Have you ever wanted to take a quick peek at someone else’s mail? Maybe it was an envelope from a doctor’s office that held the results of a family member’s recent medical tests. Or perhaps it was a letter addressed to your parents from an estranged family member. As you held the envelope in your hands, the temptation to open it might have felt overwhelming. In the country where I live, a person can go to prison for tampering with another’s mail. But, in a way, that’s what we do every time we open one of the epistles in the New Testament.
These letters found in God’s Word were written to individual believers and to young churches that had been planted across the Roman Empire during the earliest days of Christianity. The apostle Paul wrote 13 of the letters, each addressing a specific situation or concern.
Halfway into his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul pleaded with his readers to “make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3). Why did he want them to be one? Because they shared so many ones—one body, one Spirit, one glorious hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Oneness. It’s meant to be the heartbeat of God’s people. And Paul wrote that humble, gentle, patient, and peaceful attitudes are what will help a heart of unity to beat strong (Ephesians 4:2-3).
When believers in Jesus experience conflicts and disagreements (and we will), pride, harshness, impatience, and intolerance won’t keep us together. Those things will only tear us apart. Instead, we need to remember the letter to the Ephesians which reminds us to “be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of [our] love” (Ephesians 4:2).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Matthew 10:16-42
More:
Read Ephesians 4:32 and reflect on the example Jesus gave us of loving others well.
Next:
How have you struggled to achieve unity with other believers in Jesus who have differing views of disputable matters? (such as dress, music, worship styles, Bible translations). How can you move towards unity in the days ahead?
LCC on July 15, 2014 at 2:04 am
This article reminded me of the oneness that Jesus spoke in John 13 :35 and His prayers for believers in John 17 :20-22.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-22).
Wayne on July 15, 2014 at 6:09 am
Love one another like Christ loves us !
Wayne
Gary Shultz on July 15, 2014 at 6:56 am
In the country I live in we have the same mail thing. It seems we find more ways to frag then to become one. I think it is one of the first things Christ wanted us to do, love one another. I think I could even get to like you.
Tom Felten on July 15, 2014 at 9:31 am
I don’t know about that, Gary. You’ll have to meet Jeff sometime to know what I mean . . . 🙂
godlove on July 15, 2014 at 7:45 am
This topic of unity of believers is a very important one for me. Why do we Christians have so many “denominations”? I see each of these many denominations as a sign of division among Christians. Why (oh why?) can’t we all be together under one body, with “one Spirit, one glorious hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father”. I wonder what Christ thinks of us his followers always antagonising over all sorts of (dare I say trivial) issues instead of looking for reasons to be united and be as ONE!
Tom Felten on July 15, 2014 at 9:35 am
Good question, godlove. One of our colleagues at RBC Ministries (parent ministry of Our Daily Journey) has written this article on why there are so many denominations. Hope it proves to be helpful!
godlove on July 16, 2014 at 9:13 am
Thanks a lot for that very informative article Tom.
I quote: “While this fragmentation makes it more difficult for the world to see the unity of the Body of Christ, it’s also true that these groupings make it harder for the church as a whole to become mired in ritual and formalism than would be the case if one denomination dominated Christian life.”
I see that as some sort of (unsatisfactory) justification of having many denominations. Each denomination is probably “mired” in its own formalisms so if that is the price to pay for us to achieve true unity, why not? I think all of the historical reasons for divisions in the church could have been avoided and maybe today we would all be one, even if some particularities of worship can be accepted depending on the church house (congregation, temple, …) where you worship. (For the record, I’m an ordinary Protestant Christian.)
My initial worry persists: what does Christ think of us his followers antagonising over (trivial) issues instead of looking for reasons to be united and be as ONE!