Keeping Unity

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:3

What shall we make of this exhortation of Paul's to unity? One thing is clear: Paul explicitly recognizes the reality of friction among Christians. He would not urge Christians to keep the unity of the Spirit if there were not differences existing among them. There were obviously forces at work in the early church to divide the Christian body. To counteract these forces, the apostle urged them to be make every effort to keep the unity. That implies more than mere willingness, but willingness plus action. Paul is saying, Be proactive! Take positive, aggressive action to maintain unity! The King James translation is more accurate in this regard: earnestly endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

It is unrealistic for Christians to pretend there are no differences among them. There is no group in the world so gloriously diverse and heterogeneous as the church. The genius of the church is that it is made up of so many different kinds of people. In the true church of Christ, the rich and poor gather on the same footing, without distinction, without favoritism; in Christ, there is no distinction between Jews or Gentiles, men or women, black, white, or any other color.

This is not the way the church has always behaved. Friction has existed in the Christian community since the first century. There was the great disagreement over the relationship between Gentile believers and Jewish believers in the early church. In Paul's letter to the Philippians, two ladies are mentioned who had difficulty getting along with each other. Their names were Euodia and Syntyche (or, as they have sometimes been rendered, Odious and Soon-Touchy). Disagreements and personality differences continue to be a source of friction in the church today.

But also embedded in Paul's message to the Ephesian church is a powerful implication: Despite the differences between the early Christians, there is also a basic, underlying unity. It is not a unity that the believers themselves have produced. In fact, nowhere does the apostle tell the believers that they should strive to produce unity. Instead — and this is crucially important to understand — he tells them to keep the unity that is already there! The church is never told to create unity. There is a unity that exists in the church by virtue of the simple fact that the church exists. We human beings are incapable of producing this unity which is so essential to the life of the body. It can only be produced by the Spirit of God. But once produced, it is the responsibility of Christians to keep this unity. We maintain this unity through Christlike love.

Father, help me to recognize that I need to promote the unity that the church has been given in Jesus Christ.