So – the Lord woke me up this morning with the word “Unity” on my mind. At the core of the ministry that I am involved in is the idea that the local church should be ready to engage their community, their Jerusalem if you will, after disasters strike. Not in isolation but in harmony or unity with other evangelical churches. That requires that the churches reach across their denominational, racial, national, and demographic distinctives – to push them aside in light of what it is that makes them the same – salvation by faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone. In my years of “reaching across the aisle” to embrace my Brother, there has often been a natural condition to establish a spiritual connection. First accept my humanity – who I am naturally – and then I can engage you spiritually. It is backwards. It says I am a natural man before I am a spiritual man.
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” – Ephesians 4:11-14
There are a lot of reasons why it is hard for some Christians to embrace other Christians. It is easy to try to dismiss their angst when their hardship has not fallen on you but on the other person. Years ago I was in a meeting associated with the Promise Keepers ministry. The focus of the meeting was reconciliation in the body of Christ. The leader asked the men of color, “How many of you have experienced prejudice and bigotry?” Nearly every hand – maybe every hand – was raised. Then he asked, “How many of white men in the room have shown prejudice or bigotry toward someone?” A few hands of “honest” men raised their hands. Then he asked, “Those of you who did not raise your hands – do you care that it even happened to your Brothers?” That is really the question – “Do you care?” The precondition to unity between people who are not the same on the outside is that they must the same on the inside.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Before I can love my Brother in the way that honors God and my Brother, I must first be wholly committed to loving God. It is my devotion to the Father through the Son by the Spirit that changes me and enables me to love others. We often quote Matthew 22:37-39 as if they reflect actions that are independent to God and fully dependent upon us. Love God and love people. The truth is, because God loved us – we have the capacity to love Him and to love others as an outpouring of our relationship with Him.
“We love Him because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
There is division in the Body of Christ because there is a division of devotion in our hearts. To be reconciled to each other – we must first be reconciled to God. We must stop embracing our differences as a point of pride and, instead, take pride in what makes us the same – our faith in Jesus and our adoption as sons and daughters of the most high God.
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35
So how is that working out for you?
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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