Jump Start # 3164

Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

There are things in life that we do not like to admit. Not being open, transparent and upfront about things has led to the necessity of checking car reports when buying a used car and home inspections when purchasing a house. We can create images that are often not reality. The perfect marriage. The perfect family. The perfect home. The perfect yard. I saw a guy years ago at a Kansas City funeral home spray painting the yard green. I wondered how it had such a bright green look in November. It was fake. It was paint. Reality reminds us that the image presented often deludes and deceives.

And, when it comes to our congregations, an image is often created but it cannot be sustained. One of the things that we do not like to admit is that our fellowship is splintered, divided and rarely does one part have anything to do with the other parts. Churches have split over doctrinal differences and personality clashes. And, once divided, the one part will have nothing to do with the other part. Young people grow up only knowing that the other group is wrong and that they should stay completely away from them, as if they had leprosy. A broken and divided fellowship is nothing to brag about, be proud about or even to be indifferent about.

Our verse today is not directed toward the brotherhood. It’s addressed to the Ephesian congregation, where absolute unity takes place. The apostle outlines three steps to a unified church.

First, there is a walk that we all have to walk. That’s how the chapter begins. We are “entreated” to walk in a manner worthy of the calling. Walk a specific way. Now, immediately, when this is not done, unity gets strained. Our fellowship is built around us all walking in the light (1 John 1:7). When some of us do not do that, then unity will not be possible.

Second, there is an attitude that we are all to manifest. The apostle writes, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Those key expressions, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love—are attitudes. God expects us to have those attitudes. And those words are expressed in how we treat and interact with others. Are we gentle? Are we patient? Do we forbear? Are we humble? The wrong steps and the wrong attitudes will keep any unity from taking place. A person can tie the tail of two cats together, but they don’t want to be like that. One can say that they are joined, but it’s not a unity and it’s certainly not a happy occasion. There can be no olive braches extended and no open discussions when a person doesn’t want anything to do with the other one.

Third, there is a motive or drive that God expects us to display. Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, is what the third verse, our verse today, states. Diligence—doing things now. Getting right to it. Preserving—doing all that you can to sustain and keep the unity alive. I sometimes feel that some are more diligent at breaking unity than preserving it.

Three vital steps for unity within the Ephesian church. A person cannot pick just one of the three. All of them are necessary. And, without any of them, unity is nearly impossible.

Will this work on a brotherhood scale? Is it possible for all of us everywhere to be united? Unity and fellowship are not the same. Congregations do not fellowship one another. We are told to love the brotherhood, but that’s about it. Unity is personal. Unity involves individuals. Differences in spirit, attitude and practices causes some to pull back and withdrawal the hand of friendship and fellowship. I must agree with the way I believe we are to worship the Lord. That’s going to be maintained on the congregational level.

But I do believe some steps could be made to build a bridge with others. We have more in common than we have differences. I have a friend who works among the premillennial segment of churches of Christ. Our friendship revolves first around the restoration movement. We have built a friendship. He has heard me preach. We have our differences and we could accent those to the point that we never talk to each other. But I think we both have a genuine spirit that we want to move closer to one another and not further apart. I try to understand him and he tries to understand me.

What are things that practically could be done:

First, get to know brethren in the area that you may not align with doctrinally. Visit their singings and special meetings and invite them to yours. There is an old saying, “Don’t take down a fence until you know why it was put up.” There is some truth to that. Compromising convictions, closing your eye to doctrinal teachings is not and never will be a solution. Don’t go in with guns blazing and looking for a fight. Take the chips off your shoulder. We can learn a lot from others.

Second, keeping the spirit of Christ about us is essential to all conversations. One can disagree and still be friends. One can learn from others. One can try to show others why he remains where he is. Stop using terms, labels and names that are insulting and hurtful. Rather than healing, we pick the scabs off when that is done and the wounds never heal.

Third, we must remember that the working hub of New Testament activity is through the congregation. A brotherhood machinery never works. It’s without Biblical example and it usually ends up corrupt and mismanaged. The muscle of the N.T. is the congregation. That’s where unity is a must. That’s where our energy is put forth. Trying to tie all the churches together is not a good idea. Yet, maybe it’s time to stop considering those we disagree with as our enemies.

