what does it mean to maintain unity in the church?

(Questions/Answers)

Jason Procopio

Note: Short on time this week, I wasn’t able to translate the sermon manuscript myself. This week, it’s Google Translate to the rescue! I apologize for the awkwardness of the translation…but we can still be grateful for modern technology. - Jason

Last week we completed our series on the book of Micah. I'm a little sad to finish it because I love this book; I would start over if I could. And I'll be honest with you: I wasn't sure what to do after Micah. Traditionally, almost every year at Connexion, at the end of the school year we do a thematic series on the biggest topics that have happened during the past year, before doing the Psalms during the summer .

But this year I had a little trouble thinking about it, because there were a lot more subjects this year than in the past . A lot of things have happened this year. Several of them were — and still are — very good things , and quite a few were — and, frankly, still are — very difficult .

So we decided to resume a series that we did a few years ago, where we simply took the time to answer the most frequent questions that our members have asked over the past year, because the questions we have been asked most frequently go to the heart of many of these hot topics for us.

We will start today with a more general question , before discussing more specific questions in the coming weeks: What does it mean to maintain unity in the church? If you have been in our co groups for a few months, today's text will be familiar to you, because we will be in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, in chapter 4. But it will not really be a reminder of what we saw together, because we are going to look at this text from a very precise point of view.

The unity of the body

Let's remember the context. Paul spent the first two chapters of his letter to the Ephesians explaining the gospel to the Christians in Ephesus, showing God's initiative at every step in the process of bringing his people to faith in him, to bring them back from death to life, to seal them with the Holy Spirit, through the finished work of Christ.

Almost everything we see in the first three chapters is God doing for us. It is he who takes the initiative, it is he who takes the step to save us; almost all we do so far is receive .

So the question arises: since God made it all possible, what do we do? How do we live? And the answer, as we will see, is that we live for God together. Everything Paul will say until the middle of chapter 5 has to do with how the church lives together as a church.

Let us read from chapter 4, v. 1:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Let's stop there for a moment. This is the basis of all that Paul will say thereafter; this is the foundation on which his argument is based. The main reality of the Christian life is the unity that God has brought to the body of Christ through the individual and collective work of Christ to save us. God has saved us as individuals , and this work of salvation unites us to him, and to each other — as they say, God does not just save individuals, he saves a people.

It sounds pretty basic to say it, but it has to be said, because far too often we see the opposite happen. We are called to support each other, to live together in peace and in humility and in patience, to strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit , why?

Because we have all been saved in the same way. We have all received the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism, the same God.

That's the foundation — through the Holy Spirit, we're united with God and one another through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. But God does not want us to be passive in this process: he calls us to strive to maintain this unity.

So here we have to be careful, because it is easy to talk about unity in a different way from the Bible.

What is the “ unity ” Paul is referring to here ?

We must see that it is not primarily the unity of the universal church — that is , all Christians, everywhere, throughout all of history. Paul has already spoken of the unity of the universal church in chapter 3. This unity in the global body of Christ is still true here, but in chapter 4 Paul begins to talk more specifically about unity within the local body of Christ — that is , unity among individual Christians in individual churches .

We can see this by looking at the verses that follow. For example, v. 11-16:

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

What you need to see for now is that you can easily read these verses, and draw a straight line between what we are called to do and to whom we are called to do it .

He says in v. 12 that my work as pastor is to train the saints in the duties of service for the building up of the church . What “ saints ” am I supposed to equip? All the saints from all over the world? Of course not, it's impossible . My job is to equip you — the saints who are under my charge at Connexion.

Likewise, in v . 15 he calls us all to speak the truth in love, to grow together in Christ. Are we called to speak this truth in love to all believers everywhere? If we have the opportunity to do so , yes; but it is expected that we do it in a particular, intentional, active way, with the other members of our local body of believers , because it is with these people that we will have the most opportunities to do so.

Here's why I said all that. In general we like the idea of unity more than unity itself .

We like the idea that we are all united by faith in Christ. But maintaining that unity within a particular group of believers is a lot of work. It's chaotic, and it's painful, and you have to interact with real people, who have their sins, and we have our sins too, which makes things even more difficult.

It is much easier to pray for Christians in other countries than to actively build up someone in the church that you don't like. It is much easier to speak theoretically about unity than to make the choice not to let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (as Paul says in v. 29).

Well , that 's much harder. And that's why almost every time the Bible talks about unity in the body of Christ, it's in the context of the local church. He speaks of unity among individuals, in a particular church, because that is the more frequent (and more difficult) struggle.

So here is our starting point: we are called to maintain the unity of the local body of believers to which we belong, because we are members of each other, and have been placed there by God to build up the church in love, to grow to be like Christ.

