Unity

Unity

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4–6).

Introduction

As the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are unified by nature of what we are. The people of God are described as a singular body, knit together individually by common identity in the head: Jesus Christ. He, being it’s Savior, has ransomed a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation, to unite them as his own corporate unit. Whereas we were once a separated and alienated people, Christ has now brought us in. Brought us into fellowship with God yes, but also with those who share the same new spiritual life that we do.

It is a glorious reality.

A Paradox?

And yet I recognize with the authors of Scripture, that there remains a precedent to command more of it from us as a church. This may seem paradoxical, but it is nonetheless the reality of the text. Just prior to the passage quoted above, Paul the apostle deeply urges the church to do all that they can to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). Only to then acknowledge that we are unified as the church of Jesus Christ; “one body and one Spirit” (Eph 4:4). How do we understand this?   

Unified, and Not Unified

Well, we are unified, and also not fully unified. Meaning, spiritually in Christ, we are truly and unchangeably knit together. In his flesh, he has made us both one people; a reality that has been sealed with his blood. But at the same time, we are not yet glorified. We have not experienced the final conformity to Christ that we will when we meet the Lord. Our harmony remains subject to the infirmities of the fall, and our war against sin. For this reason, unity must be sought, pursued, and even developed. Paul speaks directly to this when he says that leaders in the church are to equip the body, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph 4:13). In other words, it is something that we already have in Christ, yet because of our condition, we are still working to attain.

Why is this important?

As a local division of the body of Christ in Calgary, we are to be engaged in the process of pursuing harmony. Sonrise Community Baptist Church has yet to attain to the total unity of God, and therefore must continue to endeavor to pursue greater and greater accord until we do. We still battle with sin, we are still engaged in spiritual warfare, and are therefore still at risk of falling prey to the enemy’s attacks. With so much blessing and so many new people at the church, the great mistake would be to start taking it easy, providing the enemy an opportunity to strike the kink in our armor. This is because Satan wants to destroy the people of God, he wants to undo the testimony of Christ. And so often his strategy to do just that, is to attack our unity; a method we must be serious about defending against.

How To Pursue Unity

With this in mind, I’d like to offer a few applications that I pray will be helpful for us in this fight. Essentially, biblical insights that aid us in pursuing to further our unity in the Lord.   

1. Pursue Holiness

Likely the best thing we can do as Christians to further unity in the church, is to be actively engaged in the process of pursuing personal holiness. After all, disunity never happens in a vacuum. Rather, it is developed over time as a result of those who have allowed sin and bitterness to ruminate and fester in their personal lives. When an intentional advance in conformity to Christ among individuals and families has slowly been neglected, men and women create a breeding ground for issues among the collective body to start rearing their ugly heads.

Paul the apostle anticipates this in the same letter to the Ephesians we talked about earlier. This is set forth in his initial explanation of the unity that we have in Jesus Christ as his church (Eph 4:1–8), and his consequent litany of personal commands against sin (Eph 5). Clearly, these are the regular expectations of a people bought by the blood of Christ, to be sure. Yet, their proximity to his previous emphasis on the church’s pursuit of harmony seems to imply even more. And I believe that is: that if harmony is to be achieved, it will be accomplished through the church’s collective commitment to root out sin.   

Essentially, if we want to be unified, we have to be good Christians. We have to be so immersed in the regular practice of examining ourselves for sin and then applying Christ to it, that Satan has very little leverage to pit us against each other. In this case we’re already so used to fighting temptation and gaining insights from our Lord, that we begin to sniff out his efforts a mile away.

2. Pray for One Another

I find, that one of the best ways to determine if one’s issue with someone else is the result of truth, or selfishness, is whether or not you can willingly pray for that person. And I don’t mean bring a laundry list of personal grievances before God. Rather, praying for their growth, or their ultimate joy, even if you are still praying for their repentance.

Paul writes in Ephesians 6:18, that we are to be, “praying at all times in the Spirit,” going on to write, “making supplication for all the saints.” It is to be regular Christian practice to seek the face of the Lord for our brothers and sisters in Christ. An activity that the apostle describes as virtually continuous for believers. In other words, prayer is something we do on a constant basis, and on that constant basis, we are praying for one another.

Should you find that it is difficult to pray for said brother or sister in the Lord, I would argue you need to begin to pray more for that person. When Jesus said, “Pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44), he wasn’t necessarily talking about our practice between Christians, but it illustrates the point I’m making. Which is, that our bringing someone we struggle with before God, is a means of having a Christ-like perspective of them. It furthers our love and mercy towards them, even when it might be undeserved.

So, if you struggle with someone, pray for that person. But even if you don’t, pray still. God will see fit to answer our requests on behalf of one another, to knit us together in further harmony.

3. Fellowship

As Christians, we are a people that fellowship together. It is what the church has been doing since its initial New Covenant formation recorded in Acts. As soon as the church was born and baptized in Christ, they were meeting together. Luke records in Acts chapter 2:46, that even “day by day,” you would find these believers assembled together, worshipping together, and eating in each other’s’ homes.

Being together, is another fundamental aspect of the church’s identity as the “household of God” (1 Tim 3:15). We are a family: brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers in the faith. After all, what kind of family never spends any time together? How could a household possibly maintain unity, if they are never actually in each other’s fellowship? It makes me think of the unfortunate state of many churches today, that act like something of a “contemporary” family. Each member rarely ever comes together, far too busy with their own hobbies or activities to care. And when they are actually gathered in the same house, they retreat to their rooms to watch their own show or do their own thing. It’s a sad state of affairs, and needs a biblical solution.

Let me encourage you brethren, to commit to the practice of fellowship as one which will reap great and glorious benefit. Stick around after service, spend time with each other, shares meals together, hear one another’s testimonies; sing hymns, be encouraged! We can’t just attend on Sunday and expect that we will really get to know one another. We must be serious about investing in one another’s lives. And as we do that, we can trust the Lord will knit us together as a result.  

4. Commit to the Word

As a church of fellow sinners saved by grace, we expect that we will not get everything right. It is likely that we will struggle at times to see eye to eye, have different opinions, and likely even sin against each other. Though this reality should in no way cause us to simply accept things as they are, we do understand that prior to glory, we are striving on towards greater unity in Christ.

It is in this process that each of us must become committed to the standard that God has given to us. Church life and worship is not a matter of which opinion or conviction seems the best, practically speaking. Rather, everything we do, as Christ’s bride, must be done on the basis of what has been revealed to us in Holy Scripture. Here, we find a completely sufficient witness for determining God’s will for us as the church. As Paul writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17).

As we continue to navigate the narrow way together, may it be our regular practice then to encourage one another in Scripture. When we struggle to understand one another and our varying convictions, may this provide an opportunity for us to look together at what God has to say, and rejoice when we discover it. May we learn to test and to try our every practice as the people of God at Sonrise, by what God has revealed in the Bible. And in this process, may we mutually yearn ever more, for greater and greater depths of the excellency of Christ, as revealed by that same Word.