Unity—it’s hard. Politically, racially, spiritually. The Devil loves a divided world, a divided nation, a divided church and a divided heart. He’ll push differences. We must try to tie together what we can.

Roger

Jump Start # 3096

Ephesians 4:3 “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We are a divided country. We may refer to our land as the United States, but truth be, there isn’t much unity these days. There is division over politics, the direction of the country, economy, role of police, abortion, global warming, the move to electronic cars, booster shots, masks, what the minimum wage ought to be, and a zillion other topics. This isn’t new. People have always been divided. Back in Jesus’ day, Jew/Gentile differences. Even among the Jews, there were Pharisees, Essenes, Sadducees, and the radical zealots. They didn’t see eye to eye on things.

The history of different religions and churches reveals a conservative and progressive spirit among all of them. And, nearly every one has split, divided and splintered over issues that could not be agreed upon.

But there is something different about our differences today. They have taken on a much sharper, critical and mean spirit. The old expression about disagreeing without being disagreeable is no longer around. Disagreeable has taken over. Shouting, violence, riots, name calling, ridicule has filled the streets, the air waves and social media. If one disagrees today, you are very likely to be hurt, insulted and have your name trashed publicly.

These are the times we live in. They are not good times. They are not showing the best side of us. And this spirit in the streets and in our culture always has a way of finding a place among disciples. It shouldn’t, but it does. So, we need to be reminded of the value and importance of unity among us. A divided church is a weak church. A divided church does not have one mind nor one voice. A divided church is confusing and sends mixed messages.

Satan loves to pick us apart and accent our differences. Different backgrounds. Different baggage we carry. Different ideas. Different dreams. But through Christ, we learn to put ourselves on the back burner and seek what is best for others. A selfish heart ruins unity.

Our verse today echoes three powerful principles:

First, being diligent. Don’t let this slide by. Don’t put this off. Work hard at this. Work now at this. Diligence makes the difference. Diligence will be quick to apologize, quick to forgive and quick to extend grace. That’s just the way diligence works.

Second, preserve unity. Keep unity. Don’t push each other’s buttons. Don’t irritate. Don’t be so quick with your opinions. Don’t be judgmental and always pointing a finger at someone. Preserve it. Don’t engage in every skirmish. Don’t delay in doing what is right. A united church is a blessing. Don’t come in and try to change things to suit you. Don’t upset others.

Third, the bond of peace. Peace and unity go together. One can’t have unity if there isn’t peace. Hard to think the best when one is upset with someone. Hard to work together when you’d rather not be around that person. We must first have peace with God. That comes through discipleship and the forgiveness found in Christ Jesus. Then we must have peace with ourselves. We must forgive ourselves as God has. We must find our talent and use it for the kingdom. From that, then we launch out to have peace with each other. We have a common denominator, Jesus Christ. We have a common destination, Heaven. We have a common purpose, being disciples that want to honor the Lord. Those things are dear. Hold to them and treasure them.

It’s easy to look at how we are different. Instead, look at what we have in common. Build upon the good things. Encourage. Lift up. Honor one another.

The division in our country is going to be hard to solve. Unity can’t be forced. It’s like sitting in the back seat of the car with your sister on a long road trip. The car hasn’t even left the neighborhood before “she touched me,” starts. Politics won’t do it. Forcing people to accept what they don’t want isn’t the answer. It may be this way for a long, long time, until we get the idea that we all need Jesus.

Be diligent…preserve the unity…in the bond of peace. It works in a church. It works in the home. It works with God.

Roger

Jump Start # 2803

Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Our verse today is an action statement. It is something that the Lord wants us to do. This action is about how we interact and treat others. I’ve never heard of a congregation warning or disciplining someone because they were not very “diligent” about preserving the unity. It seems like we are patient and do a lot of tolerating of expressing each other’s opinions. We tend to allow the envelope to be pushed outward while not doing much about working to keep us all together. It is sad to hear of congregations who have divided over the wearing of a mask. It’s only a mask. If we can’t get along with masks, what in the world would we have done had we lived in the times of Romans 14. Meats sacrificed to idols had much more at stake than the wearing of a mask. I loved how one church dealt with this by saying, ‘wearing a mask will not get you to  Heaven. Not wearing a mask will not get you to Heaven. But the way you treat those who differ with you may keep you out of Heaven.’ Well said.