The big question, which Paul answers in the second half of this chapter, is how do you do this? What does unity mean in the body? And what does it not mean?

Unity in the body ( 1)

Let's start with what unity in the body of Christ does not mean. There are tons of things that could be said about this, and from this text, but today I will limit myself to two.

The first thing, perhaps the most obvious, is that the unity of the body of Christ does not mean accepting or endorsing any person or any ministry that calls themselves “ Christian ”.

It hurts us to say that, but it must be said: everyone who calls himself a Christian is not a Christian. Not everyone who knows the Bible knows Christ. Not everyone who seems holy is holy.

Paul gives us many warnings in his letters about “wolves” entering the church to sow division and harm it. And they were mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus said that they will be known “by their fruits” ( Matthew 7:16 ). A wolf in an immaculate sheep’s costume is not a sheep.

To put it another way: if we identify someone who calls himself a Christian, but does not live like a Christian, we are not being an obstacle to the unity of the body if we decide to be careful around that person. This does not mean that we reject him, but the Bible regularly encourages us to be careful. And if that person proves to be a wolf, Jesus gives us a process to follow (which we’ll see next week) before treating that person as an unbeliever.

Acting this way is not an obstacle to the unity of the body, on the contrary: acting this way protects the unity of the body.

The second thing, which is perhaps a little more subtle (and this is a trap we regularly fall into), is that the unity in the body of Christ does not mean taking the sin of others lightly .

V. 17 -25 :

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Paul tells the Ephesians that they must no longer behave like the rest of the world, continuing in the same sin that they practiced before. Why? Because that is not how they learned Christ.

You see, Paul presumes that what he's telling them is things they already know— “you were taught in him…” (v. 21). In other words: he speaks to more experienced Christians, who know what Christ has done to unite them to God and to each other, and who should now know what behavior is appropriate for people who have rid themselves of the old man, to put on the new.

And the proper behavior for a Christian who has understood this is a determined refusal to continue behaving like unbelievers.

All this I can take for myself. But in v. 25 , he takes everything he said and applies it to our way of living together : THEREFORE —because of the call to holiness I have just given you— let each tell the truth to your neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Since you have learned to get rid of the old man, teach each other to do the same, remembering the truth of the gospel, for we are members of one another.

Paul just did what he told the Ephesians to do: although he presumes his readers to be more assertive Christians, he spent three chapters doing what? proclaiming the gospel to them! Because they need it to keep growing in their likeness to Christ. The gospel produces radical change, and we are called to urge ourselves toward that change.

You see, sometimes if we see our brothers and sisters going down a path that is dangerous, we are going to have to help them out of that path. But that, we have a lot of trouble doing — or else, we will apply a means of doing it which only deflects the problem.

Loanne and I know a church where there was a guy with a big personality, who knew his Bible well — he had a lot of “potential,” as they say. But we learned that this man was physically abusive towards his wife. The pastor of this church — wanting to “build him up” —decided that what would help him get over the course and change his life was a little responsibility. So he gave him responsibility for the youth group.

This is an extreme example, of course, but this sort of thing happens on a small scale all the time. Meaning well, desiring to help a brother or sister, or to avoid a difficult discussion, we will neglect to help them to see how serious their sin is .

I remember a discussion I had with a brother here some time ago. He was frustrated because when he struggled with temptation, his brothers in Christ , wanting to do well, encouraged him by saying: “Don't be too hard on yourself. We all struggle with sin. God's love is infinite, he forgives you.”

So of course it's true. But this brother said to me: “I would like them to be a little tougher on me, though — to tell me : 'Sin is awful , God commands you not to do this, and he loved you enough to give his Son for you. He freed you from sin, so don't dishonor Him by continuing in that sin. '”

It must be said clearly: even if we act out of love, not helping someone to take their sin seriously, or to accept the consequences of their sin, does not is not “ building up ” as Paul calls us to do.

Should we be there for our brothers and sisters who have sinned? Absolutely. Should we reject them for this? Of course not. Do we show them grace upon grace, and always forgive them? Yes and amen.

But — are we to let them continue to imagine that their sin is not serious? No. Should we encourage them to do as Micah did (in Micah 7), and accept the consequences of their sin, in order to grow in holiness? Yes.

The reality of our unity means that even more is expected of each other, and that we push each other toward holiness — with love and gentleness, but also with firmness. This is what builds up.

There's a lot more that could be said, but we'll get to that a bit more in the coming weeks, so I 'll stop there. Let's talk instead about what unity in the body means.

Unity in the body ( 2)

1. I won't spend too much time on the first one, because we talked about it ( in a way ) earlier . Unity in the body means that you should belong to a local church. As I said, everything he says here is directed, not to the universal church, but to the local church — first, the local church in Ephesus, and then, to other local churches who will read this letter later.

