In my last couple posts, I have been looking at Ephesians 4:1-16 and how it relates to the idea of unity in the church. I have already discussed how the church is meant to be united, as well as why the church itself is so important to every believer's growth and maturity. This is all fine and good, but is all for naught if it remains only an idea. The church may be meant for unity, but when we look around at the church as it exists today, that is not what we see. So what do we do about it? How do we make church unity a reality?
There are a couple different ways to think about these questions. We may consider how we can bring all of the various denominations and groups in the universal church together so that we all get along and live in harmony and sing the same praise choruses. That is a pretty hefty undertaking, however, and it might cause us to stress out and give up on the task altogether. We might end up resigning ourselves to the idea that the church is too far gone, and we don't have any other choice but to continue to function as best we can with how things are. When we look at the "big" problem with church unity, we tend to forfeit. Perhaps a better way to think about the issue would be to ask, "How can I help create unity through my own actions and interactions with others?" The truth is that we will be unable to solve the problems around us until we solve the problem within ourselves. I can't expect the Catholics, Baptists, and Lutherans to all get along if I am unwilling to get along with the person next to me in the pew.
Ephesians 4:3 says, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." We need to recognize that unity does not just happen. It is not the natural tendency of humankind to live at peace with one another or to think first about what it best for others. Rather, we are pretty greedy and self-centered. If we only allow ourselves to coast along, we can't expect the church to be unified. It takes effort, and a lot of it. At the same time, it is not someone else's job to make unity happen. Paul does not write, "Find someone who has a good vision for this sort of thing, and get him to make unity happen." He instead makes his readers directly responsible for the task. It is our job to keep unity. We are shirking the responsibility given to us by God if we are just going to wait around and wait for a more charismatic leader to do something. We ourselves need to step up.
So how do we go about it? How do we keep unity? Ephesians 4:2 sets us on the right path: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Paul calls us to be concerned not with ourselves or our own desires, wants, preferences, or rights. He tells us to look first to what is best for others. To let go of our pride and felt-need for self-advancement. Can you imagine how the church today would look different if, for the past two thousand years, Christians were consistently humble, gentle, patient, and loving? Or can you imagine how your own congregation would look different if everyone involved lived out these virtues? Or more pointedly, how would your own relationships look different if you looked more like this?
In another passage concerned with unity, Paul writes, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Phil. 2:3-4). I am not sure if I have ever written this on here before, but I really think that these verses are the key to any sort of relationship--with your family, your friends, your spouse, your boyfriend/girlfriend, and within the church. Relationships deteriorate when one party begins to look out for number one. When they stop caring about what the other person wants or needs and instead focuses on the self. And churches struggle when some within the body abandon concern for that body and only work toward personal wants. So we bicker and quarrel about an endless number of preferences because we hold our list of demands so tightly in our fists, unwilling to loosen our grips for the good of the body.
For a body to be healthy, no single part can begin to only care for itself. Suppose my hands decide that they are the only parts of my body that really matter. They only wash themselves, and they only bandage themselves if they get injured. Meanwhile, the rest of my body becomes dirty, cut, and infected. I begin to starve because my hands refuse to move food from my plate to my mouth. And while my hands might look great and be doing very well, my body withers.
Are you those kinds of hands? I am, sometimes. I'll fight hard to make sure things are done the way I think they should be. And it might be great for me. But what good are healthy hands attached to a fractured body?
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