“Critical Care of the Body of Christ”
Ephesians 4:1-6, 25-32
A Christian church is a local body of regenerate (born-again) persons, baptized on a profession of their faith in Christ; who have united in covenant for worship, instruction, the observance of Christian ordinances, and for such service as the gospel requires; recognizing and accepting Christ as their supreme Lord and Lawgiver, and taking His Word as their only and sufficient rule of faith and practice in all matters of conscience and religion. One of the key words in this definition is “united”. For the church, the Body of Christ, to fulfill its purpose and mission it must be united. Paul emphasizes this in Ephesians 4. As a child one of my favorite books was Alexander Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers”. The book tells the story of a group of French musketeers named Athos, Porthos, Aramis and d'Artagnan who stayed loyal to each other through thick and thin though each was quite different from their fellow musketeers. The Musketeers had as their motto “All for one and one for all”. They vowed to let nothing destroy their unity. They would care for each other, come what may. As the Body of Christ, we need to realize the necessity of caring to maintain unity within the church.
I. There is a Oneness and Unity to the Body of Christ
A. Our oneness as the Body of Christ is based solely on God.
B. Verses 4-6 “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
C. There is only one way into the Body of Christ and the Family of God. That is through the new birth through the person of Jesus Christ.
D. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
E. We have a common salvation that is based on a common grace whereby God called us not out of anything we are or that we have done but by His mercy.
F. Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”
G. All we are as individual believers and as a church is based on God.
H. In looking at the basis of our unity and the focus being placed on Christ, Alan Carr, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lenoir, N.C. says that “When our lives, our desires, our will, our interests, etc, stop being about Him and start to focus on us, we are headed for trouble!”
I. Christ prayed that the church would stand united.
J. John 17:20-22 ““I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who wills believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.”
II. There is Diversity within the Body of Christ
A. Verses 7-16 “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
B. All believers are one in Christ, all one in respect to our salvation and relationship to God as His children. But even though we are all of one family, we are not identical. There are differences within the Body of Christ.
C. Each and every member of the body of Christ has received a spiritual gift which was given to them to provide critical care to the body of Christ in such a way that the church is edified and Christ is glorified.
D. James Montgomery Boice says that “the gifts are given to each Christian—that is, everyone has at least one gift—and for that reason, the church is only fully vigorous and healthy when all are ministering.”
E. It is vitally essential that you discover the gift or gifts which you possess. The value of your life as a Christian will be determined by the degree to which you use the gift God has given you. – copied
F. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”
G. Even though there is a diversity of members within the body, all members must work together for the proper functioning of the body.
III. The Unity and Diversity of the Body is to be critically cared for.
A. Paul challenges us in verses 2 and 3 of Ephesians 4 to “with all lowliness and gentleness, patiently bear with one another and accept one another in love as we endeavor or strive to keep the unity of the Spirit within the Body of Christ” (Paraphrased)
B. We are to strive to preserve the unity of the body because the devil, the enemy of our souls, would love nothing better than to get a foothold within the body of Christ and destroy the unity of it.
C. Paul tells us how to provide the critical care necessary to preserve the unity of the body.
D. It begins with humility and gentleness
1. Having the right attitude – humbleness or lowliness
a. Romans 12:5 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
b. A missionary to India once said that "If I were to pick out two phrases necessary for spiritual growth, I would pick out these: 'I don't know' and 'I am sorry.' And both phrases are the evidences of deep humility." copied
c. True humility is not putting ourselves down but rather lifting up others.
d. This is pointed out in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
e. The words we choose to say should build up never tear down.
2. Having the right approach – gentleness
a. Verse 32 says “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted…”
b. Meekness is the opposite of rudeness and abrasiveness.
c. Lehman Strauss wrote in The Conduct and Duty of the Church, “Kindness should characterize believers in their relationships with one another. Kindness is that gentle, gracious, easy-to-be-entreated manner that permits others to be at ease in our presence.” - copied
d. The point is that we are not to be critical of others but to critically care for others.
e. "Kindness is a language that deaf people can hear and that blind people can see." --Chuck Swindoll
f. Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness (gentleness); considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
E. It demands patience on everyone’s part
1. Verse 2 tells us that we are with patience to bear with one another in love.
2. One writer describing the meaning of the word patience in verse 2 said that it “refers to what we might call staying power, to endure hard events and obnoxious people.” Boles, K. L. Galatians & Ephesians. The College Press NIV commentary Joplin, Mo.: College Press
3. It is the ability to put up with other people even when that is not an easy thing to do.
4. When we lack patience it is easy to become upset, frustrated, bitter, angry and short-tempered with others.
5. Ephesians 4:31(CEV) “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude.”
6. Once God develops the attitude of patience in you, life becomes easier so petty things don't bother you anymore." --Kent Crockett
7. If we are to critically care for each other we need to be patient with each other.
F. It demands a forgiving spirit.
1. Verse 32 tells us that we are to “forgive one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
2. As Christians, we must always reflect God’s forgiveness because we have experienced that same forgiveness.
3. If you have been redeemed and have received the forgiveness of your sins, don't ever say you can't forgive someone, because what you are really saying is that you won't forgive. We can forgive others because He forgave us!
4. Unforgiveness means we desire to hurt the people who have wounded us. It's like the little boy who was sitting on a park bench in obvious agony. A man walking by asked him what was wrong. The boy answered, "I'm sitting on a bumble bee." "Then why don't you get up?" the man asked. The boy replied, "Because I figure that I am hurting him more than he is hurting me!" The healing process begins when we get up off the park bench. God will only heal our wounds when we stop inflicting pain on the one who hurt us. (Kent Crockett, The 911 Handbook, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 43)
5. Matthew 6:12 “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Critical care of the Body of Christ requires the right attitude – humility, the right approach – gentleness or kindness, the right demonstration of actions - patience and forgiveness. We must recognize that as the Body of Christ our unity is a precious gift of God’s grace, and we must protect and care for it as a valued treasure. Here are some practical steps for us to take in order to keep the unity of the Spirit in our church:
1. Recognize the call and gifts from God in our fellow church members.
2. Exercise vigilance over our unity.
3. Commit to speaking well of our brothers and sisters in Christ and publicly express appreciation for them, avoid a critical spirit.
4. Pray diligently and fervently for the blessing of God on our church family by name.
5. Understand that in the “heat of spiritual warfare” and in our diversity there will be misunderstandings, conflicts and offenses.
6. Deal with offenses promptly and appropriately in a spirit of meekness, humility and brotherly love.
7. Listen intently in order to understand the other person’s point-of-view.
8. Avoid judging the motives of a Christian brother or sister, because we cannot see our brother or sister’s heart.
9. Forgive others without hesitation or precondition, knowing that we, too, will need frequent forgiveness for our offenses.
10. Commit yourself to becoming better acquainted with the members of our church family.
Jesus Himself said that believers and non-believers alike are watching, and our love for each other is the evidence that our faith is real. Join with me in guarding the precious unity of our faith. – adapted from an article by Dr. Benjamin A. Sawatsky, Executive Director, EFCM, in Beacon, July, 1998