Some thoughts here:

First although this was addressed to the Ephesian church, the application of this was personal and individual. Each person had to be diligent. Each person had to want unity. Each person had to do all they could to keep the unity. The preacher can preach a mighty fine lesson on these verses, but if I roll my eyes and look down my nose at those who are doing things differently than I am, those preached words fall empty and useless. The preserving of the unity isn’t the job of the preacher, nor even the shepherds. Tension in the flock causes stress among the sheep. Our selfish spirits can ruin all the good that a congregation is trying to do.

Second, the preserving the unity wasn’t an idealistic dream that was unreachable. Not at all. The Corinthians were told to be of one mind. The Romans, one voice. The Philippians were told to maintain the same love, being united in spirit. The Galatians were told to stop biting and devouring each other. It is possible for different people, with different backgrounds to be united in heart, spirit and work. This is accomplished when people  push themselves to the background and stand together under the banner of the Cross. It’s not your way, my way, but His way. Master and slave, together. Jew and Gentile, together. So different, yet so much the same because of Jesus. Our culture thrives on diversity and individualism. Accent the differences. Emphasis the differences. The N.T. focuses upon our sameness. Same problem, sin. Same solution, Jesus. Same hope, Heaven. Same responsibilities, live for Jesus. Congregations can thrive in unity. Forgiveness and grace and patience are the means to which this is accomplished.

Third, warring Christians is shameful to the Lord and makes the devil smile. When we can’t get along, it shows outsiders that no one can live by these principles. It shows that we don’t even believe in them. But a united church, powerful, strong, and growing, shows the world that we can be one. It shows the world that we can put Christ before our individual wishes. There are a couple of powerful bombs that Satan loves to drop upon a congregation. One is error. But the other is division. Get everyone stirred up, upset and mad with each other, and worship is ruined, the work stops and decades of good can be tossed out the window. That’s all it takes. And, a generation is often lost. Young people remember mom and dad being so upset over trouble at church. They see people pointing fingers and accusing each other of the worst things. And, with that, young people grow and want nothing to do with the people of God.

Fourth, to be one with each other, we must first be one with the Lord. And, right there might be the cause of much of the problem. We may have left the Lord out. We may have taken on battles without the Lord being included or invited. So, the first step in preserving the unity, is for each of us to be walking rightly with the Lord. We cannot be right with each other and not right with the Lord. The Lord always comes first. The Lord makes all the difference. And, this walk with the Lord will humble our attitudes and tame our tongues. It will give thought to our influence. It will think about the other person first. And, in doing all these things, unity happens. We get along. We share. We serve. Great things take place.

Be diligent about these things. Get about it and get about it quickly…

Roger

Jump Start # 2393

Ephesians 4:3 “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

Our verse today brings two wonderful words that are like beautiful strands of music to those who love God. The words are unity and peace. Both of those words imply interaction and relationship with others. Paul was longing for the Ephesian church to have both unity and peace.

It might seem odd to have both words, unity and peace together. At first, one may think that one of these words is enough. To have one is to have the other. But that isn’t a necessary assumption. Is it possible to have unity without peace? Sure. One can be pressured or forced to get along but they don’t want to. Maybe one has been strong-armed into something that they would rather not be involved with, but there was no other way out. There is unity, because they are going along, but there isn’t peace, because they are unhappy and felt pressured into this deal.

Paul’s words are not about buying a car, countries signing treaties, or negotiating in real estate. He is not even talking about differing faiths coming together. Such didn’t exist in the first century, other than pagan and Christianity. He is not talking about a couple of congregations getting along with each other. His words are directed towards one congregation, the Ephesians. His thoughts are about what takes place within a congregation. Unity and peace bring times of encouragement, growth and joyous worship. When these two words are missing, tension, suspicion, and doubt fill the air. The opposite of unity is division. The opposite of peace is war. And when that is the spirit among some, troublesome times are ahead of them. Gossip flies. Thinking the worst becomes common. Whispers, finger pointing, judgmental spirits and grabbing for power are common when unity and peace are missing.

