With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility for Unity

Ephesians 4:1-16

Superheroes are a fantasy. The idea of flying through the air, swinging from building to building, or being strong enough to do anything you can imagine. People like to indulge these fantasies for many reasons, but mostly it’s just fun – who wouldn’t have fun web-slinging through NYC like Spider-Man? However, they quickly learn that along with the benefits come responsibilities. In turn, Paul has spent a lot of time in this letter telling the Ephesian church how amazing it is to be a Christian. Yet it’s not all potlucks and parties – there is also work to do.

Unity has been the focal point of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians thus far – with power. God’s power brings us together, then we are to use that power to stand firm together against evil and for God. We are going to take that 50k foot concept and bring it down to ground level. First off – unified calling.

We Have One Calling

Paul, from prison, is urging the church to walk in the manner in which they were called. These first verses are packed full of repetition and emphasis (calling to which you’ve been called, urge, eager, even prisoner if you go back to the last section) that highlights Paul’s dire intent for them to begin LIVING OUT the unity they have as children of God. It’s time to start taking these ideas seriously – we are all in the same boat, regardless of age, gender, retirement status, race, etc…

It’s from this intensity that Paul calls for them to “make every effort” in v3. ESV uses urge, but I like other versions of this phrase better. It means that this is top priority, vitally important, and should be first thing on their to-do lists. They will know we are Christians by our love, and yes, THEY are watching! My wife met a girl while on a missions trip and hung out with her for one day. Then, a year or so later, they bumped into each other again (in another country) and this girl had since become a Christian, citing Nita and her friends’ niceness as a reason for her new faith. Yes, we all have differences and they can lead to conflict, but people should see us in harmony together – consider the Trinity as an example.

We Have One Head

God is one – the Shema in Deut. 6 makes that clear, but throughout scripture the truth is also plain that there are three distinct persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I have heard it said the truly best example of how the Trinity works is a picture of marriage – separate, but truly unified in body, spirit, and purpose, connected completely through fully unified harmony. We humans, the church, are all part of that unity too. And if we are together, we must be together – each of us distinct, but unified together – just like the body.

While people can walk on their hands, that won’t work over long distances and no one can hear through their eyes. We all serve distinct purposes inside the family of God and all of us are individually equipped for those specific purposes. God equips each person for each situation. We need each other to fill out the fullness of who we are supposed to be in Christ.

We Have One Training Plan

This means our group, here today, was brought together on purpose for a reason. While we do not know the extent of the details, we do know that it includes a training plan. Just like Paul explained in 1 Cor 4, everyone plays a role in our growth, as we all grow together with God causing it all to work together. We could get into the specifics of the different roles listed in v11, but the point is that it takes a village to equip a saint for the work of ministry. That means each saint is expected to be involved in ministry and be working on their spiritual growth. It’s time for us to grow up and take this faith thing seriously. That means we understand our faith not as a personal “get out of hell free” card, but as a barrel of monkeys – working together to bring salvation to everyone we can reach out to.

SO WHAT?

Maybe church would be better if we saw ourselves more like a youth group – we could focus more on the mission than on the miles. Making friends, being with each other and all learning and growing together seems like a much better idea.

1. Unity requires action – we can be unified if we aren’t all living Christ in our actions and attitudes. Pay attention to who you are representing!
2. Instead of looking for reasons to disagree or criticize, look for way to agree with someone.
3. Step into the leadership pipeline and grow! Engage with a ministry today?
   We are in this together and are called to do this together.

God has given us everything we need – most notably Himself and each other – to do this, so let’s team up, work together and all roll up our sleeves. It’s time for Lake Wales to meet this local barrel of monkeys!