Guarding Unity

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

“Growing Pains” was a sitcom that aired from 1985 through 1992 featuring Dr. Jason Seaver and his wife Maggie along with their three children Mike, Carol, and Ben. Each episode highlighted Jason’s ability to adeptly tackle tough issues with humor and wisdom while navigating life’s unexpected twists and turns. The sunny lyrics of the series’ theme song, “As Long As We’ve Got Each Other,” presupposed that stormy weather was inevitable, but that rainy days could be weathered by sticking together. Despite the unique personalities of the Seaver siblings, the family presented a united front when facing challenges. The Apostle Paul predated the popular sitcom by almost two thousand years when he composed instructions to the young, growing church family at Ephesus. These same instructions have application for modern-day believers as we grow up into the mature body of Christ. Because none of us is fully sanctified yet, this can sometimes be an uncomfortable process, like the experience of physical “growing pains.” I recall my sons waking up some mornings with mysterious aches in their rapidly maturing pre-adolescent bodies. Their bones, muscles, and ligaments often shifted as they slept to accommodate normal growth. I explained to them that temporary discomfort and embarrassing clumsiness were part and parcel of growing up. Likewise, the body of Christ can expect spiritual “growing pains” and clumsiness as we learn to work and walk together toward the common goal of pointing others to Christ. We shuffle along, sometimes stumbling, and attempt to gracefully navigate a world that challenges our faith and threatens to fracture our unity.

As we anticipate challenges to walking together in unity, it is important to remind ourselves of the foundation for doing so. According to Ephesians 4:1, the way we maintain unity is to walk (live our daily lives) worthy of our calling (the hope we have in Christ.) From a strictly physiological perspective, walking is a complex process. It is the act of repeatedly falling forward with each step and regaining balance before taking the next step. None of us perfected this on our first attempt. In fact, unless our parents layered us in bubble wrap, we each accumulated a few bumps, bruises, and scrapes along the way. To this day I have a nice scar from landing on my chin a few too many times as a young child! We’ve all seen a toddler leading with his temporarily oversized head as he wobbles along tentatively reaching for the next stable surface. With enough trial, error, and tenacity, we master the skill of physically walking from one point to another and don’t throw in the towel just because we fell down the first time. Such persistence is also necessary as we walk side by side with our church family. Like the Seavers, brothers and sisters in Christ are called to face challenges with a united front and hold on tightly to each other when the going gets tough.

As previously stated, Scripture instructs us to walk worthy in our spiritual lives. The Greek word translated “worthy” means “equal weight.” Therefore, to live our daily lives equally weighted to the hope we have in Christ means that the way we conduct ourselves ought to measure up to what we claim to believe as followers of Christ. Said another way, we are to live with integrity, recognizing that the congruency between our conduct and our calling impacts our witness. Not only that, but it impacts the witness of fellow believers to whom we are “knit together” (Ephesians 4:16). It can be difficult to remember this bond we have with other believers as the world tugs at us with fiercely autonomous creeds such as “live your OWN truth,” “blaze your OWN trail,” and “follow your OWN heart.” These popular mantras don’t line up with how God’s Word says we are to conduct ourselves for the benefit of the body of Christ. As cultural cues pull us to ignore the authority of God’s Word in favor of the authority of the self, it is even more important to focus on virtues that only the indwelling Holy Spirit can cultivate in us. Paul lists three of these virtues in Ephesians 4:2-3 that foster unity among believers:  humility, gentleness, and patience. These virtues are borne out in our lives as we love each other and are bound together in peace.

Humility is essential to counteract pride, which is an acid that disintegrates unity. Humility turns our focus outward instead of inward. Jesus is the ultimate example of humility as described in Philippians 2:6-8:  “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” If our Lord lowered Himself to serve others, He expects no less of us as we walk and work together as His ambassadors on earth.

Gentleness is not weakness as the world might define it. Rather, gentleness involves having one’s emotions under control. It is not rude or harsh but demonstrates appropriate emotion at the proper time and for the right purpose. Peter instructs believers in his first epistle to give reasons for the hope within us, and further says, “Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:16.) In other words, as we live out the light of the gospel within our spheres of influence, we are to present a compelling witness by being prepared and reasonable while preserving the right to be heard again. We do this by conducting ourselves in ways that respect our fellow image-bearers and honor Christ.

Patience is evident in one who perseveres and endures amid adversity. James 5:10 says, “Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.” The Old Testament prophets were mocked, beaten, and murdered, yet they continued to warn, prophesy, and proclaim according to God’s instructions. While we are not likely to suffer as they did, according to James we should look to them as an example of how we are to conduct ourselves in an increasingly hostile culture. As members of the body of Christ, we will only survive if we support each other in this endeavor.

Humility, gentleness, and patience are essential as we bear with one another in love, tolerate each other’s differences, and appreciate the way God equips the body of Christ with diverse gifts to serve Him (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 28-31.) Because we are unique individuals with distinct likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses, we may sometimes rub each other the wrong way. We will stumble, but each skinned knee or scraped elbow provides an opportunity to course correct and do things better the next time. Like a toddler learning to walk, we find our balance as we appreciate, support, and encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ while clinging to God’s unchanging Word for stability. Despite our differences, God has unified us by tearing down the wall of division between us and creating one new humanity (Ephesians 2:15-16.) Our job is to guard what He has already done through the bond of peace that He provides.

Ephesians 4:4-6 lists seven “ones” that further emphasize the unity we are called to preserve:  one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.  The one body is the universal church bought with a price by her one Lord, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23.) The one Spirit is the Holy Spirit who seals, counsels, and comforts each of God’s redeemed and adopted children (Ephesians 2:22.) The one hope is the promise of abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven that awaits all believers (1 Peter 1:3.) As we profess one faith (Jude 3) in our one Lord (Colossians 1:18) publicly through one baptism, we demonstrate the desire to walk in obedience to our one God and Father of all (John 1:12.) Paul’s point is that Christ, through His finished work on the cross, has already reconciled us to God and made us one through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We don’t need any other works or worldly philosophies to accomplish what He has already completed.

As the enemy sees the body of Christ walking in unity, he would like nothing better than to infect it by challenging this oneness. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us that disease comes in the form of bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, and malice; however, these malignancies can be defeated by putting on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. As we remember that our righteousness was purchased by the blood of Christ, we are to put off the corrupted old self like a worn-out useless coat and put on the new self like a clean warm garment. Current ideologies encourage us to cling to parts of the old self like bitterness and rage and neglect clothing ourselves in kindness and forgiveness. It’s harmful for the body of Christ to adopt the popular practice of viewing others with suspicion and canceling those with whom we disagree. Sadly, this limits our effectiveness as we attempt to engage the watching world with the beauty of the gospel. We are, however, called to unify around truth and sound doctrine while separating from anything that deviates from Scripture. This doesn’t mean that we throw others away, but it does mean that we thoughtfully point them in the right direction. As we follow the one who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), God calls us to link arms together, walk the narrow path in unity, and invite others to join us on the journey of eternal hope.