“with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” -Ephesians 4:2-3
A couple of weeks ago Pastor Ken wrote a post entitled, Fighting for Unity During a Pandemic, in which he referenced the above passage as the foundation of our unity as a church. By God’s grace through Christ, we have unity, but as these verses instruct, we must be eager to maintain that unity. As we begin to gather again physically for worship this Sunday and as our Base Groups begin to move toward returning to physical gatherings, I thought it important to draw your attention again to Pastor Ken’s post linked above and to think more on this call to maintain unity.
Eager for Unity
Paul makes clear the reality and grounding of our unity in Ephesians before he calls us to maintain it. First, we see that God’s love is the reason for our salvation and redemption (Eph. 2:4). The second and third chapters of the letter show that not only have we been reconciled to God through our union with Christ, but we have also been joined to each other (Eph. 2:15-16). Therefore, Paul prays that the Ephesian church would be rooted and grounded in love (Eph. 3:17) so that they will be able to live out this reality of “one new man” in the “household of God” (Eph. 2:19).
As with most of Paul’s letters, the first half of Ephesians is indicative heavy explaining the rich Gospel truths of what God has done for us in Christ. The second half of the letter is imperative heavy with it’s instruction on how we are to live as those saved by this grace. We see this in the first verse of chapter four with it’s call for us to live lives worthy of the calling to which we have been called. What is striking is that the first bit of instruction the apostle gives us is to be “eager” to maintain the unity we have in light of the Gospel (Eph. 4:3). He knows this will only happen if we are humble, gentle, and patient with one another (Eph. 4:2).
Don’t pass this by too quickly, but rather think on this some more. We are only humble, gentle, and patient with the people we love! Let me say it simply, if the life of the church is going to match the message of the church then we must be rooted and grounded in the love of the gospel. I’ll say it another way, the gospel message of the church should be bearing gospel fruit in the church.
We would benefit to think further about humility, gentleness, and patience. Let’s see if we can provoke our thoughts through some questions.
In the coming weeks will you be eager to walk in humility with your fellow church members? Or will the temptations of putting self first and thinking you have the best thoughts and information about the pandemic win the day? (Prayerfully read Phil. 2:1-11)
In the coming weeks when you have the opportunity to speak truth (Scripture), and when appropriate your opinions, will you be eager to do it with gentleness? Or will the temptations to “win the debate” or “enlighten everyone” lead to a harsh unloving tone? (Prayerfully read Eph. 4:15 and Gal. 5:22-6:2)
In the coming weeks are you going to be eager to be patient with your fellow church members when you disagree? Or will the temptations of “what’s their problem” and “why can’t they just be like me” lead to irritability? (Prayerfully read 1 Cor. 13:4-7, 1 Thess. 5:14)
Pray for Growth
Let’s join with Paul in praying for growth in love as a church. His prayer recorded in 1 Thessalonians 3 contains this line:
“…may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…” -1 Thess. 3:12
In this same letter he commends them highly for the love already present in their church (1 Thess. 1:3; 4:9). However, his desire is that their love increase and abound (or overflow). In his commentary on this letter, Gene Green writes the following:
Taken together, the verbs (increase and abound) show the superlative degree to which the apostle wanted the church’s love to grow. The prayer is not simply that their love increase but that it abound beyond limits, being exceedingly great and overflowing. (pg. 177)
I want to encourage you to pray this prayer for our church family. Is there love already present in the NewBranch family? Yes! I am thankful for the gospel love that is present in our fellowship by God’s grace. However, we would be sorely mistaken if we didn’t think we had room to grow in this area. Let’s ask the Lord to make us “increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” If you want to be encouraged, read 2 Thessalonians 1:3, the Lord answered this prayer!
Written by Matt Baker