If you want unity, you must find it in Christ. If you want to be a follower of Christ, you must pursue unity. Unity is not optional. (Eph. 4:3)
Last Sunday, in a sermon from Ephesians 2:11-22, we gave you six ways to pursue unity in the local church and encouraged you to choose one, discuss it, and prayerfully pursue it. Here are those six ways in written format to assist you on your continued pursuit.
1) Forgive
The greatest threat to our unity is unforgiveness. We will have conflicts and we will offend each other. The conflicts aren’t a threat to our unity. Our unwillingness to give grace and forgive is the threat. The conflicts are opportunities for grace to shine! An absence of grace among those who have been chosen, made alive, and saved by grace is a contradiction. “The church is the arena where the results of Christ’s peacemaking are to be seen …The peace gained at the cost of Christ’s death and realized in the church is to be preserved and demonstrated and to be proclaimed by the Church in the world.” – AT Lincoln
2) Love Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in and through Christ
Don’t let the world co-opt these beautiful concepts and words. Be careful also not to turn your nose up at them. Diversity and unity in the midst of diversity are God’s ideas. Belonging of all people from different backgrounds is God’s idea. The world has missed both the problem and the solution. It’s our responsibility and joy to put a better way on display. Let Jesus reign over diversity, inclusion, equity, access, and belonging by GRACE.
3) Extend grace to those outside
Close to the heart of the Jews’ problem Paul referenced in Ephesians 2:12 was that they judged those who were “not in” for not being in. How do you respond to those seeking unity and inclusion apart from Christ? Do you speak about them in a demeaning, adversarial, or sarcastic fashion? Friends, our unbelieving neighbors desperately want unity and belonging. Everybody wants church. But not everybody wants Christ. But at one time, neither did we … So we should courageously and compassionately give them Christ. And pray for them and ask the Lord to move on their hearts so they’ll belong to this awesome family.
4) Look for “stones" that are out of place
Be on the lookout for members of the church who are on the outside. Who don’t feel like they belong. Who feel lonely and isolated. Maybe who are just new. Seek them out and draw them in.
5) Don’t rebuild the wall of hostility
Are you giving general preference to one group of people who are like you in a certain way to the exclusion of another group. There is no “core team” and “new members” in our preference of one another. There are no “young people” and “old people”. There is no “singles” and “marrieds”. There are no “latinos” and “Asians” and “white people”. There are no “fantasy football people” and “non fantasy football people”. Here’s a test: There should be no social groups within the church that are inaccessible.
6) Speak well of one another
The way we speak about one another is critical. Gossip, slander, and even jokingly speaking about the flaws, temptations, and weaknesses of others threatens the unity of the local church and distorts the beauty of what God has accomplished in us in Christ.
Our unity in Christ is precious. May He preserve it until the day we die or the day He returns.
