In my weekly Bible Study, we have been teaching the book of Ephesians. This last week I spoke on unity and its importance to God and to us. I was unaware of how this subject would impact our group. It really got us talking about some heavy topics related to unity as the Bible explains it. The two main questions folks have expressed to me are:
1. What Groups of people can I have unity with? Am I only to partner with those who are like me theologically? Doctrinally? Denominationally? Can we agree to disagree about certain things and still work and live in unity?
2. What about within a local church? What should I do if I'm unhappy in my church? We've all seen church divisions take place, but how can we avoid it if we are all so diverse?
Take a look at these passages from Ephesians 4:
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift."
"11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,1 3 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."
Paul has just spent the first 3 chapters of this book teaching us the privileged status we have as adopted sons and daughters of God. He transitions here into teaching us how to walk in a manner worthy of these benefits and calling.
The word worthy is a term used in commerce to describe putting two things on a balance scale and having them equal up. Paul is saying the way we live is to reflect the value or weight of all the privilege we have been given through our salvation.
The word walk here is a term used when a Rabbi would call a disciple to follow him. The act of following was called a “walk”. It literally means “a long obedience in the same direction.” Our process of discipleship to Jesus requires the same thing. We are to walk. It’s a journey. We have not arrived. But there are others in our world on the journey too. So who are we to walk in unity with?
To answer question #1: Amos 3:3 states, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” In order to maintain unity, we must be able to agree. Unity is based on conviction of the truth. Paul goes on to list the things that are non-negotiable. He lists the essential elements we must be able to agree upon in order to truthfully say we are all on the same team. Here are the 7 things God says are foundational-
• One Body-There is only one body of believers who God’s word says will be joining Him in Heaven. These are the ones who are “In Christ”. Jesus in not just A way to God, He is THE way. It is only by His Blood. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin…” Eph. 1:7
• One Spirit- new birth comes by grace through faith as the Holy Spirit ministers to us by immersing us into Christ’s body. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into the body…” I Cor. 12:13
• One Hope- Our hope is in the personal bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Earth. His return is a fact. We may disagree about the interpretation of the timing of this event but not it’s fact. We are never gonna fix this world. Our hope is that Jesus will return and make all things new. “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13
• One Lord- Jesus is Lord! He is not a sentimental favorite do-gooder. He is not merely a great man or prophet. He is the sinless virgin born Son of God. He is our ruler, king, head and supreme authority. “At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of the Father.” Philippians 2: 9-11
• One Faith- We have faith in the Gospel. The substitutionary atonement is essential. We can’t have unity with anyone who wants to mess with the biblical framework of the gospel and how it works. But we also have faith in the word of God. Jude 3 says the word of God is, “The faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.” Anyone who would seek to deny or discredit and explicit truth of scripture is not at unity with us. We must stand for the inerrancy, infallibility, supremacy, and sufficiency of the Bible. We must be able to agree with its authority as the inspired word of God to rule and govern our lives.
• One Baptism- The believer’s baptism is their public profession of faith. It is to be done consensually for those old enough to make it a statement of faith. It is our identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus symbolized through emersion.
• One God and Father over all- God is supreme and superior. He is everywhere and no place on, above, or below the earth is hidden from Him. He is supernaturally holding the universe in check.
Based on these items, we can know who and what are good partners in our walk. If we can establish these truths and agree on them it is possible to support, and give to any ministry that adopts them. We can also share our inner circle of friendship with them. You may have seen a popular bumper sticker that seems so very unified. But actually, without conviction of truth, we can co-exist, but not be unified, to do so would be comprosmising truth.
To answer question #2: In John chapter 17 Jesus is praying the night before His crucifixion. The thing that concerned Him most was the future believer’s ability to be unified. He prayed we would be one like He and The Father were one. As Paul writes this letter, it is to a local church. The instruction in verses 2 and 3 are applicable in everyway yet today. Unity must be based on personal sacrifice. This is true in churches as well as marriages. Unity is costly to our pride and our preferences. Most people who become disgruntled and leave a church don’t do so because of a grave violation of one of the 7 things we just talked about. They do so most often due to a perceived offense to their opinions, preferences, or pride. Unity and Unanimity are not the same thing. We will not always agree. We will all have differing views on how things should be run in our church. Leaders cannot please everyone. They must be true to the vision God has given them for that church and its mission and culture. We are all called to actively pursue unity. Anyone who facilitates the disruption of unity in a church is as guilty as if he caused it. They are asking for the hand of God’s discipline to fall on their lives. So what does “eager to maintain the unity” look like? It looks the same in a church as it does in a family… The most mature and most responsible sacrifice the most. Parents don’t expect babies to cater to them. Grown-ups don’t look to kids to meet their needs. Here is how Paul describes it:
• Humility- The Greek word here means “a deep sense of one’s smallness” We must sacrifice our own opinions for unity. We should let the tension of differing opinions dissipate through letting little things go. We should give the anxiety to God. We should pray for our leaders. And if we just can’t let it go, we should go to them personally. We should never participate in gripe sessions or stir up strife.
• Patience- We must sacrifice our sense of timing for unity. Be conscious of the weaker brother’s needs. This word means “being satisfied with less than my legal due”. Be willing to wait for others to grow up in time and grace. Don’t expect them to act mature if they are young in Christ.
• Gentleness- We must keep our speech and our actions soft with grace. We should be respectful and even reverent toward offices in our church that are in authority over us. Paul lists 5 leaders in the text: Apostle (church planter/missionary), Prophet (one who calls to repentance), Evangelist ( deep connection for lost and gospel), Pastor (empathetic shepherd), Teacher (one who pursues truth and helps others apply it) These leaders need prayer, encouragement and submission. They need us to be considerate of others who do not yet know God or come to our churches.
• Forbearance- means “to hold up under the weight of stress”. We must endure with one another. We must refuse to pass a sentence over someone. We must use restraint with the difficult people in our path and show them grace. We must let the annoyance that people or situations bring weigh down on us without exploding or pouting or complaining.
• Love- The key to all of the above is loving others. Giving up our desire to be acknowledged is to be a sacrificial lover. The ones who consider themselves to be the most mature and most Christ-like should show it by being the most selfless and quickest to give, just like Jesus was. Being “Others Oriented” is such a gift to God’s family. Our text concludes with an admonition to grow up.
All of these traits are an outflow of the Spirit’s work to bring us to maturity through sanctification. When we act like grown ups we are doctrinally stable v. 14, we are unlikely to be influenced by trouble makers v. 14. We can speak the truth but do so in a loving way v. 15, and most importantly we can accomplish our task as a church to make disciples and glorify God. A church that is putting these things into practice will grow! See verse 16. It will grow deeper but it will also grow numerically. It will grow with new believers not by attracting folks who have left another church to find one that will cater to their self-importance and preferences. They will bless their community by serving it and pointing it to the truth, not isolating itself from the culture. We must all try to grow in unity with our fellow members. We must pray for and support those who agree with us on the truth. We must, above all, walk worthy of our calling as sons and daughters of the God of heaven and earth.
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