The Covid pandemic brought to light how human beings react and respond to a world-effecting event. The reply from the general populous was fear. Panic was in the air and in return, to help us quench this anxiety, we reacted by turning to our leaders and the science© for guidance. This made sense at the beginning of this pandemic since everything was relatively unknown except for the fact it couldn’t have come from a lab in Wuhan. But for some of us, we learned quickly that their strategies of survival made us all worst off and unquestionably our tribal chiefs began to show the traits of their father Nero.
Believers in Jesus Christ also turned to their spiritual leaders especially on how to navigate the solutions of our wisemen in science and politics. Some may have liked the government’s approach to hide in your bunker unless you needed a new shirt from your local strip mall or a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey. Of course, only if you adhered to their hyper-jabbing policies. Others on the other hand would have nothing of it. The response of their church leaders had a real impact on the congregations. Believers experienced a sort of split in terms of accepting or rejecting government mandates, with a few lost souls sitting on the fence. Some were passionately adhering to the mask mandates, vaccine policies, and church shutdowns while others objected to wearing this face diapers, vaccine experimentation and indirectly admitting that the church was merely a nice to have. But I say once again, there is nothing new under the sun.
Sadly, pandemics aren’t the only thing that split churches. Churches love to divide, and sometimes over trivial things. But the number one reason on the books in a church split is when there is a change in leadership or no leadership in-house at all. When an elder or pastor is beloved by the church, they become the central unifying figure and to take that away opens the potential for things to fall apart especially if there are competing plans for its future. The apostle Paul knew this reality very well and with the first six verses in Ephesians 4 gives us the foundations that are required to keep the unity in a congregation.
The Text
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
The Prisoner Speaks
The next six verses in Ephesians deal largely with two appeals, firstly to walk in a manner worthy of your calling and secondly, be diligent to preserve the unity. The recipients of this glorious epistle are urged to walk in a manner worthy of the calling. This came from the apostle Paul whose calling at that time was to be the prisoner of the Lord. If anyone had the right to exhort them in this manner, it was Paul. It would have been enough to encourage them through the authority of his given title as apostle, but his own walk was a testimony to the authenticity of his faith and in return gave a certain persuasive appeal. Paul’s faith was authentic to the extent that he had remained faithful to the point of imprisonment.
The Called Ones
His appeal to them is that they live a life that is worthy of the calling for which they’ve been called. Their manner of life should reflect this calling of God. Death was looming for the apostle, and his concern for them was that they continue to live lives that were holy and reflected in glorifying their Saviour. Earlier in the epistle, Paul speaks of their calling as hope (Ephesians 1:18) hence this calling to which they were called was one that comes from the hope of salvation. For Christians to fulfill their calling, they need to come often to the foot of the cross and look ahead at the victory to come in Christ. But this calling is also a summons to be included in the one body. Paul exhorts the Colossian church to:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Colossians 3:15).
They were to carry out lives that were reflective of hearts that were ruled by the peace of Christ and be thankful for it. But prior to examining their calling, they were required to recognize who they were in Christ, The Called! The called was a special designation given to a special people. These are the ones who are the called of Jesus Christ to be saints (Romans 1:6-7), from among Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9:24), whose calling resulted in justification and glorification (Romans 8:30) and who received an eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). For Christians, being called results in being given a calling (2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 2:8-10). Since the call was made by God in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, this calling is to be conducted with holiness (1 Peter 1:15). God’s people are given power to fulfill this mandate by a God who is working in them to fulfill these things (Philippians 2:12-13), and who in return is causing all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). We are not left without power and direction on how to complete this divine decree.
Patience is a Virtue
The Christian walk is to be embodied with a public and personal life that reflects our faith, all attributed to how we bless one another and remain unified. If a loved church leader parts from the congregation, we are still to reflect these traits for the sake of unity. This is largely what was happening in Asia Minor seeing that Paul was separated from them. Previously, Paul prayed that they would know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge (3:19), and now, he explains what that looks like in practice when expressed towards one another. While some churches are reflective of these characteristics, others require a brush up on this exhortation. This wasn’t the only time Paul utilized this type of ecclesiastical appeal (See Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:12-15). Paul calls them to be humble (the opposite of prideful and egotistical) and takes on the position of unpretentiousness. Christ was the ultimate example of this whereas He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). He took on the lowly position of subjecting Himself to death to sacrifice for others. The Christian walk must be one that exhibits a humble and sacrificial love for one another. If a church is to stay unified, it takes a ton of humility. This is closely interrelated to the call for gentleness/meekness. Paul attributes the ultimate example of meekness to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1) who was meek and lowly of heart (Matthew 11:29). Believers are to be meek towards one another in bearing one another’s burdens (2 Timothy 2:25) and if this happened more often, we’d really be socking it to the unbelievers. We are called to be Christ-like and look to Him as our example on how we should interact with each other. Finally, the great apostle leaves us with the call to be patient and show tolerance to one another in love. We are to be patient with those who wrong us instead of seeking revenge. We are to approach our brothers with a love that is both patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). We are to guide and love those within our churches who offend us and grant people time to grow as Christians especially those who are new converts.
