Hammer on Anvil '

"I will be in them and You will be in Me so that they will be completely one. Then the world will know that You sent Me..." (John 17:23, NCV).

Generally when we talk about unity in the Body of Christ, Ephesians 4:3 is the Scripture cited: "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." But as I read this passage from John last week in my devotions, the second part of this verse grabbed me: "THEN the world will know that You sent Me."

When will the world know that God sent Jesus? When His followers are "completely one." Gulp.

If you have been part of a body of believers for any length of time, you are well aware of the fact that sometimes unity seems hard to come by. We seem to forget that we are not our own, that we were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. We push and shove and gossip and try to cause dissension when we don't get our own way.

Just last week, I heard another sad story of a church about to implode due to lack of unity. The youth group was given permission to do a worship service. When they began to play and sing, the adults promptly sat down, rather than standing for worship as they would normally do. The message they sent to the youth was, "If you're not going to do things OUR way, we're opting out." How tragic!

First Peter 2:9 says we are "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a  holy nation." Our mission is to "declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness." The knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus should bond us together in holy, brotherly love. What can be done to foster unity of the Spirit?

Nothing is more vital in this endeavor than to commit ourselves to lives of prayer. Remember the Upper Room? Christ's followers stayed there for ten days and "joined together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14). Jesus had exhorted them to not leave Jerusalem, but to "wait for the gift My Father promised" (Acts 1:4). I sense that in those ten days of united prayer, the disciples' hearts were knit together as one. Today, it's like pulling teeth to get God's people to come together for a prayer meeting.

I recently read an Andrew Murray devotional that painted a vivid picture of the importance of unity:

Because of the many mountains in Natal (a region in South Africa), the streams often flow down with great force. The Zulus join hands when they want to pass through a stream. The leader has a strong stick in the right hand, and gives his left hand to some strong man who comes behind him. And so they form a chain and help each other cross the current. When God's people reach out their hands to each other in the spirit of prayer, there will be power to resist the terrible influence that the world can exert. In that unity, God's children will have power to triumph with God.

Wow. What a lovely illustration of unity in the Body of Christ! Joining hands in a spirit of prayer, realizing that we CANNOT do life alone!

Are you forming a chain today in your relationships with other believers? Or are you yanking and pulling and stubbornly trying to go your own way? My friends, the world will not know we are believers in Jesus when all they see is bickering and jealousy. John 13:35 says, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."

Let's try to do what the disciples did as they waited for the Holy Spirit. In the communion of loving, believing, faithful prayer, our hearts can be united for the one purpose of living for and glorifying God. 




 

 Last week I blogged about what it means to be part of the Body of Christ. This week I would like to expand that by talking about how vital it is that we "keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).

Acts 4:32 says, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had." A quick read through the Book of Acts gives us an accurate picture of what can be accomplished for the kingdom of God when we are unified. Paul's ministry was so extraordinary that we are told, "When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled" (Acts19:12).

Is it any wonder, then, that the enemy of our souls perpetually pits us against each other and provokes disunity? Consider this quote by Charles Spurgeon:

Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart. Anything which can divide saints from one another he delights in. He attaches far more importance to godly intercourse than we do. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.

Sometimes this separation comes from places you would least expect it. Like when your church is experiencing a crisis, and people bail instead of sticking it out. Or when a sister falls into sin, and you overhear another congregant gossiping about it to others. In this age of technology, Facebook seems to have become the weapon of choice for people to rail against anybody and everybody with whom they disagree. And yes, unfortunately I mean church people. Instead of handling differences in a godly manner, some take the cowardly way out and post inflammatory things on Facebook. Instead of building each other up, we fall right into Satan's trap and do his bidding.

Not taking our church responsibilities seriously also promotes disunity. When we are scheduled to serve in some capacity and don't bother to show up, others are left scrambling. Sometimes things happen and absence is unavoidable, but we should all be considerate enough to get someone to fill in for us if we can't make it. 

Common courtesy and consideration go a long way toward promoting unity. Think about how you would like to be treated, and make an effort to treat others in a like manner. If you see that the leadership in your church is burdened, do what you can to help out. Pray diligently for them. If you know a particular ministry is in dire need of people to fill positions, offer to help once in a while. If you notice that the bathroom is a bit untidy, grab a rag or a toilet brush or whatever is necessary and take a few minutes to clean it up yourself.

Something we can all do to help promote unity is to watch what we say. Before you open your mouth to complain, consider the brother or sister to whom you are speaking. Is your complaint really valid, or do you just want to vent? What is the condition of your brother or sister at the time? Are they harried and pressed for time? Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." Take time to consider if the timing is right and if what you want to say is really important, or is better left unsaid. The Holy Spirit will help you determine the appropriateness or inappropriateness of your speech.

Finally, meditate on this truth from Charles H. Brent:

The unity of Christendom is not a luxury, but a necessity. The World will go limping until Christ's prayer that all may be one is answered. We must have unity, not at all costs, but at all risks. A unified Church is the only offering we dare present to the coming Christ, for in it alone will He find room to dwell.

Blessings on you, my brothers and sisters.

Several years ago I read Chuck Colson's book The Body. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. Colson addresses what the Church is supposed to be in the world, and what its adherents are supposed to be to each other. The latter is what I would like to address in this blog.

