I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:1-6)
As a prisoner, Paul was writing his friends in Ephesus to encourage them to live out the reality of chapters 1-3: that God had lavished them with such grace that they were now at peace with each other, at peace with God, and permanent citizens of a heavenly kingdom. This grace also created unity within the broad Body of Christ that was to be reflected in their lives together. The same thing is true for us within SGC- the unity God created between us is more powerful than anything that happens among us. We can see this burden carried forth in verses 1-6 in three ways:
First, God created our community. “The calling to which you have been called” (v 1) refers to their corporate calling to a life of hope, power, and future together (reference 1:18…) This amazing reality is the foundation of our church and makes it different than a sports league, political party, or country club. God is doing amazing and eternal things within our church and calls us to a wonderful future together. QUESTION: How have you experienced the grace of God in the past through your relationships in this church? How have you sought to cultivate amazement for what God has done?
Second, sin will threaten our community. “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” refers to Paul’s concern that we can live instead as proud, harsh, impatience people bent on bearing grudges rather than bearing with others. Both the Ephesians then and we now know that it’s easy to be offended by other’s mistakes, habits, and sins against us. But we need to be aware of the sinful tendency to respond in kind to others. Darren mentioned that he was offended and tempted to sin when he received an e-mail this past week. He confessed the sins of critical judgment and anger against the person who sent it to him. QUESTION: When you enter into conflict, what sins are you often tempted to commit (judgments, silent bitterness, angry slander, etc)? Is there any area of bitterness in your life over something that happened in the past?
Third, we will maintain this community. “Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” is Paul’s way of saying that we are called to keep and guard the unity that God has created. We are to watch over it as the guard in Acts was called to watch over Paul and Silas. When we do, we declare to all those watching that our “rights” are not as important as God’s glory displayed in our community. QUESTION: Do you find yourself “eager” to maintain community when a conflict arises? Why or why not? How does this category affect the way you’ve handled conflicts that arise… even at home with your parents, siblings, or spouse? When you have reconciled a conflict, how has that affected your relationship with them and with the Lord?
I pray these thoughts are helpful as you serve one another this week,
Darren
