Today, as I drove to work I drove past Genesis - the church across from the Stadium. I made me think of my friend Bobby and how much I want to get together with him soon. I love his heart for unity and his passion to see the church of Christ come together for worship and prayer. As I was driving and thinking, I was reminded that this unity we strive for is already a reality. When I got to the church, I put my thoughts up on the Purpose United blog. You can read it here, but I’d recommend checking out the sight for other’s thoughts, pictures and even an original worship song penned by Josh! Here’s what I wrote:
So much of the Christian life is becoming who are what we are. To say it a little differently, the key to the Christian life is living out the realities of who and what we’ve become in Christ. For example, it is clear from many of Paul’s letters that we already are saints in God’s eyes. Yet, it is also clear that living this truth out as an important responsibility for the Christian. We are not suppose to take our standing as saints for granted, but strive to live like saints. This tension jumps off the page in 1 Corinthians 1:2:

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (ESV)

The word “sanctified” is the same root word as “saint”. You see what Paul is saying. He’s saying, “You’ve been sanctified (set apart and made holy), and you are called to be saints (to live holy lives)”. They are to live out the reality of who and what they are in Christ.

It’s taking me a long time to make my point, but here it is: Unity is a present reality that we must live out, not a reality we must create. In a way, we could say that disunity is a sinful illusion that we must work to expose. Here are a few passages that speak to the beauty of this reality:

Romans 12:3-5, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (ESV).

1 Corinthians 10:16-17, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (ESV)

1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (ESV)

But again, just because this is a reality - a beautiful blood bought reality (see Ephesians 2:13ff), doesn’t mean we take it for granted. No, instead we work hard put this reality on display and to maintain it. Paul lays this responsibility on each one of us in passages like Philippians 2:2-4 and Ephesians 4:3 (see also Peter’s command in 1 Peter 3:8). But don’t think that we are striving to create something out of nothing. This unity already exists. See how Paul combines both the reality of our unity with a plea for unity in these passages:

Ephesians 4:1-7, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (ESV)

Colossians 3:12-15, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” (ESV)

Let us prayerfully continue to live out this reality on our campus and encourage others to join us in this adorning of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 8:38 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.