Last week we learned that we must each walk worthy of our calling personally if we are committed to maintaining unity corporately. Paul mentioned his imprisonment to exhort his readers to be prepared to sacrifice for their calling.
Marius Victorinus makes the following connection,
“With lowliness and meekness they learn not to be afraid to suffer. With patience they learn how to respond if they must suffer.”
Pray and Read Ephesians 4:1-3.
The most intense fight in MLB history was between the SF Giants and the LA Dodgers in 1965. It was during a pitching duel between two aces: Sandy Koufax (LA) and Juan Marichal (SF). Marichal sent the first Dodger batter to the ground with a pitch inside. In return, Koufax—who hated retaliation—sent a pitch well above the head of Willie Mays. In the third inning Marichal dusted another Dodger. At that point the umpire issued a warning to both teams.
However, the catcher, John Roseboro, wasn’t content to leave it there. When Marichal came to the plate, Koufax pitched him inside and Roseboro dropped the ball. He moved to the left to pick it up and threw the ball back so that it buzzed Marichal’s head. Marichal said the ball actually clipped his ear, and Roseboro admitted it was no accident.
The two players started barking at each other, when Marichal took his bat and smashed Roseboro’s head. He staggered for a second and then went after Marichal, who continued swinging his bat until the umpire tackled him from behind. Roseboro kept chasing Marichal who was rabbit kicking people from the ground. The fight went on for 14 minutes and did not begin to settle until Willie Mays (SF) pulled his friend, Roseboro, aside and to tend to his head—bleeding above his eye (he needed 14 stitches). Koufax was also recognized for his efforts to calm people down.
FYI: The Giants won the game, but the Dodgers won the World Series that year.
Now, in baseball, teammates are expected to defend each other. But, the typical human response to conflict is fight or flight. We either become aggressive and defensive or we shut down trying to avoid conflict altogether. Both responses are problematic.
We tend to be eager to fight or eager to flight. We want retaliation or nonparticipation.
We are not called to be fighters or flighters, but peacemakers.
Paul calls the Ephesians to be eager to maintain unity among believers. The massive shift in his own heart is that these are people he despised—once breathing murderous threats against them (Acts 9:1). Division and disruption of “The Way” was his mission. Now he seeks their peace and unity.
› Paul understood firsthand what causes division and what maintains unity.
I. How to Maintain Division
Paul provides a list of characteristics that serve the purpose of maintaining unity (vv.2-3). Their opposites would maintain division: Pride, harshness, impatience, indifference, and reluctance undermine unity.
Quarrelsome: Individually, we don’t have to breathe murderous threats like Paul to be divisive. We might cause division in a number of much more “respectable” ways. We can stir up strife through gossip, constantly dripping criticism, or insisting everything be done your way.
• Pride is usually at the root of our boiling anger.
• Harshness with our correction can turn people away. Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This is the concept behind Tolkien’s portrayal of Gollum in the The Two Towers:
“I was probably most moved by Sam’s disquisition on the seamless web of story, and by the scene when Frodo goes to sleep on his breast, and the tragedy of Gollum who at that moment came within a hair of repentance – but for one rough word from Sam.” (Letter 96)
• Impatience raises our expectations for everyone else while minimizing our own flaws.
While the first three might actively contribute to division, the last two are more passive approaches—but equally divisive.
Conflict Avoidant—I think it is an equally damaging attitude to be indifferent or reluctant to maintain the unity. Some people are so far from quarrelsome that they avoid conflict at all costs. They have no interest in maintaining unity because that involves confrontation.
Refusing to address the problem makes it worse. Although it is unlikely that Edmund Burke said it, the quote often attributed to him is still correct, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Doing nothing is mutually exclusive with an eagerness to maintain unity.
Keeping the peace sometimes requires going to war. Augustine’s defense of the Just War Theory is helpful.
“For peace is not sought in order to the kindling of war, but war is waged in order that peace may be obtained. Therefore, even in waging war, cherish the spirit of the peacemaker, that, by conquering those whom you attack, you may lead them back to the advantages of peace.”
Sometimes war is necessary to maintain peace. It’s the same for capital punishment. Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
Sometimes you have to eliminate the mad man in order to protect the masses. Sometimes you have to remove the disease to preserve the body. Sometimes you have to use the rod in order to save the child (Prov 13:24).
A reluctance to go to the doctor, or to learn how to defend yourself and others, or to properly discipline your child only makes the problem worse.
There is no indication that Paul is addressing a particular conflict/division in Ephesus. The fact that this is his first subject entering the practical portion of the letter is quite telling. He knows this will be relevant soon enough—as it is in every church in every generation.
