Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Pastor Herk continues that the second sanctifying principle is that our attitudes do not create unity, but my attitudes preserve or destroy unity. There are certain attitudes which are crucial to living and walking in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. We as followers of Jesus Christ are not responsible for creating unity in the body, but we are called to have an attitude that encourages and preserves unity.
Ephesians 2:14-15 “For He [Jesus] Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace.” This pertains to the body of Believers; the corporate universal church and the individual local Christian churches in the world. That unity is in established in the church’s foundational vertical relationship with God and preserved in the horizontal relationship of Believers.
Romans 12:15-18 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.” Focus on the attitudes that promote peace and unity for the common good. Four attitudes that promote peace and unity are (1) Humility – defined as: (a) In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. (b) In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will. It means that we can put the needs of others ahead of our own. Without a doubt, the best example of humility is Jesus Christ. The Blessed Savior of the world exemplified humility, putting the need of us all and went to the Cross to save us.
The second attitude is (2) Gentleness – defined as: a genteel behavior. Softness of manners; mildness of temper; sweetness of disposition; meekness. Kindness; benevolence. Tenderness. In our culture, the word meekness carries with it a connotation of weakness, but is actually “power under control”. In Matthew 11:29Jesus invites us to, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” In being yoked to Jesus in gentle rest and humble peace is unity in the body of Believers, in which preservation is uncomplicated task.
The third attitude we need is (3) Patience – defined as: the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness. Patience may spring from constitutional fortitude, from a kind of heroic pride, or from Christian submission to the divine will. A calm temper which bears evils without murmuring or discontent. The act or quality of waiting long for justice or expected good without discontent. The Greek word is “makrothymia”, meaning endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, patience, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, Tolerance, self-control; against such things there is no law.” It is the quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation, which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish. Have a “long fuse”. It is the spirit which bears insult and injury without bitterness or complaint. It is the spirit that can suffer unpleasant people with graciousness and fools without irritation. It means that we willing to put up with those who are less spiritually mature and ignorant.
The fourth attitude we need is (4) bearing with one another. Unity in the body of Christ does not mean uniformity. God gave us different personalities, talents, abilities and gifts in order to work together. We need to honor, respect and make allowances for the uniqueness of each individual part of the church’s body of Believers. We are not to tolerate blatant sin, but we are to sincerely tolerate those who are different than us, bearing with one another. It is a unified decision to love. Maintain unity in the church.
In Christ, Brian
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