Reformation Faith Today

Rev. Al Baker, Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, CT, writes a weekly devotional to which I subscribe. This week’s devotional is on church unity.

He writes in part:

In other words, as you think of difficult people in your personal life, in the life of your church, perhaps like those whom I call bomb throwers- who know exactly the right thing to say to provoke mayhem and discord in any meeting, it is incumbent upon you to labor daily for unity in the body. Why? You are not merely, every now and then, facing Satanic warfare; rather this is a common, daily occurrence. The devil is always coming at you, seeking to destroy you, your family, and your church. How many churches have been destroyed because the people did not take seriously the activity of the devil to bring division, disunity, distrust, and destruction! Nothing stays the same in this world. If you do nothing to cultivate your spring garden, by July it will be overtaken by weeds, choking the life out of your crops. If you do nothing to cultivate unity, then the devil will sow seeds of discord, disharmony, and distrust which will choke out the life of peace, tranquility, and unity in your local body. Are you presuming upon your church unity? It just does not happen.

Read the full devotional below.

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 7, number 9, February 28, 2008. . .being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Ephesians 4:3. The Presumption of Church UnityRobert E. Lee was born in 1807 in Virginia and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1829, second in his class, the only cadet ever to make it through all four years without a single demerit. He was a hero in the Mexican War of 1845 and put down John Brown’s rebellion at Harper’s Ferry, just prior to the War Between the States. His father, Lighthorse Harry Lee, was a hero of the American Revolutionary War and Lee’s wife, Mary Custis, was the granddaughter of George Washington. Harry Reeder reports that Lee was the first General in the War to free his slaves, the last being Northern General U.S. Grant after the War had ended.Lee was a vestryman in the St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA, and a few weeks after the war had ended, was in church, preparing to take Communion at the end of the service when a freed black slave was escorted to the altar and knelt, preparing to receive the body and blood of Christ. Traditionally, the white congregants, who sat on the main floor of the sanctuary, would first come to the altar while the black slaves sitting in the balcony sang hymns. After the white folks finished they sang while the slaves would come to receive Communion. So the present situation provoked a great deal of tension in the congregation. After a few seconds, Lee got up out of his pew, went to the altar, and knelt beside the former slave, put his arm around him, and took the Lord’s Supper with his black brother in Christ. Robert E. Lee was earnest in preserving Biblical church unity. Division, disunity, and distrust are deadly to any congregation but godly character by a few goes a long way toward overcoming them. Lee did not presume that unity was automatic. He knew it was something for which the body of Christ must diligently labor.Paul the Apostle, in the first three chapters of Ephesians, lays down marvelous doctrine, declaring the unfathomable riches of Christ- our election, predestination, redemption, and sealing, declaring that though we were far off, we have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Now Paul shifts to the practical, how to live out this glorious union with Christ; and he begins by calling believers, the body of Christ, to biblical church unity. Paul emphatically begins, literally in the Greek text the wording is- I entreat, therefore you, I the prisoner of the Lord to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Then Paul uses four modifiers and two present participles to speak even more emphatically about the necessary character of those who are to pursue unity. It is to be done with humility (knowing who we are in light of God’s marvelous attributes). Humility means we are in awe of God as we consider how far short we fall of Him. A humble person is one who does not demand his own way. Unity also is to be pursued with gentleness- a consistent submission to God and others, thus being able to accept harsh treatment with quiet restraint. It is to be done with patience, staying at the side, for example, of a loved one who needs consistent care due to a lifelong illness, one who stays at it without quitting or complaining. And always it is to be done by showing forbearance to one another in love. Forbearance is the idea of not rejecting, casting someone out due to failure or sin. The crown of the pursuit of unity is always to be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit (it begins with the unity in the Trinity, but also includes the believer’s unity with Christ) in the bonds of peace (same root word for prisoner, meaning we are under obligation to maintain unity). In other words, as you think of difficult people in your personal life, in the life of your church, perhaps like those whom I call bomb throwers- who know exactly the right thing to say to provoke mayhem and discord in any meeting, it is incumbent upon you to labor daily for unity in the body. Why? You are not merely, every now and then, facing Satanic warfare; rather this is a common, daily occurrence. The devil is always coming at you, seeking to destroy you, your family, and your church. How many churches have been destroyed because the people did not take seriously the activity of the devil to bring division, disunity, distrust, and destruction! Nothing stays the same in this world. If you do nothing to cultivate your spring garden, by July it will be overtaken by weeds, choking the life out of your crops. If you do nothing to cultivate unity, then the devil will sow seeds of discord, disharmony, and distrust which will choke out the life of peace, tranquility, and unity in your local body. Are you presuming upon your church unity? It just does not happen.What are you to do? Let’s make this real practical. Let’s say you have a bomb thrower in your church, one who constantly causes trouble by speaking negatively about the pastor, an elder, or a Sunday School teacher. What should you do? Due to your calling as believers you are to walk in the calling with which you were called, you who have been called out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ, you are with all humility and gentleness, with patience, always showing forbearance to others in love. You are always to be diligent, hardworking and very intentional to go the extra mile in not sending the person from you. You are to move toward the person, rebuking, correcting, praying.I will not give you a specific laundry list on what you are to do. That’s because you will not remember the list when the time comes to use it. Instead, I ask that you seek the Holy Spirit, asking Him to work into you the godly character of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance. A list then is unnecessary. Such character motivates people to submission and obedience. The less respect a child has for his father, then the more rules and regulations the father will need to keep his child in check; but the more the child respects his father, then a list of rules will not be needed.. When Jesus returned from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John he found that the other disciples could not cast a demon out of a boy, and the boy’s father wondered at this. Jesus rebuked His disciples by saying, “Oh, unbelieving generation. How long must I put up with you!” (same Greek word for forbearance). Jesus then cast out the demon. The fact is that Jesus “put up with His disciples” until they entered the glory of heaven, and He does the same with all His blood bought people. Allow the holiness of the living Christ who indwells you to work His grace in you, developing in you greater gospel holiness, moving you to pursue unity in the body.   FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.