Why the fuss about unity?

I have recently been challenged to memorize Ephesians 4. It is a great chapter filled with some Scripture that we like to quote from time to time. I am only about half way through, but it is interesting to me how Paul communicates with the Ephesians. He challenges them with an opening statement: “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Whew! Enough said right? I mean we could sit and think on that for days! But he expands on that and goes into begins talking about how we ought to treat one another…its nothing new, like be nice to your neighbors…duh. Then he goes to talking about God and how God is one and he really stresses the unity of the church. Then, he talks about how we have all been given gifts but the purpose of that is so that we can become a mature and unified unit. 

After reading this over and over and over, I am amazed at the flow of his writing and the importance of unity and how we treat one another. But why all the stuff about unity?

It doesn’t take long to get jaded about the church these days. There are horror stories of pastors embezzling money, having affairs with staff or parishioners, anger outburst, immense insecurity, and fear of someone else having more power.

Then there is the personal experience of having pastored for 4 years…people. Like I said, it doesn’t take long to get jaded. There is a ton to work through: personalities, ministry philosophies, financial struggles, and the burden of caring for people who for some reason or another are struggling in life and/or in faith.

It is easy to write people off or blow off another’s problems or struggles. But that is not what the church was created for. The church was created as the bride of Christ to work together, being inclusive of all who confess Christ, and loving those who don’t as if they did, and to strive for maturity in Christ.

All of the sudden, Paul’s instruction to live a life worthy of your calling and stress on church unity becomes clear.  There are so many obstacles to overcome and the only way to get there is become the man or woman God has created us to be, find our calling in life and go for it, but not at the expense of others. See we are supposed to bear with one another in love. Sometimes that is really, really hard and we wonder if it is worth it. I tend to think so. Jesus bears with me every day. Every day I fall short and he must wonder if I will ever get it. So we must strive for unity.

The long and short of this is the Church and churches must band together in a united front. Jesus is all that really matters and many in our world refuse to follow him because His followers spend too much time bickering over stupid things like carpet, music, and gossiping about what deacon Jones and his wife did last week instead of encouraging one another and exemplifying Jesus to those we see and talk to each day. So will you be a unifier?