Unity

“until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”  Ephesians 4:13

Unity – Here’s a riddle for you.  What is it that everyone wants but no one can agree on?  Unity.  Is that your experience?  How many times have you joined a group or a cause with every intention of united action and common purpose only to discover that all sorts of disagreements, jealousies and differences creep in?  Everyone wants a community of commonality, but no one can agree on how to get it.

The Greek word henoteta comes from a root that means “one”.  It is what Jesus prayed for – “that they may be one”.  Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the great statement of “one”.  Look at Ephesians 4:4 and following.  One body.  One Spirit.  One hope.  One Lord.  One faith.  One baptism.  One God and Father.  No wonder Paul lists dissensions and schisms as sinful acts.  But when you think about each of these statements of “one”, do you find a great feeling of unity among believers, or are you saddened by the divisions that permeate our lives?

Paul is pointing us toward the last stop.  He wants us to see that the end of the line will bring us to “oneness”.  How can this ever happen, you might ask?  Only through submission, humility and service – one person at a time.  Life today is broken.  But it won’t always be that way.  Today our broken and splintered lives must become the intersections where we embrace other broken and splintered lives in order that we can mend each other into the unity of followers of the man broken for us.  If you think that you can glue yourself back together, you’re sadly mistaken.  Life is broken on purpose.  It is broken in order to force us into community.  We find unity in the cracks and crevices.  Where we are broken, we are the same – we are one.  Perhaps we need a new theology – a theology of brokenness, a theology that recognizes that unity comes from being shattered vessels, not perfect pots.  We need a theology where it hurts.

Have you let your broken life become the meeting point for someone else or are you still hiding behind a perfect picture?  Have you realized that being broken is the pathway to being one?  “This is my body, broken for you.”

(to be continued)