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Whenever I read this week’s scripture, I am reminded of the first time I visited the beautiful city of Bucharest, Romania. My wife and I first visited there as part of a team working with Project Ruth through the Providence Baptist Church. 

I was going in order to teach a course to Romany ministers in the Gypsy Smith pastors’ school. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was going to be working with neighborhood children through ESL (English-As-A-Second-Language) and also teaching them basic personal hygiene. 

We arrived on a Saturday evening and got up the next morning to attend worship. Seated in the vibrant sanctuary, we noticed bold lettering underneath their baptistry. “Un domn, O credinta, Un botez,” we noticed. 

That’s a quote from this week’s scripture in Ephesians 4: 1-16. The apostle Paul reminds believers that they are united in a life worthy of the calling by “One Lord, one faith and one baptism.” 

Paul urged more than just the Ephesians to work and maintain their unity as he wrote his biblical letters to churches across the new Christian movement. He knew that where humans are gathered, there will be diversity and opinions. Ultimately, though, the cause of Christ is best served by loving, unified churches. 

That is a timeless message for us today. Perhaps at no time more so than now, we live in a culture and within a global economy that pushes to individualize and isolate us. Much of this comes subtly in the form of a largely customizable lifestyle. 

From our smartphones or our device keyboards, you and I can design and order goods and services. If I want a customized suit or shirt, and can get some of my own basic measurements, I can design and order either of those in about the time it takes to receive a delivery pizza. Our devices keep us clicking and our television remotes keep us moving between channel selections. 

Only the healthiest of church congregations are made of a good blend of followers and leaders these days. Everyone can’t be in charge, you know.  

A society used to control and choices can be tricky to lead. Try designing a Wednesday night dinner rotation to please a diverse crowd at bargain prices. You will be inundated with messages from would-be dieticians. Try taking a church group on an overseas mission trip and see how many amateur travel agents surface with suggestions on how the experience should be set up. 

Eventually, we realize that a group is different from our own individual preferences. If I’m the only one involved, then I can customize to my heart’s content. But when I’m going to blend my life with others, now I’m going to need to compromise and give. 

Or if we don’t realize those things, then we will be the ones that exert wear-and-tear within a gathered people. So much has changed in 2,000 years. But what Paul has to say on this is timeless. 

How are we to live within a church? Paul guides us as he says we should interact, “…with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” If we don’t play well with others, then being in a church is going to be challenging for us and those around us. 

What is at stake? He says, “…there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the 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 all.”

Jesus Christ is ultimately the head of our church. God is the object and the audience of our worship. My favorite hymns and your favorite songs are not the priority, for instance, compared with offering a cohesive worship experience for all. It is God who we must strive to please, not our own preferences which will vary so widely. 

Since I am quoting from this week’s text, let me go all in and leave us with a bit more of these vital words. Paul’s guidance here is rock solid. As you evaluate your own practice of faith, measure your church self thusly. 

“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”

DR. CHARLES QUALLS is senior pastor at Franklin Baptist Church. Contact him at 757-562-5135.