The Bible tells us in Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” This is great advice to follow but, as the text implies, harder to follow. The text literally tells us that if it’s possible that we should live at peace with all men. For us as people it can sometimes seem like an impossibility. For the church it’s a completely different matter, we need to get along as best as we can because literally lives are at stake. Unity in the church is something that is pressed by many people who call themselves Christians. My message on Sunday focused on unity being surrounded by the truth, and our need to unify for the sake of the purposes of Christ. We do this by being the body of Christ. A popular song asks, “how come Jesus’s work is not being done in this world”, and their conclusion is that the church, being the body of Christ, is not doing its job. At times that is completely true, other times the church is doing what it can to complete the work of Christ. The important thing to understand is the body of Christ and how it’s supposed to work.
First, we need to understand that “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). The God that we all follow, and worship supplies each believer with special gifts that are to be used for the building up of the church. These gifts are not meant to be held inside; these gifts are meant to be shared for the common good of others around us. This is important to understand because unity in the church begins when each one of us takes our place in the body of Christ. Every single one of us has a specific place, a good work to perform, that was given to us by God before we were even born. Finding this gift is the important part in our lives.
There are many ways that we can understand what our spiritual gift is and I’d like to talk about a couple of them right now. The first one is understanding the truth of scripture. The Bible tells us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). All the training that we need is available in the pages of scripture, we just need to read it and apply it to our lives. The text goes on to tell us that the believer would then be equipped for everything needed to complete those good works you were created for. Allowing the word of God to get inside of you and transform your life is the first part of becoming a follower, becoming a disciple, of Jesus Christ. This truly is the meaning of picking up your cross and following Jesus every single day. It’s not just reading scripture, but applying that scripture to your life, and allowing it to renew your mind.
The second thing we can do is to submit our lives to the Lord in prayer. Again, the Bible tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6). The literal definition of anxious; is to stress over things that we don’t have any control over. When push comes to shove, what we don’t have control over, is everything. We can make plans for our day but ultimately we’re not in control of how those events unfold. Sometimes things go exactly how they’re planned, but most of the time problems arise in our days. When we submit all of our lives to the Lord and understand that he’s in control we truly understand that he works all things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28). Leaving the results in God’s hands is what removes that anxious feeling from our lives, as we submit even the smallest parts of our lives to him in prayer.
This is all done by submitting our lives to the Holy Spirit. We are told, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). We do this by being filled with the spirit, which means that we focus our lives and our attention on spiritual things. Prayer and Bible study being two of them, as you seek the Lord in your daily life and understand what he wants you to do. By following him, and the instructions laid out in scripture, we can begin to understand where we fit in the body of Christ.
Every single one of us has a place and a purpose in life. I can tell you from experience that when you’re walking in the spirit and fulfilling the work that God created you to do you will never feel more content in your life. It really doesn’t matter what you’re doing, when you’re doing what God has called you to do, when you’re doing what he created you for, you feel the very presence of God inside of you. That is the only way unity is truly going to happen in the church, for us to unite under the truth of Jesus Christ and take our place in the body, moving forward and building the church up the way Jesus intended it to be built up. With man things are impossible but with God all things are possible.