Unity strengthened through Gifts.  Ephesians 4.4-16

Greetings. 

It is a pretty song and builds as it moves along … and joining my voice to those around me at church yesterday, I was struck by its powerful truths.  ‘We welcome you with praise, Almighty God of Love, be welcomed in this place …let every heart adore, let every soul awake, Almighty God of Love, be welcomed in this place … we are here for you.’  That’s it!  That’s the way we should think, the way we should interact with others; it should be the mindset of the Christ follower. -> We are here for you, God.   And, if it is our attitude, harmony and unity will be normal and natural; no struggle among believers, or trouble getting along.

Look back at the song lyrics – does God feel welcome in your church or Christian community?  He doesn’t where there is dissension or strife. And Friend, if you are one who stirs up either, your heart does not make a welcome environment for him either.

Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity.¹

Ah, unity within the body of Christ . . . what a challenge it seems to be!  Yet it is the model of the trinity itself, is it not?  Father, Son and Holy Spirit existing and moving in perfect harmony.  For Christ-followers to be one, as Jesus and the Father are one, figures prominently in one of Jesus’ last prayers before he went to the cross, showing it is paramount in the heart and mind of God. 

Of course, there is no unity or show of unity, without love.  Christians are called to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength … and then, to love neighbor as self.  Period.  By this, all men will know we are Christians  . . . or not.² 

Our Lord has not just called us to unity, he has given us gifts to use to build up, equip and encourage the body of Christ.  Paul recalls some of what he had written to the Corinthian church (chapter 12) about how the church is to function, each member using his gifts to cause the whole to function and flourish.  Take a look:

“For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say,

“When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives?and gave gifts to his people.”

Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”  verses 4 – 16

Spiritual gifts flourish in a climate of love and solid biblical teaching . . . and so does unity!

And, the song?  Why, of course—click to watch: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=0FCM0CNU    “Here for You” ~ Chris Tomlin

Christine 

1 – Colossians 3.14

2 – I love this treatise on Christian’s love by Francis Schaeffer; here is a synopsis of it: http://www.ccel.us/schaeffer.html