I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift… 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up… when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk. You’re a Christian, you should act like one. Humility, gentleness, patience, love. We should be on the edge of our seats actively trying to keep the church together. There is one Lord, there is one faith, there is one baptism. All roads do not lead to God. Regardless of the sincerity of the individual, only the God of the Bible, only Jesus Christ, can reconcile people to God. The church has been given the church a great gift, the people in it. The apostles and prophets have told us the truth. Evangelists keep the gospel front and center. Pastor-teachers keep the church rooted in the truth of the Bible, and all of these give us everything we need for every Christian to participate in ministry, to build up and expand the church (that’s ministry). We are told we need to grow-up in our theological thinking. We need to know the heart of God so well that when a strange teaching comes along we are not lead astray. We need to be telling each other the truth, Christians should never say of fellow Believers “that’s not my problem… that’s none of my business…” shame on us if we don’t grow up together. It takes EVERY PART WORKING for a church to grow, and we have everything we need to do just that, to the glory of God.
Read along in the New Testament with us. Here is our schedule
