This may be far too honest, but there are times that I read passages of Scripture and I don’t particularly like them. They are challenging and convicting. They aren’t coffee mug or needlepoint worthy. They simply stare at my soul from the page or the screen and wait for me to respond. Typically, the response the words call for isn’t the response I want to give. Take these verses, for example, from the beginning of Ephesians 4.
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 NIV, emphasis mine)
Listen, these are hard times, and hard times make division easy. It’s easy to convince ourselves that we’re keeping the peace when we’re actually just keeping our distance. It’s easy to tell ourselves that we’ve shown enough humility or made enough effort to keep unity. But these words don’t tell us to be somewhat humble or to make some effort at unity. God clearly calls us to be completely humble and to make every effort at keeping unity in the body.
What does that look like? I wish I knew. But one thing I do know is that living out these verses will almost always require more of us than we probably want to give. These truths will chafe our spirit and place us in positions to feel the pain of rejection and the frustration of being misunderstood. We’re going to want to tell God that we’ve done enough, and we’re going to want Him to agree with us that the division in the Church is “their” fault.
Instead, He’ll simply remind us that we are His prisoners. That word means “a captive” in the Greek. If I read these words as an American, I might dig my heels in and tell the Lord, “No more.” But when I read them as one who has been taking captive by His calling, His humility, His gentleness, His patience, His love, and His Spirit, my response becomes, “One more.”
One more text. One more call. One more visit. One more hard conversation. One more request for and offer of forgiveness. One more prayer. One more ___________________.
We think unity should be easy, and that’s the lie that makes us want to stop short of making every effort to keep it.
Unity is hard. Hard enough to require effort.
But it’s worth it. Worth it enough to make every effort.
