The first half of Ephesians 4 continues to speak to us about maintaining a worthy Christian walk. Last week we saw that one aspect of living worthy of our Christian calling is the cultivation of Christlike attitudes, such as humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and love. Moving beyond the idea of personal Christlike qualities like these, a worthy walk is one that is committed to conserving congregational harmony. Ephesians 4:3 urges us to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Embedded in this aspect of a worthy walk is the recognition that the Holy Spirit seeks to unify a diverse body of believers into peaceful congregational life. The idea is that we are to bend every effort to maintain what the Spirit creates. To do less is unworthy.
Underlying congregational unity are seven theological truths about our life together in the church. The first three truths declare, “There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call” (Eph. 4:4). Congregational harmony thrives on the recognition that the Church is one body — the body of Christ. The New Testament does not speak of multiple bodies, such as a Jewish body, a Samaritan body or a Gentile body. We should not think of the Church in segmented terms. The unifying power for a congregation is found in the one Spirit — the Holy Spirit who indwells each member of the one body. Furthermore the one body shares a common hope — anticipating being gathered together in the great heavenly throng composed of people from every nation, tribe and tongue. Our life together here and now must be the dress rehearsal for life together there and then.
Faith in one Lord
The next three theological underpinnings for church harmony are “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). In spite of all the individual differences found in a congregation, we have in common the one Lord — Jesus. Each of us has confessed faith — faith in the one Lord. As we look around the membership, we hold in mind that we have all come to the same Lord in the same way. Furthermore we have confessed our common faith in the one Lord the same way — we publically declared our commitment to Him by submitting to Christian baptism.
The seventh underlying truth about congregational unity is the reality of the “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:6). The combined impact of these seven truths declares that anything that destroys harmony in the Church is unworthy of our Christian calling.
Church growth
In addition to the worthiness of Christlike attitudes and congregational harmony, a worthy walk is one that is committed to church growth. After setting forth Christ’s grace gifts of gifted leaders for the Church (Eph. 4:7–11), the purpose in view is that of “building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). The following verses in Ephesians 4:12–16 suggest areas in which worthy Christian living seeks to contribute to church growth.
Churches can grow in practical ministries (v. 12), in spiritual maturity (v. 13), in doctrinal stability (v. 14), in functioning cooperation (v. 16a) and in mutual love (v. 16b). Not every church may experience dramatic statistical growth in membership and finances, but members walking worthily of our Christian calling can help our church to grow in these other important areas. Not to do so is quite unworthy of the name we bear and the calling we have received.
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