the lives of millions of people. How dramatically that breakdown symbolizes the interdependence of our country's power, transportation and even food production systems. We are one people in more ways than we think. What affects one, can affect all.

The unity of the church is no different. The good one person does makes the task easier for us all. On the other hand, one bad example can set back the entire church. God's people, wherever they live on earth, are linked into a grid of community interdependence from which we can never escape. The more we are one, the more we will be an effective church in the world.