Unity Of Spirit

Good evening! This weekend we are going to focus on unity coming out of Ephesians 4:3-6, if you are able let’s stand united and read these three verses together.

Ephesians 4:3–6 NIV

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Each man and woman who will speak this weekend will speak about aspects of this passage. Tonight I am tasked with talking about verse 3.

How Powerful is Unity?

Let me illustrate the power of unity through a negative example. In Genesis 11, we find the story of the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:1–9 NIV

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Now, we aare told in the beginning of this story that they are unified. They have one language and common speech. In other words, they are on the same page. They get together, setting in an area and decide that they will build a tower, a glorious tower, one to rival all others and that tower will reach to the heavens.

They want to be closer to God. No, they want to be gods. They want to make a name for themselves, to be those who rival God.

God comes down and sees what they are doing and he admits something, that when humans work together for one purpose, nothing can be impossible for them. But God does not want competition, He wants partners.

So, he saw no other choice than to scatter their language. To humble them until a time where they could work together for Him. Today, we live in that time. We live in a time where we can accomplish anything we set our minds to do for the kingdom, if, we are doing those things in the name of Jesus.

Let me give one more example from nature of the power of unity.

The belgian draft horse, maybe you have been to Busch Gardens and seen one up close. They are impressive beasts. A single draft horse can pull around 8,000 pounds. Put it in terms we might visualize, that is your car and some trucks.

If you harness two draft horses together, just any two, they can pull double the amount, right? You would think, but no. They can pull between 20-24,000 pounds, that is about a semi.

Now, there is such a thing as matched pairs. These are horses that have been bred together, maybe siblings, raised together, fed the same things, trained together. They have worked together, played together, they are of similar size and musculeture. One horse can move 8,000 pounds. Two that have never met each other 20-24,000, but a matched pair, 32,000 pounds. That is a semi with an empty trailer attached.

See, when we work together for God, we can accomplish whatever He gives us to accomplish because we are working united together.

Here is the good news!

Jesus Christ has already brought about unity.

Ephesians 2:11–22 NIV

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Family, Jesus has already united us together through His redeeming act on the cross. That one action, brought us all together through His one Spirit, so that we as a body can become the one dwelling place of God.

But, Paul reminds us of two things here in Epehsians 4:3

Make every effort...

See, when you get imperfect people together, it does not take long before our differences can become a hinderance, not a strength.

The early church suffered with this. There differences sometimes caused them difficulties that they had to overcome.

There were cultural tensions.

In Acts 6, Greek speaking Christians were upset because their widows were getting overlooked in the distribution of food.

There was ethnic tension.

In Acts 15, there were some that wanted to Greek Christians to have to observe Jewish customs. They thought all should be circumcised. They should observe Jewish Holy Days. The Spirit one out

There were personal conflicts

Like Paul and Barnabas disagrreing on taking John Mark on a missionary journey.

Euodia and Syntyche, in the church at Phillip who had a disagreement that was dividing the church.

There were class and wealth differences.

The wealthy eating first in Corinth

There were personality and loyalty factions

I follow Paul, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos

We could go on all night about what separated them, but the worked through it because the ultimately turned to the Spirit, because the desired peace.

I could not figure out the best way to make this point was, so I asked ChatGpt for a suggestion. I could not just find one I like so, I thought I would share my top few:

God designs our differences for strength; Satan distorts them for division.

God builds with our differences; Satan breaks with them.

God turns diversity into strength; Satan turns diversity into suspicion.

God multiplies impact through difference; Satan multiplies conflict through it.

Where God sees complement, Satan pushes comparison.

No matter what words we use to describe it, the solution is to be intentional in our unity.

We can sometimes get so caught up in what separates us the we forget our differences are designed by God to be a strength.

1 Corinthians 12:13–20 NIV

For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

See, God designed us this way. Each of you here today, God has put you here at this time, for this body to accomplish a great work for Him, that we cannot accomplish alone, but united together we can do great things in His name. Everyone here has a place. Everyone here has a purpose. We are called only to be what God designed us to be and each of our gifts work together, none is more important than the other, because without all of the parts working together we cannot accomplish the good works he has created for us to do.

So, we must be intentional with making every effort, through the work of the Spirit in us, to keep peace. Without it, we will not be a force for advancing God’s kingdom in this world today.

Let’s talk quickly about 4 Enemies of Unity:

Poor Communication

Unity requires clarity. When communication breaks down, assumptions fill the gaps.

People assume motives instead of asking questions

Leaders fail to clearly cast vision or communicate goals.

Tone is misinterpreted (especially in texts/emails)

Expectations are unspoken

When this happens we feel confusion. Confusion turns to frustration and frustration becomes division.

How do we overcome poor communication, ask clarifying questions. Seek to understand and then watch the confusion turn away and the path become clear.

Gossip

Gossip attacks trust — and unity rests on trust.

It creates sides

It amplifies small issues

It allows problems to spread without resolution

We should not allow ourselves to get embroiled in gossip. When you begin to hear it shut it down. Encourage the person who is speaking it to repent and go to the person they are gossiping about to resolve the issue. This one is so simple to stop, but so quickly get out of control.

Unresolved Disagreements

Disagreement itself is not the enemy. Unresolved disagreement is.

We are going to disagree. I don’t have a relationship that at some point there is not disagreement on an idea or an action.

Unity isn’t the absence of conflict — it’s the presence of reconciliation.

When unresolved it causes some dangerous tendencies that if not addressed will cause irreparable damage.

Avoidance replaces conversation

Distance replaces closeness

Bitterness replaces grace

When we are intentional about allowing grace to enter the conversation and we seek to resolve our differences, we allow unity to live in us through the peace that we are talking about here through the Spirit. By the way, the peace talked about here is an inner peace, so when you just don’t feel right when you think about another person in the family, don’t avoid it, address it, so we can all know God’s peace.

Lack of shared purpose

We believe here at Crossway that We are Commited to the mission of God ~ to heal and transform broken lives thru the love and power of Jesus Christ.

We do that through creating opportunities for connection, purpose, relationships and transformation.

Unity is not sameness. It’s alignment.

Unity thrives when everyone knows:

Why we exist

What we’re building

Where we’re going

When we focus on different purposes, we allow:

Personal preferences to dominate

Ministries compete rather than cooperate.

Competition replaces cooperation

Now, how do we vanquish these enemies. We do it through intentionality. Remember, Jesus already united us through His act of redemption on the cross. He has given us His Spirit to help us work together and He asks us to stay united by seeking peace.

We seek peace through intentionality. That is how the New Testament church did it. Whenever, something came up that they save bringing division, they turned to the Spirit to help them overcome it. They did not wait and hope something would resolve itself. They dropped to their knees, went to the Spirit and asked for us to accept the way Jesus would want us to resolve this to be united.

I want to give each of you a gift tonight to help you visualize this truth… That Jesus has brought about unity, but it is our job to make every effort to keep it. This is a Paracord braided rope. You can make a keychain out of it, hang it around your rearview mirror, put it on your vanity, carry it around in your pocket.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

God separated humanity in the beginning because in their arrogance they choose not to allow Him to be there God, but to work together for their purpose.

God used His son to bring us back together under His purpose, so that we can be united in His kingdom, not and in the Future.

This braided rope serves as a reminder that Jesus, This family and ourselves have been braided together by the Spirit to do good works created in Jesus Christ for us to do together. As long as we stay braided by being intentional about guarding against those things that can divide us, we will accomplish great things in Jesus name.