until we all attain to the unity of the faith…by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
Insights: Over the next three days I will be
giving a positive side of Paul’s instruction from verse thirteen and the
opposite negative side from verse fourteen.
Yesterday we learned that disciples are gifted and the purpose of that
giftedness. Today we see that disciples
are also unified and not divided. Notice
in verse thirteen that we are striving to by unified in faith. Unity does not mean uniformity. The aspect of faith tells us we are unified
under the banner of Christ Jesus and His purposes. Let me give an illustration from church life
regarding unity and division. A church
is in the process of seeking the will of the Lord. During these initial stages of the
conversation the congregants are expressing different opinions and ideas. Sometimes these thoughts are diametrically in
opposition to other peoples perspectives.
Over time, however, a dominant opinion is decided and the church as a
whole collectively agrees to walk the direction they sense the Lord Jesus would
have them go. At this point, by faith,
those who disagreed with the decision would become unified to this purpose and
would be huge supporters of the direction the body of Christ sensed came from
the Lord. This first part of the illustration
is the positive and biblically accurate example of unity. Unfortunately, all too often the negative
perspective of division comes into place.
The church has made their decision and instead of being on board with
the direction the church senses they ought to go these individuals fall prey to
becoming men of trickery and rely on deceitful scheming to undermine and hinder
the work the church has agreed to pursue.
These crafty men do this work by getting that wonderful phone line
burning up with their divisive words. In
other words, they are rallying their
troops to oppose and cause disruptions to the unified purpose the church has
stepped out in faith to accomplish. I
believe when we write the truthfulness of these scenarios out it becomes very
clear which one of these perspectives of which Lord Jesus would be in support. Beloved, obviously, the Lord desires unity
for His church. Thursday we are going to
learn the trait that those who strive for unity possess and see the negative reciprocal
character trait that those who strive for division also possess. Tomorrow we are going to see the key to that
trait which leads to unity. Beloved, let
us be unified in Jesus!
Questions:
- Would
others characterize your life as one of unity or division?
- Are you known for stirring the pot or striving for reconciliation?
Prayer: Father, it is
so easy to fall into the trap of causing division. Guard my heart and help me to live in unity
with my brothers and sisters. Be
glorified as we display Your love and grace to each other. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment