Ephesians 4:1-3
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This structure of the book itself is significant for our lives today. Too often in our church circles theology and right thinking about God take a back seat to the practical application. We want to just jump to the application and have the preacher tell us how we ought to live. Judging by how Paul wrote Scripture, that thinking is backwards. Philosophically speaking our mind should dictate our behavior. Right thinking should produce right living. In theological terms, orthodoxy precedes orthopraxy. So don't neglect the life of the mind and thinking deeply about truth.
The next step then is consistently living in line with the truth you believe. That's problematic for all of us. This is the challenge that we all face and regularly fail at. Take heart! This is a lifelong process of integrating all the parts of you to operate within their God given functions.
Yesterday we covered humility and gentleness. Today we will talk about the other 3.
The last three things Paul says are living in the manner worthy of their calling are patience, bearing with one another in love and being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. First, patience. The King James Version translates this word "long suffering". The lexical definition is "the state of being willing to bear under provocation". In the Ephesian church there were many arguments to be had between Jews and Gentiles about how they were supposed to live. This would create many opportunities for provocation. Paul calls them to exercise patience and be willing to endure the provocations directed at one another. So when someone says or does something offensive patience is being willing to overlook it or address it with a calm demeanor.
The next one is very similar, hence the NIV taking this phrase to describe patience. Bearing with one another in love calls them to not only put up with people who provoke them but to do so in love. This new life Jesus has called us to demands we not just coexist with others who annoy in the church us, but we love them. The concept of love that Paul has in mind is the love that God demonstrated in Jesus dying for those still in sin (Eph. 2:4-5). This is a high calling and completely counterintuitive to common living. Yet, this is a part of the Christian's calling and a Spirit-empowered ability.
Finally, he concludes this summary of the unified Christian life by saying that they ought to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. By "unity of the Spirit" he means the unity in the sphere of the Spirit. This unity that Jesus has brought us is now held together in our mutual indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So we see in the scope of the whole book that this unity given the church is a Trinitarian accomplishment. This is summed up well in 2:18, "For through [Jesus] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."
The word translated eager means, "to be especially conscientious in discharging an obligation." The word translated "bond" implies a fastener like a nail or a screw. So this peace that we have is fastened together, not easily town apart.
This unity, which has already been given us, must be eagerly maintained. If we are indifferent to it, we will certainly lose it. It must be something we value and pursue. As I mentioned on Sunday, unity isn't a value we see espoused very often in American culture. Instead we hear (or see in media and stories) more often the values of individualism and choice. These values are not wrong. However, they must all be held in balance if we are to exist in a community.
Practice
Spend some time this weekend in prayer and reflection on these questions:
- How have you demonstrated humility and gentleness with your family and your brothers and sisters in Christ during this crisis?
- This crisis has certainly tested your patience. How have you seen your patience grow?
- Repent of the times you were impatient and didn't bear well under provocation.
- Do your thoughts and words toward those who annoy you reflect the love of Jesus?
- Is unity a value you hold in tension with choice and individuality? If so, how have you seen this on display in your life?