Unity in Christ
May 9, 2010
In unity there is diversity. Is that an oxymoron, or what? How can there be sameness with so much difference? These two words, like oil and water, simply do not mix—do they? Time and again the Bible and God’s way of doing things sets topsy-turvy our way of thinking and doing things. The Bible clearly teaches that in Christ Jesus we are one, yet it teaches and models that we, as followers of Jesus, are a diverse people and as different as night and day.
On this Sunday we celebrate Worldwide Communion Sunday when Christians all over the world gather to remember God’s great gift of salvation to you and me through Jesus’ atoning death at Calvary.
Paul’s letter to the 1st century Christians at Ephesus speaks to this issue. Eph 4:1 Paul exhorts us ”to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Paul is raising the bar and is saying that if we claim the name of Jesus then there is a certain way we are to live. There are some things we do and don’t do simply and for no other reason than we belong to Christ. Paul gets more specific in verses 2-4 on what that looks like. There are 3 things that Paul says here are tangible and specific ways that we “live a life worthy of the calling:” “Be completely humble.” I like his added emphasis—“complete” not partially or sometimes, but “completely humble.” He also says “and gentle.” Do you suppose there is a connection between humility and gentleness?
Then Paul admonishes us to “be patient, bearing with one another in love.” He defines patience as it pertains to our relationship with one another. How patient are we with each other? If our gossip, our complaining, our murmuring, our backbiting is any indication, we are in big trouble. We aren’t naturally “patient, bearing with one another” because it is part and parcel of the old, carnal and sinful nature that we are prone to tear each other down rather than to lift them up. “A life worthy of the calling” includes being patient with each other in love, bearing, ie putting up with the imperfections, the idiosyncrasies, the fallibility, the personalities, and yes, sometimes, even the sins of our Christian family—not that we accept those sins as valid, but that we love them through their sins to redemption.
The 3rd exhortation of Paul in these verses is that “living a life worthy of the calling” includes (verse 3) “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” This unity doesn’t come naturally. It is something we work at, strive for, pray about, and do by God’s power. Paul appeals here to the nature of God Himself who is one and reminds us that there is one body and Spirit, one hope, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is over, in and through all. God models this oneness, this unity and expects the same of us as His people. As God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is one, so we are one bound together in the passion and resurrection of Jesus. He is the glue that holds us together. He is the focal point of all we are and do.
Some mistakenly confuse unity with uniformity and they are not the same. Uniformity is the forced sameness of outside influences that is really artificial and not real. Uniformity is sameness as we all look alike, eat alike, think alike, dress alike, laugh alike, walk alike, dress alike, ad nauseum, but it is purely external and plastic—not the real thing. Unity however is oneness in the midst of diversity as seen in the Kingdom of God. The Bible describes the living God as wonderfully diverse. Check out Genesis 1 and 2 and you will see diversity in plant life, in the seas and on the earth, in the heavens and in the humans. Praise God that we are all different and unique. Praise God that as Christians we are different, each bringing to God’s Kingdom diverse gifts, talents, testimonies and salvation stories, temperaments and personalities.
As a Christian people we are diverse. I experienced that in Spain, in Mexico, in Wales and in seminary as I learned first hand that there are indeed people who love and follow Jesus who live in other lands and speak other languages. I experience this in our nation as people from other denominations and churches serve Jesus with great fervor and commitment, even here in South Jersey! I experience this diversity right here at SUMC and for that I praise God that He has brought us together as different as we can be so that He can use us to bring even more people into a personal, saving relationship with Jesus.
The Spirit of the living God is at work in our church as He is working in churches around this globe, throughout this nation and in churches across South Jersey. When we see the big picture we are better able to see the ‘little big picture” right here in our church as we “live lives worthy of the calling we have received: being humbly gentle, patiently and loving bearing with one another, and making every effort to keep the unity the Spirit.”
In unity there is diversity, and in diversity there is unity—and that is only through Jesus.