LifeWay Bible Studies for Life Series for January 2: A lifestyle of community

Community is a bit of a buzz word among churches at this point in church history. Many will claim to have community, some will even put it in their church’s name or tag line, but community is something much bigger and unfortunately elusive for most.

Paul’s churches obviously were struggling with this concept of community themselves as he writes about this very subject in his letters that were to be passed around. Many of Paul’s writings were done even before there was a written Gospel with the exception of Mark which was most likely written in the mid-50s. Later on, Matthew, Luke and John would write their Gospel accounts. Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus dates at around A.D. 60.

Ephesians 4:1-3 gives us a check list of sorts of what it is to be a body of Christ with very intentional challenges and directions. Take a minute to look at those and see where you, your class and even your church as a whole measure up.

Verse 3 particularly says to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit,” and if you read it too fast you will miss what it’s saying. Being unified takes effort. It’s work—hard work—since isn’t the whole idea of community is to make sure everyone agrees with you? No, of course not, but many times that’s our approach to finding solutions and being at peace with one another.

Jesus himself says in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Notice that he doesn’t say peacekeepers; there’s a big difference. One takes a lot more humility and love than the other. That’s the one the Paul is writing about to the church at Ephesus and your church.

Remember how records used to skip? Of course, CDs do it too, but back in the day, a needle would run along a vinyl groove and out would come music until a piece of dust or worse, a scratch on the record itself. When that happened, a particular word would inevitably play over and over and over.

Verses 4 through 6 are like that for me. Paul is trying to make a strong point and uses one particular word repetitively. The word is “one.” We as a church—the body of Christ—are one. We are bound to one and by one and therefore are expected to be one.

The era of communication we are in is amazing. We have so many devices and options for us to be connected to one another, whether through cell phones or laptops or handheld computers. It is the age of communication; we are connected to one another.

Or are we? Perhaps it only appears we are more connected to one another. If we truly live in the age of communication, then why are we so lousy at it? We seem to have a difficult time conveying and articulating our thoughts and feelings to others. We just assume others know what we’re thinking, and that we agree.

If you carry the logic through that we are in the age of communication and connectivity and yet we are still so terrible at it, the unfortunate conclusion we would come to is that we really are only more connected to ourselves than we are to others as God had intended. Unity takes effort. It means saying “no” to yourself and saying “yes” to someone else. It means doing what it takes so that others may achieve their goals while yours get put on hold for the time being. It’s you looking out for others instead of just looking out for yourself.

Paul says so much of this in verses 15-17. We have to change our language and think about how someone else is going to receive what we’re saying. He also says at the end of verse 17 that “each part does its work.” Here’s another translation: do your part!

As a Christian you have a job to do, rather you are expected to do. All the other Christians aren’t building a house for you to live in. We are building something together for Jesus and his bride, the church. You and I will be questioned and called into account as to how we helped in the building up of the church.

The end of chapter 4 has some great guidelines for conflict resolution. In my leadership classes at Howard Payne University, we talk about conflict resolution and one of the main things I want us to grasp is that conflict is opportunity for growth in disguise.

In today’s society we see conflict as fighting and bickering, but with God’s people—his children—conflict is a wonderful opportunity to grow closer to one another. Sounds almost crazy, doesn’t it? But isn’t that how God works so many times? In conflict you have the chance to articulate and listen with purpose and intention, to truly hear a person’s heart. You have to ask yourself, “What’s the issue here?” Then ask yourself, “What’s the real issue here?” Any time you go to someone expecting an apology from them, be prepared to give one as well. And then you get the wonderful opportunity to forgive someone or to offer forgiveness. What a privilege to be able to forgive someone. What humility it takes to ask for forgiveness.