Last week, I mentioned that Paul’s reference to his imprisonment (1) exemplifies the sacrificial nature of our calling. We must be prepared to suffer. But he may also have mentioned it because he wanted them to fully enjoy the privileges they have that he lacked at the moment.
On house arrest, Paul was isolated from the community of saints and unable to experience the fullness of koinonia. Certainly, he was able to see friends from time to time as they stopped by for a visit. But he was not free to join the assembly each Lord’s Day. He was limited in his ability to enjoy the fellowship and unity that his calling had privileged him to be a part of. The Spirit of God radically transformed him to desire unity. Those he formerly hated and persecuted he now loved and longed to be with.
That is the result of a life that has been transformed by the calling of Jesus Christ. We pursue peace in the body of Christ because we’ve experienced peace through our union with Christ. As our VBS Song reminds us:
Matthew 11:28–30 ESV
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When we come to Jesus and take his yoke upon us, we learn to be gentle a lowly in heart, like Him.
If you have contributed to division and conflict in the past, think about how you responded. Ask yourself if there is anything else you can do to bring reconciliation.
If you have been reluctant to get involved in the past, commit to becoming a peacemaker. Is there a particular conflict that you know needs to be addressed before it explodes? Pursue the first opportunity where the Lord can use you to maintain unity.
› So let’s consider…
II. How to Maintain Unity
Paul expounds on what a worthy walk involves in the context of the covenant community. If we are eager for unity, we will not operate from pride but humility. We will not bulldoze over others, but we will communicate with gentleness. Instead of impatiently expecting everyone to match our commitments and goals, we will patiently wait for the Lord to work his will in his time.
This is one of the hardest parts. We want everyone to be ready and available for the things that we’re excited about. But patience helps us to trust that God will provide the right person at the right time. Rather than shaming people or using our best passive aggressive tactics, we will bear with one another in love. Why? Because the unity that we are eager to maintain is more important than getting our way, right away.
Does this mean that we should seek to maintain unity at all costs? Does our eagerness for unity outweigh every other goal and mission in the Church? This is the dilemma raised at every GA. We want to maintain unity, but we hold differing positions. Unity does not mean we must all agree on every aspect of ministry. But it does imply that we have some agreement on the essential doctrines. Ephesians is arranged with doctrine (1-3) > unity (4). Unity without chapters 1-3 would be hollow and baseless. We cannot have unity if we do not have agreement about the Trinity.
In her book, Reader, Come Home, Maryanne Wolf shares a Native American illustration.
“In this story a grandfather is telling his young grandson about life. He tells the little boy that in every person there are two wolves, who live in one’s breast and who are always at war with each other. The first wolf is very aggressive and full of violence and hate toward the world. The second wolf is peaceful and full of light and love. The little boy anxiously asks his grandfather which wolf wins. The grandfather replies, ‘The one you feed.’”
Notice, even the peaceful wolf that is full of love is at war with the wolf who loves violence. Apparently, pacifism was not an option for Native Americans either. While the assumption might be that the violent wolf will easily win, there is constant war between them.
When Paul talks to the Romans about natural law, he acknowledges that Gentiles who are not under the law still do what the law requires. “The work of the law is written on their hearts.” They have a conscience that bears witness to their actions (Rom 2:14-15). All of us are born with moral instincts, but the Christian has a critical advantage that leads to higher expectations.
Paul speaks of a constant internal battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The desires of the flesh are opposed to the desires of the Spirit (Gal 5:16-18). Galatians 6:8 “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
So, Paul tells the Ephesians about a “unity of the Spirit” (Eph 4:3) and the Galatians are challenged to “sow to the Spirit” rather than the flesh. If both parties in a conflict are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, then we can expect internal peace to lead to external peace. The peace they experience with God forms a “bond of peace” created by the Holy Spirit and grounded in doctrinal truth. That is the unity that we are called to eagerly protect. We do not create it, but diligently keep/guard the unity that God has established.
Not only are we called to maintain the unity, but are called to eagerly do so.
We do not find a better example of this than that of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his High Priestly prayer, Jesus prayed,
John 17:20–21 ESV
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
- Jesus prays for the Church Universal: Unity is for all Christians across generations.
- He grounds unity in the Trinity: “as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.” The standard of unity is divine, not merely organizational.
- His stated purpose is missional: “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Unity is not just for internal harmony but for effective witness.
Those who are eager for true Spirit-filled unity are willing to humble themselves, interact with gentleness, and patiently pursue peace with everyone. They are also willing to relentlessly bear with one another in love. And they are not reluctant to guard that unity against divisive people. They know the very witness to the Gospel is at stake.