Crazy Glue
The Christian walk lived out within the church is one that considers unity and peace at the forefront. The humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerance shown are all with the goal of unity and peace. In the Colossian epistle, the love of Christ is the factor that will bring that bond of peace and unity into the one body (Colossians 3:14). If Christians have any hope of remaining united and experiencing a congregation that is blessed with love and peace, those core factors need to be present. With Paul’s absence, a dissolution could be easily achieved by some who are attempting to rile up and divide the congregation. The only thing that can save the gathering is that they be diligent to preserve the unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace. This unity needs to be in God’s Spirit and glued together in peace. The access to God’s Spirit can bring about that unified front. A people who claims to be reconciled to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-10) and who experienced the dividing wall of hostility taken down between ethnic groups (Ephesians 2:11-22) need to exemplify that reconciliation to the world towards one another and find that unity that only the Spirit of God can bring. While some look to a church leader as an adhesive to keep the church together, it is the peace of God that needs to be applied like crazy glue to bond us together!
One
But while unity requires us to live sacrificial lives and it is based upon love and peace in the Spirit, it isn’t meant to be achieved by sacrificing everything else. That unity needs to be intermingled with a recognition of the singleness of the Christian faith. While formerly, the focus was upon the general demeanour (means of unity), what is it that unites them? If the Christians faith is found in one sole spirit, body, hope, Lord, faith, baptism and God, then we cannot be divided into multiple categories. A unified faith is a requirement when the wolves come into the church to offer theological diversity, equity and inclusion.
The one spirit is where those of Jewish and Gentile descent find their unity (Ephesians 2:18). They share the same inheritance through this Spirit, and it was that Spirit which broke down the dividing wall. That unity in the Spirit needs to be found in the one body, the church. The church itself is one, with multiple expressions of it in local churches. Christ is the head of that body and while there are varying parts to the blessing of the saints, it remains one singular body. There is only one Spirit that works to bring them to God and in return, believers are brought to this one body. As we saw earlier in 1:18, the calling that believers receive is to the one hope. When we lived in our former state outside of Jesus Christ, we lived as people without hope (Ephesians 2:12) but through God’s calling and the shed blood of Christ, we’ve received an eternal hope. There is only one hope, one way of salvation and one path straight to the Father of glory (John 14:6). That one hope is an expectation that leads to glorification to which we’ve been called (Romans 5:2; 8:28-30; Colossians 3:4). We are not walking as Christians with the anticipation of death and separation from God, we live with the hope of eternal life and a reconciliation with the living God who gave us life. We believe that the reason for Paul’s mentioning of the hope is that we all are united in that one same hope of the appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).
The expression “one Lord” should be taken as an affirmation that Jesus is the one Lord. Jesus is referred to on multiple occasions in this epistle by the title “Lord Jesus” or “Lord Jesus Christ” and just prior to this section in the epistle, the apostle states: This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:11). Jesus is their Lord, and in return, the Roman Governor is delusional when he thinks he’s the ultimate authority. Their allegiance needs to be solely focused upon Him. If there can only be one Lord, then there can only be the one faith. There was no room for emperor worship in the lives of these believers in Asia Minor since their calling meant that God called them out of this Nero adoration and their false gods. This one faith is in opposition to their former religion and encompasses the body of common belief (Jude 3). This doesn’t mean that for the Christian, there are not varying items of debate, but that the one faith has fundamental beliefs that are found in the one Lord. The one baptism is speaking of the unity that comes through putting on Christ and the diversity that can be brought together through it (Galatians 3:27-28). As Paul states elsewhere:
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
So, the baptism here is probably referring to that baptism brought by the Holy Spirit, not the dunking in the tank at the front of the church. The unity comes that we have been baptized into Jesus Christ and if so, unto His death (Romans 6:3). This means that in this death, we are baptized and united together as a people who have received the glorious hope as one entity through Jesus Christ.
Who Is Over All
The final piece to the formula is that they unify through one God and Father. Unity is found in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who brought us into existence. He is one God and Father in contrast to the multiple impersonal gods that the Gentiles in Asia Minor formerly worshipped. Ascribing to monotheism was always an article of the faith in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 6:4). There can be no unity in a polytheistic society since it pitches one god against the next. In this instance however, with the addition of all, who is over all and through all and in all is focusing upon His transcendence.
for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
God wants us to live lives that are glorious to Him by walking according to our calling, in our love for one another and in the unity that the Spirit of God brings.
The Moncton Herald 