Unity of the Spirit

Unity of the Spirit

“Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, 

urge you to walk worthy of 

the calling you have received, 

with all humility and gentleness, with patience, 

accepting one another in love, 

diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit 

with the peace that binds us. 

There is one body and one Spirit — 

just as you were called to one hope 

at your calling —

one God and Father of all, 

who is above all and through all and in all. 

with a stature 

measured by Christ’s fullness. 

Then we will no longer be little children, 

tossed by the waves 

and blown around by every wind of teaching, 

by human cunning with cleverness 

in the techniques of deceit. 

But speaking the truth in love, 

let us grow in every way 

into Him who is the head — Christ. 

From Him the whole body, 

fitted and knit together 

by every supporting ligament, 

promotes the growth of the body 

for building up itself in love 

by the proper working 

of each individual part.”

Ephesians 4 

Wow.  I mean, I'm no Greek expert, so I can't exegete this passage and compare or contrast the original wording with the English translation (the version I use is the HCSB), but I do know that God speaks when we listen.  

I've been thinking a lot about the unity of the church.  Church as a family.  Most of all I've been thinking about my "calling" and my "individual part" as properly working in the body.  My humanity, and my inherent dignity as an individual that is part of a whole (the church).  I want to function to my optimal ability for the glory of God.  Clearly if there's a proper way to work there must be an improper way to work as well.  

1. Humility, gentleness and patience, accepting one another. 

These are the characteristics of our inner man that Paul refers to when speaking about our calling.  We each have received a calling, and each of us have been given ONE spirit, the Holy Spirit.  So it's as if my body suddenly broke apart into a bunch of different pieces and each part still was a vessel that employed my one spirit.  I didn't suddenly have pieces of separate spirits, even if my body was in pieces, but I would still always remain one spirit.  It's like that with God's Spirit.  He did not suddenly have a pantheon of spirits in us since we are all individual parts, but somehow even though we have spatially separate physical entities, we are joined with One Spirit.  And that one Spirit unites us because the same Spirit that works in me works in every believer, and if we are all living by God's One Spirit then we are all unified in our purpose.  

Humility, gentleness and patience, are ways in which we honor God's Spirit in others.  It is a way in which we bring God glory.  By showing humility and gentleness and patience with one another because the Spirit is in that person!  When we come together, we are not only seeing a person's outer shell, but we are in the presence of God just by being in the presence of His child, for He is in each of His saints in Spirit.  This is why every believer has inherent dignity just by being a believer in Jesus.  

Accepting one another is how we truly believe that God's Spirit is one and the same for every believer.  We don't just accept the people who meet or follow what we say, but we accept them especially when they do not meet or follow what we say just as Christ accepted us in the hopes that our unconditional love given by God will be the power that transforms them into the unity of the same Spirit in us.  This is why it takes humility (being perceived in a way that makes us appear less than), gentleness (to watch our words, body language, and actions as we respond to them), and patience (as we trust in God's Spirit leading us).

2. Furthermore,

"There is one body and one Spirit — "

Although our physical bodies are clearly distinct from one another, there is one body as well.  We unite under One Spirit, and in our coming together we represent one body as well. 

We move together not because of the external work of our bodies in agreement for a task, but from the internal partaking of the same Spirit.  The origin of unity is not in the external actions of trying to appear "unified," but in being unified from a place of inward love for God.  You move together because the Spirit in you is leading you and the others to do so, not because someone tells you to.  This is how we develop a genuine unity in the church.  We must know the Spirit's leading on a personal as well as on a corporate base.  We cannot divide the two.  Too much corporate leading can lead to a loss of one's own personal connection to God and his or her inherent individual dignity and purpose, without which we commit the sin of omission, not stewarding the gifts that God has given to each of us.  Gifts that make us naturally praise Him as we use them for His glory in the body of the church!  However, too much individual leading without corporate help will lead to isolation, narcissism and schism or division in the body of Christ.  If there is truly One Spirit then both the individual and corporate leading will be one and the same.  

3. "Then we will no longer be little children, 

tossed by the waves"

I emphasize the importance of an individual leading at this point because I think the church has a tendency to build on its external actions as a means of proof of "one Spirit" or unity.  The unity, however, is to be found in the hearts of the individuals themselves, expressing a deeper certainty for why they do what they are doing, and how it is more and more of an awesome and joyful honor to do so!  To receive a gift makes the heart of the recipient joyfully thankful, feeling truly loved.  This joy is what helps us discern between what we are doing from an origin of unity in the Spirit or from an origin of external appearances.  

To participate in things at church should be desirable because they are led by the desire of the Spirit in us.  When we don't desire what our church is doing, that is when we must open our hearts to the Spirit and express the truth to one another as we work out what might be causing the division of the body, while maintaining the unity of the Spirit.  But this cannot be done well without humility, gentleness, and patience on both sides.  Accepting one another in love, not in righteousness or being "right", but in love. In being kind, patient, in keeping no record of wrongs and so forth.  Without merely advocating fake fluffy love, but the kind of love that genuinely speaks, acts and listens according to the Spirit not their appearances.  Sometimes this looks bad and sometimes this looks beautiful, but if done in the Spirit it will always lead to unity.  

When the unity is of the Spirit then we will no longer be like little children tossed by waves of confusion and doubt, simply doing for the sake of doing until we no longer have the will to do it anymore!  

"Arguments are good, and dispute is healthy. They clarify the truth and protect us from error and religious despotism. 

When the church discourages principled debates and a free flow of ideas, the result is shallow Christianity and a false sense of unity. 

No one gets any practice learning how to field contrary views in a gracious and productive way. The oneness they share is contrived, not genuine."

-(Gregory Koukl, Tactics)

4. "From Him the whole body, ...by the proper working of each individual part.”

The origin of unity is from Him who has His will for the body as it moves or exists each year (whether in missions or in prayer or in worship), He brings the body together.  We bring our individual self to add to the body, and we have a proper work that fits our individual capacities, abilities and gifts.  There is, then, also an improper way to work as an individual within the body that leads to disunity or a lack of praise to God in our hearts.  We must be genuine and truthful before God in our hearts as well as before the members of His body, the church.  It's difficult because it requires a deepening relationship with God, it risks our appearances shattering, or our image and reputation falling apart for a while, but it also is the way to gain true freedom in walking in a manner worthy of our calling.  Believe that God is for you, even if you don't see that immediately in front of your eyes, and be His presence for another as you put on love both inwardly and outwardly in the unity of the Spirit.  Know the hope you have in Him that far exceeds the hope placed in appearing to have hope.  Haha 

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

Some practical ways to apply:

1. Take time to sit in silence with God and hand over each of your doubts, fears, and worries to Him to speak over you. 

2. Ask a trusted friend (or 2 or 3) to give you some advice for something you are struggling to discern. 

3. Consider an area where there is disunity or a disconnect between your heart and your actions.  Write down your feelings, both good and bad, and connect your assumptions and expectations behind each feeling.  Identify the meaning of the expectation.  Then bring your meanings to God if they are in need of correction or clarification.  We serve a God who hears us and responds out of love for us, in the similar way that we, with humility, gentleness, and patience are called to hear and respond to one another when things become unclear.  

The unity of Spirit is our reason for the unity of body.  Not the other way around. 

Jmegrey