Walking Worthy

Read Ephesians 4:1-16

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace.”
(Ephesians 4:3)

Thoughts… The story is told of Princess Margaret, when she was a young girl, as she sat beside her mother, Queen Elizabeth. It was the first presentation to the British public of the princess and she was called to walk to the microphone and say a few words to the dignitaries. As she prepared to stand, her mother leaned over to her and whispered, “You are a princess. Now walk like one!”

As children of the King, our actions ought to match our royal identity. That’s why, after spending the first three chapters in Ephesians telling us who we are, the Apostle Paul now says, “You’re a prince… you’re a princess…you’re a child of the King…now walk like one.” In light of what God has done for us through Christ—he has chosen, adopted, and accepted us as his very own—we must now walk worthy of our royal calling.

And the first duty of our worthy walk is to walk in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have been united with Christ, now we are to be untied with others in the family of God.

So just what is unity? It is oneness of purpose. It is putting personal agendas—preferences, opinions, demands, expectations—on the back burner to allow God’s purpose for his church to be our first and all-consuming passion.

Now that doesn’t mean that within the body of Christ we won’t have different opinions, desires or preferred ways of doing things, it just means that those differences are not going to become issues that divide us from our unity and distract us from our purpose. Nor does unity means uniformity. By God’s design, the church is an incredibly diverse organism, as witnessed by the variety of spiritual gifts that have been given to the individual members who make up the church. The church arguably the most diverse institution on the planet. It just that its diversity is channeled into a singleness of mind and ministry that makes it altogether unique.

So how does that kind of unity come about, and how can we as individual members of Christ body contribute to its unity? In verses 2-3, Paul asks us to cultivate six unity producing virtues: Humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort and peace.

To begin with, we are to “be completely humble…” Humility is foundational to all the other virtues needed to produce unity. In fact, it’s the most foundational of all Christian virtues. Humility literally means to think or judge with lowliness of mind.

The concept of humility is uniquely Christian. The Greeks and Romans had no word for it. Some think Paul may have coined the word himself. Later secular writers began to use it in a pejorative sense as a character weakness. But in the Biblical sense, humility is anything but a weakness. It is to see yourself as you truly are, no more and no less. It’s to see yourself as God sees you. That is the basis of unity.

Now the product of humility is the next virtue: Gentleness. We are to “be completely…gentle…” Biblical gentleness simply means to be mild-spirited and self-controlled. It doesn’t refer to someone who is weak, but to one whose power was under control.

Along with gentleness we need to practice patience. Paul says in verse 2, “Be patient…” Literally, patience means to be “long-tempered.” It refers to someone who has the right and the power to strike back, but doesn’t. It’s the ability to endure irritating people without fighting back and undesirable circumstances without giving in.

The next part of this worthy walk is that we must demonstrate unconditional love. We are to “…bear with one another in love.” That means being willing to cut others some slack. It means not being quick to jump on someone because of either an unintentional mistake or a deliberate sin, even when that sin is directed at you. It’s the kind of love that Peter talks about in I Peter 4:8 when he says, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” It throws a blanket over the sins of others, not to justify or excuse them but to keep those sins from becoming any more destructive to the individual who committed them or to the one against whom they were committed. Literally, it means to practice unqualified and unselfish love, even when that love is not reciprocated.

Another virtue needed for unity is hard work. We are to make every “effort” to keep the unity of the Spirit. Unity doesn’t come easily. The drift is always toward individualism, isolation and division. It takes commitment and intentionality to go against the current and stay in harmony with others. The word effort means to be diligent, to be zealous, to make haste to do something. In this case, it means being eager and fully dedicated to maintain the unity of the Spirit. It refers to a holy zeal that guards our Christian unity.

Finally, if we’re going walk in unity, we’ve got to pursue peace. The final part of verse 3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” If humility is the foundation for unity, then peace is the frame that holds it together. Paul says in Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune and in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing.”

When these virtues of unity—humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort, and peace—are lived out, the body of Christ will build itself up in love as each part does its work.

Vance Havner once said, “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.” That’s a great picture of spiritual unity. Unity among God’s people is a very powerful thing. Without it, the church is dead in the water. But with it, the church is an unstoppable force in the world. Get the individual members who make up the church in unity of mind and purpose, and watch out world!

And that’s God’s greatest desire for us!

Prayer… Lord Jesus, you prayed that we would be one, just as you and the Father are one. Help me, O Lord, to do whatever I can to see that prayer answered through my life. Make me a champion for the spiritual unity of your church.

One More Thing… “Where there is unity there is always victory.” —Publilius Syrus