God desires unity in the body of Christ, and He created the church to have unity. But unity is never easy nor is it automatic. But it is something that we must strive to keep. Sadly, having unity is not the way the church exists today.Far too often we have approached unity as uniformity, but that doesn’t work and it isn’t the kind of unity that God desires. As humans we express ideas of unity as complete uniformity in belief and form. But a better saying, while not necessarily perfect, expresses the kind of unity that God desires is this: In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity.There are aspects of unity that require uniformity of doctrine and belief, but there is also a unity of spirit and purpose that is required for there to be unity. It’s the kind of spirit and purpose that brings people together from diverse backgrounds and diverse positions to carry out God’s mission and purposes.In Ephesians 4:1 Paul urges us “to walk worthy of the calling we have received.”“Walking worthy” does not mean that we deserve a place in God’s favor, rather, it means that we should recognize how much our place in God’s favor deserves effort from us. The focus is not on our worthiness, but on the worthiness of our calling, of God’s love.In chapter 4, the apostle Paul goes on to tell us how spiritual unity requires the right attitudes: 1) The right attitude towards ourselves – humility; 2) the right attitude towards others – gentleness, patience and forbearance; and 3) the right attitude towards unity – make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.The final attitude that Paul mentions is a desire for unity – “making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” There can be no “worthy walk” before God without a burning desire for unity in the fellowship.We can’t simply wish for a greater sense of unity; we must be “diligent” to make it a reality in our relationships with each other. Paul’s word for “diligent” or “make every effort” is a combination of two Greek words – one that means “to hurry” and the other that implies “zealous effort.” Literally, Paul was saying, “Let’s hurry and work toward achieving unity.”Let’s understand this correctly. It is our responsibility to maintain or keep unity. The unity of the ...