Most of us have no qualms about the Church being salt and light in the world. But some of us have no clue what it means to be part of a local body of believers. We have bought into the entertainment mentality that says if things aren't the way we want them to be, we can just leave and go somewhere else. Colson observes, "What many are looking for is a spiritual social club, an institution that offers convivial relationships but certainly does not influence how people live or what they believe." And he is absolutely right.

Surveys show that the number one thing people look for in a church is fellowship. But what most spoiled Westerners seek looks nothing like the Early Church. The New Testament Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, and describes a tight-knit community in which people enter into a covenant to submit to one another, support one another, bear one another's burdens, and "build each other up in their most holy faith" (Jude 1:20).

Biblical fellowship is not to be taken lightly. It involves serious commitment. And sometimes it means tough love, because we are called to hold each other accountable. Ah, there's the rub: as soon as someone suggests that we may have been irresponsible or unChristian in our actions or attitudes, we get our undies in a bunch and announce that we can simply go elsewhere. And we certainly can go elsewhere. Unfortunately a plethora of churches exist where you not only don't have to be accountable to anyone, but nobody even knows your name.

What J.I. Packer calls "hot tub religion" embraces anything that makes us feel better about ourselves. But Colson reminds us:

The gospel teaches that our hope is not in finding our true self but in losing our true self. That which defiles us is what is in us, Christ said. When we honestly look inside at our sin-scarred lives, we ought to be repulsed by our "true" selves. We then repent and die to ourselves so that Christ's atoning grace might cleanse us.

Are you in need of being cleansed by Christ's atoning grace today? Have you been whining about not getting your own way in the church you attend, or whining about how you're not "being fed"? Open your eyes and realize that YOU are not supposed to be the focus. Dust off your Bible and begin feeding yourself, instead of expecting someone at church to do it for you. Think about the Body of Christ, and the part you play in it. Are you serving, or simply warming the pew each week? You might be surprised at how little you think about yourself when you're being poured out in service to others.

I leave you with a precious reminder from Paul's letter to the Philippians:

When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.

Over the past several months I have become increasingly aware of the growing loss of community in our society. When I was a little girl, I lived on a square block with a park in the middle. If I stand in my parents' old front yard, I can still point out 90% of the houses on the block and tell you who had lived there. Above that, I could recite at least one story of how each family touched mine. Now, having moved back very close to my old neighborhood, I know the names of only one of the neighbors on my block.

It has been said that it takes a community to raise a child, and that was certainly put into play when I was a kid. All of us living in that square block knew that if any of our neighbors saw us behaving badly, our parents would hear about it before we got home. Likewise, if we were ever in need, we could knock on any door and request help, whether if it was for a band-aid or a glass of water. So much of our time was spent in the company of others living near us, and families were connected by much more than proximity to each other.

As I drive through my neighborhood these days, I rarely see a person outside of their house. Some of my neighbors have lived in these houses for decades, but no one on the block knows who they are. I have never seen the inside of any of the homes on my street, nor invited any of them inside mine.

This isolation is not only happening in our communities; it is also a problem in our churches. Hebrews 10:24 & 25 reminds us: "let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Followers of Christ need each other to stay strong in the faith. There is so much evil in the world, and so little refreshment. Out of  168 hours in a week, one hour on Sunday morning is not enough to power us for the other 167. 

Living in community in our church leads to greater compassion for the lost in our neighborhoods. As we get encouragement from our brothers and sisters in Christ, we begin to see (and feel) the great need of unbelievers. When we truly empathize with our neighbors, we begin to repair the overwhelming damage that isolation has done to our country and our world. Consider how you can stimulate your church family to love and good deeds, and what impact those deeds will have on your neighbors. It could be a world-changing activity.

At church yesterday, our worship leader shared a story that I found interesting. Apparently, when he was growing up, he would never sing in church because he was too embarrassed about his voice. This was the case all the way through high school, but then it finally changed in college. When he got to college, he was at a Christian student union during a worship event and there was a guy he knew who would just belt it out without reservation. What’s so special about that you ask? Well, this guy was a horrible, horrible singer. But the thing is, he didn’t seem to care. All he cared about was what God thought and he was singing from his heart knowing that it was a pleasing sound to God. This changed our worship leader’s perspective and made him realize what really mattered. He started singing.

Hearing this story, I recognized some parallels to my own life, which made me wonder if most of us can connect to this in some way. We all have things we are good at. Areas where we excel. Gifts. Maybe we don’t fully recognize their full potential or maybe we haven’t developed our gifts as far as others, but we DO have them. But in many cases, we don’t utilize our gifts (or maybe we don’t utilize our gifts to further God’s Kingdom).

Why is that, do you think? There are probably as many excuses as there are gifts. It could be that a person is self-conscious (like the worship leader), or maybe he doesn’t use his gift because he feels like he’s showing off when he uses it (because he excels more than others), or perhaps he’s too busy with this, that, and everything to find time to use the gift, but just knowing he is gifted feels like it’s enough.

But the thing is, God gave you your gifts for a reason. He has a purpose. And you are endangering that purpose when you chose to allow the excuse to subdue the gift.

We all make up different parts of the same body (Christ’s body). If God has gifted you as a leg, then the body not only wants you to be a leg, but it NEEDS you to be a leg. If you chose not to exercise that gift, you have disabled the body. Can the body still function? Sure. Can it function at full capacity without you? No.

The body needs you. Step up. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27)