Paul reminds us of several things here:

First, this is something that we are to be diligent about. Diligent simply means get at it. Make it a priority. Work at it. Unity doesn’t just happen. It’s hard in a marriage and it’s hard in a congregation. What makes it so hard is each of us. We all have an opinion and we love ours the best. And when we think things ought to be a certain way and it’s not, then we begin to get bothered, bossy and complaining.

Satan would love to splinter a church. Get each other mad at one another and we take our attention off of Christ and the work we ought to be doing. So, we have to be about preserving that unity. We have to work hard at that. Here are a few thoughts:

• Don’t be so sensitive when it comes to yourself. Someone says something the wrong way and some of us are ready to arm the missiles and declare war. Don’t be that way. So you don’t get invited to something. You can use that to help Satan make things messy and ugly or you can be a big person and don’t let it eat at you. Someone walks by you and they don’t stop and speak or shake your hand. You can leave in a huff, jump on Facebook and declare that the church is unfriendly and not like Jesus. Or, you can give the guy a benefit of the doubt that maybe he was focused on something else and just didn’t see you.

I have folks tell me, much too often, that they see me out and about driving and they will wave but I didn’t wave back. Often my mind is in a sermon somewhere and I just didn’t see them. Don’t where your feelings on your sleeve.

• Don’t always talk about yourself. That gets a bit tiring to others. Let others talk. I’ve been watching this lately. Sometimes I’ll go to lunch by myself. Often there will be a table of four seated near me. They are all co-workers. Sometimes it’s women and sometimes it men. But every time, I notice that one person at the table does most of the talking. They are loud and they control the conversation. They don’t let others hardly say anything. I’m just sitting nearby and it wears me out. Unity is about others, not just you. To be united, you have to connect with others.

• Sometimes things have strained the unity. Hurt feelings. Someone feeling left out. Someone feeling neglected. Preserve it. Be diligent to preserve it. Be the first to connect. Be the first to apologize. Accept, appreciate and love one another. It’s a lot easier to strain and break unity than it is to preserve it. Sometimes we have to swallow our pride.

• There is a difference between union and unity. I heard someone explain it this way once. Union is tying the tails of two cats together. They are together, but they don’t want to be. Unity is when we want to be together. We enjoy each other’s company and fellowship. We express it. We pray for it. We help each other.

Satan would love to bust us up. He loves division. He loves brethren who can’t stand each other. And, he’s done a good job with that through the years. The number of congregations that have broken off of others simply because folks couldn’t get along is off the charts. We’d rather worship in our front room with five people than buckle down and do what God wants us to do to get along with others in the congregation. We can fuss and fight about everything.

I’ve learned something recently that has really helped me. There is the battle and then there is the war. The war is getting to Heaven. Nothing should stop us from that and we must win at all costs. Some battles are not worth fighting. So, here is what has helped. We see people doing things. It may bother me, irritate me and I may never ever do that, but can they go to Heaven? If what they are doing will not keep them from Heaven, then I keep quiet about it. Now, if it is something that is going to impact their soul, then I’ll jump in and say something. A person can be odd as a duck and still go to Heaven. They can be weirder than a three-dollar bill, but they can still go to Heaven. When they are doing something that will keep them from Jesus, then I will and I must say something.

I was with a guy a while back and he was talking about painting all the walls of his house black. He wanted to get a black toilet, frig, sink and stove. He wanted everything black. Boy, that sounded dumb to me. It would be like living in a cave. I was about to say something, but then I realized you can go to Heaven with black walls and all black appliances. So, I didn’t say anything. I just smiled.

I know a guy who saved his gall stones after surgery. They were in a jar. He kept them on a shelf. He wanted to know if I wanted to see them. Of course the answer was no. It seemed rather creepy to me. I was about to say something and then I realized, you can have your gall stones in a jar and still go to Heaven. I just smiled and hoped he wouldn’t show them to me.

I’ve seen people clip their finger nails during worship and they just let them lay on the floor. That really bugs me. I don’t feel like saying something, I really feel like screaming at them. But, you can go to Heaven with finger nails on the floor of the church building. It’s a matter of battles and the war.

