"The Unified Church"

Intro: The importance of unity cannot be understated in regards to life. It’s one thing that we often praise, yet struggle with in our world. We lift up examples of unity when we watch sports, especially when you see a team that isn’t expected to win come together and gel together to win. I think many of you yesterday were estatic that UNC pulled off the upset in a big way beating Duke in Coach K’s last game at Cameron Indoor. We love to watch movies and read books that watch people unify to defeat the enemy. Even in daily life, you know that a fractured workplace often is not helpful and a struggle. A unified team of people, all with different roles working together in unity is a beautiful thing to behold.

In the church, it is no different. Paul has spent the first three chapters giving us the doctrine of our identity in Christ, unified in Him. United to Him and then united to one another. And the church needs to be the prime example of unity because of that. Let’s read what the Scripture says about unity from Ephesians 4:1-6.

CTS: Because you are made one with Christ and with one another as His people, walk worthy by being in unity.

I. The Behavior of Unity (1-3)

The plea for unity!: Paul’s basis for this plea is rooted in this vision that has been revealed to him, this mystery of the Gospel. Because we were once dead, now made alive in Christ, unified with Him in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, because we are made one people called the church, Jews and Gentiles alike, and because of His intercessory prayers of knowing Him and being strengthened spiritually, his first call to action is that they would be unified.

The phrase “walk in a manner worthy of your calling” is the driving phrase of chapters 4-6.

Walking worthy: It means the “lifestyle” of God’s people. The day to day behavior of God’s people.

Unity is the first and foremost call to this. And really, how this unity is going to be brought to bear is going to be explained throughout the rest of the book. But it bears repeating here and it must be on our minds this morning. God desires first in our action, how we live according to the Gospel, to walk worthy, is to be unified.

But what does this unity look like? The Bible shows us here what behavior of unity looks like:

A. Humility

What does this mean? In Greek culture, this word was actually one that was derogatory in nature. It was never used in a positive sense. It was meant to be used in context of slavery and servants. But here Paul takes it and uses it positively and one that should reflect us.

Jesus was the perfect example of this humility. Its incredible to know how many times I referenced this passage throughout my preaching, but it stands in great importance as we learn of Christ and how we are to live as His people:

Philippians 2:6–8 (ESV)

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus laid down his life for us, humbled himself for us. That then becomes the attitude of us. And guess what? That includes the people that make you mad or even sin against you. Why? Because Jesus did that for us who sinned against Him. Is that easy? No. And remember this, it may require you to take the initiative.

This word “humility” also speaks about recognizing the intrinsic value of worth of other people, made in God’s image. When we view all people in this way, it should become harder for us to hate one another because we understand they are made in God’s image. Lost or part of the church.

Pride is also an issue. It lies at the heart of disunity. Humility is the anti-dote to disunity. It is the secret ingredient to being in unity with one another.

Instead of maneuvering for the respect of others (which is pride) we give them our respect by recognizing their intrinsic God-given worth (which is humility), we shall be promoting harmony in God’s new society. - Stott

B. Gentleness

Another translation of this is meekness. Often defined as strength under control. Strong personality, but a master of one’s self and a servant for others.

Jesus in the Beatitudes says this:

Matthew 5:5 (ESV)

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Illustration: I remember a guy named in college that I would describe as a big teddy bear. If you didn’t know him, you would have been intimidated by him. I was what they called a “Spiritual Life Director” my junior year. I was essentially a gopher for the RA of the floor, but I also had some responsibility to meet with guys on the floor and pray for them and lead some Bible study. Once I got to know him, he was that big teddy bear, but that didn’t diminish that he was also a big strong dude that could stand up for himself.

Strength under control, gentle and compassionate, yet firm in their understanding of truth, that which is most important. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Jesus.

C. Patience

Vital to unity is the ability to be patient with one another. Why? Well, continuing the idea here of whom we emulate, Jesus was incredibly patient with people. All whom he dealt with were sinners, slow to understand, and quick to speak out of their mouths. Jesus though knew this and continuing to love and give His life for them.

As Christ was patient with us, we are to be patient with one another. Sometimes your fellow brother and sister are going to aggravate you. How will you react? Will you go behind their back and talk about them? Will you speak harshly with them or will you be patient and longsuffering? This leads to the next attitude

D. Bearing with one another

Along with that patience is the need to bear with one another. Close together with patience, is the need to tolerate. And toleration not in light of accepting sinful actions as ok. But you can be patient with someone, even when they wrong you. Case and point? Children. They can do some wrong things, but to patiently discipline them well and to show them the better way instead of flying off the handle in anger is a much better way. This is the way of unity.

E. Love

And love is the over-arching means by which each of these attitudes are found. We bear with one another. Love is the means by which we will be able to be humble, gentle, patient, and to bear with one another. I counted how many times the command to love one another is found in the NT, or a close variation of it. TWENTY ONE TIMES.

John 13:34 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Romans 12:10 ESV

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

As Christ loved us by giving Himself to us, we are to love one another sacrificially. That is the foundation of true unity.

F. Eager

All toward the end of unity in the Spirit. And we should be EAGER to seek this. Eager to seek unity means that we go out of our way. The verb is emphatic. “spare no effort” as the NEB states it. The verb also entails that it is continuous diligent activity. When there is disunity, we seek ways to reconcile. When we see it, we do something about it now. This is not an idle act.