If you are called to serve and invest yourself in a specific group of people, for their edification … you must know who these people are. And they need to know who you are. It means that this practice that some of you are perfecting — the practice of going from church to church, of staying until it's hard, or you get bored, and then leaving — is not what the Bible calls us to. If we want to keep the unity of the body, we have to be part of the body — whether it's at Connexion or elsewhere, it doesn't matter. One must be committed and faithful to a local church, somewhere.

2. Conserving unity means taking our unity into account when choosing with whom we will spend our time.

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, before the message. Some people in the church (or some groups of people) fell into maintaining “cliques” —they spent their time with people “like them,” or people they knew well, to the exclusion of others. It almost always happens unconsciously — we don't do it on purpose — but unintentional wounds still hurt.

What is Paul telling us ( again)? V.4:

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

It is here that the unity of the universal church comes to play a role in the life of the local church: when someone who comes from another culture, or from another background re-plan, or another socio-economic group, comes into the church, and we don't know how to manage our relationship with that person. Well, if Paul is right, what does God want from us? We welcome them, we invite them to join us — no matter how weird it feels, because we think we have nothing in common.

And finally, why do we think that? In reality, we have a lot in common — we have the same hope, the same vocation, the same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism, the same God and Father of all. Do we need more than that to treat other members of the body as members of our body? No.

3. Maintaining the unity of the body means thinking before speaking. Both in substance and in form.

We have already seen this in v. 16, and in the following verses Paul gives us some examples of how this is done. V. 29:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

It's a bit shocking to see how little we think about the goal of our words, the goal of how we communicate them. Before speaking, do we ask ourselves, Is what I’m about to say going to build this person up? Will it show them grace?

Whenever we come together, formally or informally, these questions should be at the forefront of our minds. Because by speaking with intention — to convey grace to those who hear us — we protect our brothers and sisters from words that bring them down and destroy them. We edify them.

That’s concerning the content of our speech. Paul speaks of the form in v . 31:

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

God's people are to be marked by a radical gentleness. Again, this does not mean that we excuse the sin in others, but we are clear, when we address this sin, that we do it because we love them, and that we have forgiven them (even if they have hurt us), and that we are ready to walk with them toward Christ. And by being marked by this gentleness, we protect our brothers and sisters. We lift them up, draw them to Christ.

4 . Lastly : retaining unity in the body means recognizing that you were placed here for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and that they were placed here for you.

What does God want for his church? V. 15: that we grow

…in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

I've said this before, but Loanne and I have often had discussions with young single people or young couples who are thinking about marriage, and who want to know if it is God's will that they marry someone in particular. They ask me: “How do you know that it was God's will that you marry Loanne?”

My answer is always the same: “Because she's my wife.”

We believe in the sovereignty of God over all aspects of our lives, so we believe that if we are married today, it is God who placed us together. It was our choice, but he was sovereign over this choice.

But it's funny that we don't necessarily think the same way about the church. We say, “I decided to come here,” but not always, “God brought me here.”

Why would God be less intentional about the makeup of his Son's body than about whom I’m married to?

If I'm the one who decided to come here, then I'm free from obligation to the church; I can leave just as I came. But if it is God who brought me here, there’s an extra weight of commitment on my shoulders; if he brought me here, it’s because he has something for me to do here.

God is sovereign over the church into which he brings us. He is sovereign over the brothers and sisters with whom he has surrounded us. Look around you — the people around are there because God placed them there , and he placed you there too, for them.

God places believers where He places them for one simple reason: a body does not function without its members. If God was intentional in placing us here, then we must also recognize that He placed us here for a reason — to serve other members, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to enable us to be served by them.

Conclusion

There's obviously a lot more that could be said about this, and we'll be revisiting it in the weeks to come. But it is important that we realize that the main tool God uses to accomplish his plan in the world is the church, manifested in many local churches. He sent Christ to save his people, and he made his people his church, and he commissioned the church to go and make disciples of all nations. It is through the church (as Paul says in chapter 3) that he intends to show the universe his infinitely varied wisdom.

This means that our view of the church is typically far too small. The church is not just a group of people you love and want to spend time with. The church is not just a community. The church is the primary means by which God accomplishes his will in the world until Christ's return.

So he expects us, his children, to take our relationship to the church, and the way we live in the church, very seriously. There is nothing more important that we will do in our lives than our efforts to grow together, in Christlikeness, by sharing the gospel — out there, and with each other.

The people around you right now are the people you will spend all eternity with. You are, and you will be, united with them forever. So let us preserve, maintain, nourish the unity that God has established between us, for the glory that he will have in the Church and in Christ, forever.