The Apostle Paul calls Christians to maintain the ‘unity of the Spirit’.
“Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:3
In his appeal Paul points out that we are not to be confused by many variations of spiritual things.
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-6
Christianity has at times been a battleground of competing ideas and creeds. I dare say that behind much of those divisions through the centuries we would find such things as pride, desire for control, deception and delusion, immaturity, selfishness and even much worse things.
As a result we have a greatly divided landscape of denominations, theologies, forms of worship and so on. Those things were beginning to emerge in the early church. The Apostle John wrote about a leader in one church who liked to be the king pin and control what others can do.
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.” 3John 1:9
Paul and Barnabas disagreed about who should go on their ministry team and they split up as a result.
“The contention between them was so sharp that they separated one from the other. Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus” Acts 15:39
Paul also warned the church leaders at Ephesus that over time some of them would even become bad leaders.
“From among you men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away a personal following.” Acts 20:30
So we should not be surprised at the diversity of thought that has emerged over time. However, we should also note that Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus to maintain the ‘unity of the Spirit’.
The unity we maintain is based on the fact that in God there is no diversity. God is not divided and neither is Christ.
Paul had to address this issue in the church at Corinth as well.
“Each one says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas (Peter), or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptised in the name of Paul?” 1Corinthians 1:12,13
The unity we enjoy is based on the fact that there is one Christ, one Holy Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”.
For all kinds of reasons Christians get upset with each other, disagree, part company, seek their own interests, have favourite ideas, like certain things certain ways and so on. For a company of people commanded by Christ to “Love one another” we do a pretty poor job of getting along.
“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, so love one another.” John 13:34
We are to do all we can to maintain the ‘unity of the Spirit’ and we do that best when we ‘love one another’.
Let’s see if we can’t make sense of what we are to do. There is only one God one Christ and one faith, explained to us in the Bible. All those who put their faith in the Christ of the Bible for salvation have come to the same Christ. It doesn’t matter whether they did that at a huge meeting, a home group or on the side of the road. Those who confess Christ as Lord, similarly, are worshipping the same Lord, whether in a cathedral or a barn.
It is the same Holy Spirit at work in our lives when we come to Christ, whether we are in a formal or informal church, or whether we read one translation of the Bible or another.
Paul did not argue for one form of church management, or one type of worship song, or one formula for prayer.
There is and always will be diversity. Some of that will be for good reasons and some from bad. But we maintain unity by recognising all those who have put their faith in the same Christ and Lord we love and serve.
In every church there are likely those who don’t know Christ, despite going through the church routines. They may likely put their faith in their church to save them, rather than Christ. But there are also people in unlikely places who have cried out to the Lord and put their faith in Christ. We are prompted by Paul to stop splitting ourselves up and living in disunity at our heart level.
Christians will continue to worship God in diverse ways with various ideas about various Bible topics. We are not expected to become a global church all doing the same thing the same way. But all who put their faith in Christ are born again as children of the same God, with the same Lord and receiving the same Holy Spirit.
So, in light of that, I join with Paul in calling you to maintain the Unity of the Spirit.
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