II. The Basis of Unity (4-6)

A. The Spirit makes us one body

Unity not for the sake of unity, but unity because we are made one body in the Spirit. The Spirit who regenerates us also binds us together. The same Holy Spirit who indwells you is the same one that indwells your fellow brother and sister in front of you, me, and the person that you may have some beef with.

One body also means that if one part of the body is out of wack, sick and fighting against the rest of the body, the body cannot operate as it should. Keeping that metaphor, if the hand does is punching its own body, that aint a good thing! If the whole body starts fighting against itself, its not obeying the head, which is the church. A body fighting itself is not being the body of Christ, fulfilling the Great Commission.

B. The Son gives us one hope

Unity not for the sake of unity, unlike Unitarian churches that say that it doesn’t matter what we believe. You can be Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, etc, and we should be unified since God will save everyone regardless. But that’s not what we stand on as Christians. We know the one truth, the one Gospel. It’s Jesus Christ, the way the truth, the and the life.

Unity for the sake of unity even in Bible-believing churches can happen. Sometimes we can get into the mindset that we should be unified to not mess with comfort. In other words, we unify around the idea of no conflict rather than unify around the Gospel, which will inherently put us into decisions that will upset the norm.

Jesus is the one hope for humanity, and that hope is available by faith, and expressed in baptism as a physical proclamation of the faith expressed inwardly.

Because of this faith, we all have the same Lord as His people. Each of us here that know Jesus are part of one body called the church. But we unify around truth, the Gospel, the essentials of the faith. He’s our hope, our only hope.

C. The Father makes us one family

The Father makes us one family together, as the Father of all creation. Yet He takes those that have put their faith and trust in His Son, Jesus, and makes them part of one people, one family. He is our Father. He is over us, He is in us. Because He is over all, it should remind us that we are not Lord over the church. God is. And we should submit ourselves to Him. We should also view one another as family, not enemies that get in our way of the things we want.

Application

The reality of being family. We can say that emphatically, as Paul does here. But its easy to say it, but surely not act like it. You can have a brother or sister, but absolutely hate that person. It doesn’t mean that the truth of the reality is not there. You are brothers and sisters regardless. But it sure won’t look like it. You can’t break that bond, but that relational bond can be strained or even be non-existent.

Universal church: Though we may not be of the same local church, we have many brothers and sisters of different denominations and beliefs about certain aspects of Christianity, yet we are part of one faith. We should not be people of competition but rather people of cooperation, to the extent that we believe this one faith we spoke about in the text. That doesn’t mean we can always do church together, but we can certainly cooperate together toward the one goal of proclaiming Jesus and making disciples. We shouldn’t be in rivalry with an other church, but rather, we should pray for them and encourage them in their endeavor to glorify King Jesus, furthering His kingdom.

Local church: That can be the case in the church as well. Whether you like it or not, you are brothers and sisters with one another. Same body, same hope, same faith, same family. One. Yet it is the behavior of how we engage one another that is vitally important to our unity. You cannot be in unity and are in outright disobedience to Scripture if you hate your fellow brother and sister in Christ. If you do not have a humble spirit, meek in not demanding your way be done, and are not patient with one another as Christ has been patient with you, the testimony of the church is marred.

There should be no rivalries between individuals or groups in the church, and that can be something that festers for years. Are you in such a place right now with someone? Are you in a group of people that is at odds with another group? As Paul says, we must be eager to seek unity in the Spirit. We must be active. We must be willing to put on the attitudes of unity.

Address the disunity in your own life: And I am going to make a strong application to you today because we are about to take the Lord’s Supper together. If you here today and have a grudge, hatred, unforgiving spirit, and not unified with people in the church this morning, I am asking you to forego the Lord’s Supper until you do. Why? Because the Supper is a time of unifying around this one faith that we have described this morning. We remember together Christ who gave Himself, humbled himself, to redeem sinners like you and me. But it is also a unifying act together as the church. The warning in 1 Corinthians 15 is to not take the Supper unworthily, or you can bring judgment upon yourselves. This act is not something we are to take lightly. Not simply just a cracker and some juice. There is significance and great meaning behind this. WE must take it seriously.

But you can change that today. As we reflect and examine ourselves, we can in the Spirit be convicted yet empowered to live out this unity in a powerful way. Yes, it will be hard, but you may need to get out of your seat, go to your brother or sister in Christ that you are in conflict with, holding a grudge, and ask for forgiveness and reconcile with one another. What a picture of the Gospel that would be in the life of the church, and how powerful that would be! Maybe you can’t do that this morning, and maybe you need to work through some things. That’s ok. But here is what you need to do. First, pray diligently about the situation that God will help you to do this. Second, withhold from the Supper. Third, start that reconciliation as soon as you can. It may go against your pride, but that is ok. For the good of yourself, the other person, and ultimately, the whole body, this is what needs to be done. This may sound harsh, but if you keep walking in disunity, you will harm the whole body.

CONCLUSION: Unity is such an important part of our living out our faith. It is the first thing Paul exhorts us to do in how we live out our faith, our unity in Christ. And we are unified around the One Truth, not just the idea of unity. We are unified in Jesus, the way the truth and the life. And we are unified as one people. Let’s pray that we would be a unified people and eager to address disunity when it comes. Let’s pray that God will remove the disunity among us and that we will have the strength of the Spirit to do so. Let’s live as Jesus prayed for us to be in His High Priestly prayer for us before His crucifixion:

John 17:20–23 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.