Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Love – The Foundation of Unity

Bible portion: Ephesians 4:1-17

There is one body and one Spirit, just you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.  Ephesians 4:4-6

Devotional Text
In the world we live in, we are constantly being bombarded by messages of division.  Those messages are all around us and come in many forms like race, politics, social movements, etc. Questions like who do you support in this war? Or do you support this movement or that movement, and if you claim allegiance to one side, it’s an assumption you are against the other.  The same power that divides in the world, is the same power that divided in the early church and in the church today. 
It is said on Wikipedia if you search “Denominations”, there are over 35,000 Christian denominations around the world.  Different websites will have different numbers, which means nobody truly knows the actual number, but we know without a doubt it is more than one.  When the world looks at the divisions in the church it sees followers of Christ divided just as the world is divided.   Denominations typically arise from questions about authority or doctrinal differences.    At its core a denomination exists believing they are the ones FAITHFUL to the original church Jesus Christ intended.   This trust and belief that one is faithful, and the other is not, causes many groups of believers in Jesus Christ to never congregate together.  But reading the Bible would tell us, never has an Adam (man/humanity) ever remained faithful to God.  The entire Bible is a story of a God that has and is covenant faithful to a people. Our trust in our own faithfulness is misguided.  
In Ephesians, Paul is writing to a church that is trying to work through its many divisions.  And Paul when addressing their differences, points to the one name Jesus Christ that they call Lord.  In Ephesians 4, Paul describes 7 “ones”, and 7 means complete as depicted in creation, and so it means perfect oneness comes with keeping our eyes on the ONE that matters. It would have been easier if Paul told the Jews and Gentiles to worship and meet separately.  Instead, Paul told them about the one Jesus they had in common, and earlier in Ephesians 2:14, he says “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into ONE and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”  
Many a believer has decided they don’t want to take part in all this division, so they don’t attend any church, or don’t want to be affiliated with any denomination.  But as followers of Christ, who have been made known the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:9), we are called to belong to a body of believers, but attend with “all HUMILITY and gentleness, with patience, BEARING with one another in love, and keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3).  So Actually Being FAITHFUL to the original church Jesus Christ intended literally means we are constantly breaking down the barriers that divide us so that in our lives Christ and not our divisions will be glorified, and the world will see such a gathering and be drawn to the Christ that is on display. 
May we make it our mission to live a more ecumenical lifestyle that brings peace rather than divisions.  
                        PRAYER                                    
Lord Jesus, forgive us for the times we have been the cause of division either in our churches, or families or communities.  Forgive us for forgetting the tremendous grace shown us, especially when we have trouble being gracious to another.  Help us to love another to bring you glory, this day and all the days of our life.
                     
  Thought for the Day

Unity is not uniformity; unity is oneness of purpose.  - Tony Evans 

Shibu Mathew
Epiphany MTC, New York

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