I think if we backed off trying to run everyone else’s life and put more attention into how we are doing, unity would be a lot easier. There are things that matter. There are a lot of things that do not matter. When you see that, it helps you with getting long with others.

Roger

Jump Start # 203

Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

  Unity—what a great concept and relationship! The Psalmist described unity as the refreshing morning dew. Paul’s words to the Ephesians was to preserve it! Before a person can do that, they must first have unity.

  We are so used to living in a world without unity. There are always wars, somewhere. There are fights in high school, and there is dysfunction in families. The number one reason why most people switch jobs is because they can’t get along or fit in with the other workers. The expression, “going postal” has become a catch phrase to define disgruntled employees. Moms and Dads  divorce, Republicans can’t stand Democrats and Democrats can’t stand Republicans and churches split. This is our world! Wonderful isn’t it.

  When we turn this discussion religiously, or better still, Biblically, most folks have resigned themselves to accept that churches disagree. Isn’t it interesting to see so many church buildings located so close to each other. Even in small towns, a person will find two or three different kinds of churches on the same block. It’s almost like different kinds of hamburger franchises. They all claim to believe in Jesus. They all use the Bible. They all want to go to Heaven and they all say that they love—but there they stand, for generations, separate buildings often times meeting at the very same hour on Sunday. If they are all for the same thing, then why don’t they merge? Why don’t they sell the other buildings? Could it be that the talk and the walk simply don’t match?

  Later in this same chapter, Paul lays out what is called the seven pillars of unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Unity comes from standing upon these seven platforms. Compromise is not unity. Don’t ask, don’t tell isn’t unity.

  A little over 200 years ago, in this very area, something remarkable took place. There was a movement, a revival, a return back to the Bible. Men from different faiths started asking, What if we simply went back to the Bible for our rule of faith? What if we got rid of the creed books, by-laws and church doctrines? If it wasn’t in the Bible, then we wouldn’t do it. What if we just called our selves Christians—and nothing else. What if we took the Lord’s Supper on Sunday as they did in the Bible? What if we did away with a “clergy” and men with faith and conviction preached? What if we immersed for the remission of sins as was done in the Bible times? What if congregations were independent and governed by elders or shepherds and there was no organization above or greater than the local church? What if?

  Throughout Southern Indiana and Kentucky men started doing this. They found that many things that they had been preaching were really not in the Bible. They stopped preaching those things. Whole congregations changed. A movement swept over the prairie like a brush fire. We are Christians and only Christians became the plea. We speak where the Bible speaks became the motto. They found agreement and unity among many. They all had the same platform –the word of God. That was the ringing sound that pulled them all together, the ancient Gospel of Jesus Christ. They found that if everyone only followed theBible and nothing else, they would be all be the same. They would have unity. Those were remarkable times in history.

  But do you know what happened? Folks began to inject their opinions and what they wanted and how they thought things ought to be. Before long, lines were drawn. Divisions took place. Each had to find their own way to worship the way they wanted to. The cry for unity was no longer heard. Church buildings were built, often right across the street from each other. Until here we are today. For a non-church going family, the scene is confusing and crazy. Why are there so many churches if they all believe the same thing? Good question. Maybe they don’t believe the same any more. Why can’t they all get along? Better question. How? Who is going to be in charge? Who decides what? The biggest church? The richest church? Or, how about let the Bible be in charge. We understand this concept in other areas. When a person goes to the hardware store, he knows 12 inches is 12 inches. The same applies if he is at a Walmart of a high end department store. There is an accepted standard to how long 12 inches is. The same works with our money. One dollar is one dollar whether you are at McDonalds or Neiman Marcus. Everyone has agreed upon a standard. If everyone could do that religiously, unity would prevail.

  Can that spirit of unity resurface again in this country? Sure! Who will start it? Are you willing to do just what the Bible says and nothing else? If it’s not in the Bible, leave it. If the Bible teaches it, do it! Can you live with that? That’s where this starts. And it starts, not with me waiting for you, but with me coming to Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” Deny self. No opinions. No, “here’s what I like.” No, “this is what I think works best.” No, “my grandfather always said…” Just the Bible, and nothing else. Unity is based upon a standard, and that standard is the word of God.

  Are we diligent to preserve the unity or content to accept the division?

Roger