Reading: Ephesians chapter 4
Spotlight: Ephesians 4:11-14

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

The maturing of a church…

As I read through this text, it kind of unfolds like a process or an evolution that we could not only apply to the church body as a whole but to our own lives as individuals. If you’ve been in church for a few years like I have, you have probably seen first hand all the damage that can be done because of disunity. There is a reason that very often in the word of God the church is referred to as a flock of sheep and God or even our pastors are referred to as our shepherd. In the days of the bible, sheepherding was a common and understandable livelihood that most everyone was familiar with. It may not be so much anymore, but we have much we can learn from the politics of sheepherding. When predators came about with the intent of killing a sheep, they often first worked toward splitting up the flock and getting a few stragglers off by themselves for easy prey. The enemy works much in the same way today. That is why unity in the body of Christ is so important and it is also why the enemy works so hard to destroy it and for the most part, he has succeeded.
In American culture, it is so common to live isolated lives in the middle of crowded cities. We in the church have just applied the cultural norm to the way we live as members of the church body. I have seen people in church once a week for years now and I know little or nothing about who they really are, where they live, what their struggles and needs are. It’s kind of sad really.
The church is a body and a body is made up of necessary parts. One of the most twisted paradigms that exist in the church today is that there are those who serve and those who fill a pew. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are all called to be a part of the body, every last member and a congregation that doesn’t realize that is a sick, ineffective congregation. Ouch!
In verse 11 it talks about some of the jobs that are available in the church, these are not all, these are mostly the leadership gifts, Paul talks about some other gifts in other areas of his teachings. But what I want to point out is the statement in verse 12, “to prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith…” There is a goal that we should all be constantly working toward in the church, unity. I think we have a poor definition of unity. To most of us in the church, we think unity means to smile nice to each other on Sunday and hug a lot of people when the pastor says to greet others.
Real unity is when we are open and accountable to each other and invest in the lives of others, to cry with them when they hurt and rejoice with them when they receive a blessing and share with them when they have need and allow them to inconvenience us when we are really busy doing our own thing. In Acts chapter 2, we are given a simple template to follow for what unity in the church should look like. So get a notepad and be ready to check of the ones that you think you got down to a science. In Acts 2:42-77 the list goes like this:

1. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. That meant hearing what your pastor preached on Sunday and seeking to make it your number one goal to apply it to every day life.
2. They also devoted themselves to the fellowship. That meant they were devoted to serving the church body as a whole, they meaning all of them, not just a select few with a credential and a nice suit.
3. They also devoted themselves to the breaking of bread. This meant serving each other physically, having meals in a commune like fashion (and they probably didn’t charge for it either).
4. They also devoted themselves to prayer. The prayer meetings were ongoing and included everyone. Devoted means it was a part of their lifestyle.
5. Everyone was filled with awe and miraculous signs were done. There was so much of the power of the Holy Spirit present that every day they were seeing miracles and healings, every day at every service.
6. Here is where the unity is evident: All the believers were together and had everything in common. Now if this seems totally unreal, check out the next one.
7. They sold their possessions and goods and gave to everyone who had need. At this point most people just throw their hands in the air and laugh. Impossible you say? This is what God set for us as a template of what church should look like.

There is a lot more in this list, I won’t go through all of it. My point was to shed some light on a simple fact. We as a church, as a global body of believer have strayed so far away from what God has called us to be as a church and we need to get back to it. We need to do all that we can, to pursue the calling that he has for us, to instill and support and embody the kind of unity that God has required of His church. We should accept no substitutes or back-up plans or second rate counterfeits of what God calls us as His church to do as far as pursing unity and creating a climate in the church where this kind of unity is lived and emphasized and encouraged in others.
It is then and only then that we can take a hold of the promise in verse 14 back in Ephesians 4. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.“ Please join me in praying for a restoration of unity in the church. Let us pray that when the Lord comes, he will find a church that embodies this kind of unity.

How to pray this scripture:

Lord, in the name of Jesus I pray for unity in my church. I pray that I would be someone who would embody and set the example of this kind of unity. I pray that I would be bold in using what gifts you have given me for the church body and to truly see myself not as an individual but as part of a body. My I labor and pray for the body of Christ to be built up in unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God. I pray not only for myself but for the church that we would attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ so that we will no longer be infants. Father, may we build the church up into a place where your glory can rest. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Additional Scriptures:

II Chronicles 30:12
Psalms 133
Acts 2:42-47
Romans 15:5-7
Colossians 3:13-15

back to devotions main