February 11th, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Together–But Different

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Opening Prayer

How awesome are You, my Lord Most High. I acclaim You as the Lord and King over all!

Read Ephesians 4:1-16

[1] As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. [2] Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. [3] Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. [4] There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism; [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [7] But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. [8] This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” [9] (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? [10] He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) [11] So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, [12] to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up [13] until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. [14] Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. [15] Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. [16] From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity” (Psa. 133:1, TNIV)! We must work and pray for unity among God’s people.

Think Further

Christians should be gentle and patient, and love and forgive one another (1,2)! With this admonition, Paul draws on the image of the body of Christ to show how necessary it is. The image of the body is much used by Paul (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:12-31; Col. 1:18). He returns to it whenever he wants to illustrate our interdependence within the church or the unity that underlies all our differences. Look at the aspects of our unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (4-6). But there is diversity, also. Paul quotes from a psalm to show that God gives gifts to people (7,8), and those gifts are quite varied. Yet although all the ministries within the church require different gifts (11,12), they are all dedicated to one purpose: the building up of the one universal church. 

The goal is a maturity of faith which enables the church to withstand any onslaught, whether from heresy, or power play, or destructive leadership (14). This will only be accomplished if the body stays united with the Head. The Christ who was incarnate among us (9,10) is now present in his body as its Head. He is the source of its life, the one who holds the body together in unity and love. 

It is easy to apply Paul’s concept of the body to a local church that we know. It is less easy to apply it to the Christian church worldwide. Traditions, cultures and theological emphases can be so different. Yet whenever I worship across national boundaries, I realize again what Paul means. However different or distant we are from each other, we belong together. For wherever Jesus is at the center, there’s unity.

Apply

Resolve to visit a church this month of a different tradition from your own, and ask God to draw you into a spirit of unity with them.

Closing prayer

Lord, I thank You for the unity, diversity, and maturity of Your worldwide church. By Your Spirit, press in on the church where it needs to be renewed.

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