{"id":1093,"date":"2012-05-13T07:28:09","date_gmt":"2012-05-13T12:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/?p=1093"},"modified":"2012-05-13T07:32:11","modified_gmt":"2012-05-13T12:32:11","slug":"a-cry-to-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/a-cry-to-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cry To Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"
This article was originally written on September 12, 2010\u00a0by Jeff Ripple. His confession and exhortation for our church and the broader community of believers is eerily applicable in light of recent events surrounding Christ Fellowship Church.<\/em><\/address>\n

<\/em>One thing many pastors struggle with is how to bring discipline to the body.\u00a0 In our politically correct culture we are too worried and too afraid of offending people.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we have come to equate more people with more success, but we have done this at the expense of true discipleship and proper discipline that contributes to the true and long term health of the church.<\/p>\n

Often times, as pastors, in our own insecurity we let people hang in limbo, we watch them from afar, often times because we know approaching them may not be well received, especially if they do not act as though you are their pastor\u2026when in reality you are the closest thing they have to a pastor.\u00a0 Sometimes we are so busy and consumed we let things fall through the cracks\u2026that is not an excuse, but a reality.\u00a0 Sometimes we ignore things in the hope that they will correct themselves.\u00a0 Or we justify non-action in the name of \u201cletting God deal with it.\u201d\u00a0 In reality, it is the man of God, the pastor, the elder, the overseer that God calls to deal with His flock.<\/p>\n

In Hebrews 12:8 the scripture equates a lack of discipline to being illegitimate and not sons.\u00a0 God disciplines those whom He loves as sons.\u00a0 Discipline is not a \u201cdirty word\u201d it is a word that provides safety, security, and structure for growth, as a father provides for his children.\u00a0 In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 Jesus commands us to make disciples, not attendees.\u00a0 A disciple is a disciplined follower.<\/p>\n

As we gather together to worship each week, we are to find our pleasure in Him, and in finding our pleasure in Him we find it in one another.\u00a0 As the Body of Christ, we are commanded to love one another as He has loved us, for we are joined together in Him as one.<\/p>\n

This is a \u201ccry to unity\u201d to resist the carnal and cultural pressure toward self centeredness, self seeking, self gratification, and anything else that would cause us to deny or sacrifice \u201cone another\u201d in the name of self\u2026anything that would disrupt or destroy the unity we are called into.<\/p>\n

In the following short article we will go from King David to the Apostle Paul and look at the topic of unity in the Body of Christ\u2026the One True Church.\u00a0 In 1 Chronicals 11 we see the kingdom turned over to David, by God, and all Israel declaring their unity.\u00a0 In Ephesians 5 we see Paul paint the beautiful picture of husband and wife\u2026Christ and His bride, the church.\u00a0 In both of these pictures of unity the cry is this; \u201cIndeed we are your bone and your flesh.\u201d\u00a0 That is, we are no longer divided, but we are \u201cone flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command; 1 Chronicles 12:32\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Do we understand the times in which we live?\u00a0 Our nation, in many ways is more divided today than it has been in recent history.\u00a0 It is said; \u201cCompromise is the art of politics.\u201d\u00a0 Today that no longer seems to hold true, I believe we could say that \u201cdivision has become the art of politics.\u201d\u00a0 In too many ways we are a divided people.<\/p>\n

You may wonder why I am talking about politics.\u00a0 I believe the political landscape is a reflection of the cultural landscape, and the cultural landscape is a reflection of the spiritual landscape.\u00a0 As with all things, we can come back to the doorstep of the church to find the root of those things that are out of order in our culture.\u00a0 As the church goes, so goes the culture.<\/p>\n

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus declared that we are the \u201csalt of the earth.\u201d\u00a0 In the next verse He declares that we are the \u201clight of the world.\u201d\u00a0 How can the salt season what it is applied to if it has lost its flavor?\u00a0 It cannot.\u00a0 How can a light dispel darkness if it is hidden under a basket?\u00a0 It cannot.\u00a0 How can the church, called salt and light, bring the flavor of unifying love and the brightness of divine light if it has lost its flavor and hidden its light?\u00a0 It cannot.<\/p>\n

Where is the grace of God in the people of God?\u00a0 We all want God\u2019s grace, but we refuse to extend the very same grace we demand for ourselves.\u00a0 We allow offenses and misunderstandings and even disagreements to rule the day instead of God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

We all seem to be looking for something, but do we really know what it is we are seeking?\u201d\u00a0 I am sure we may think we do, but if our searching is not founded on more than the passing desires of our flesh or the deepest depths of our pain, we search endlessly in vain.<\/p>\n

We are called to seek and to search, but that seeking and that searching must be founded and rooted in our deepest desire to know Him.\u00a0 And in our quest for Him, we cannot help but find each other, for we are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh (Ephesians 5:30).<\/p>\n

The church, among other things, is referred to as a family.\u00a0 There is the reality of the universal, the \u201cinvisible\u201d church, and there is the reality of the local, the very \u201cvisible\u201d church.\u00a0 Christ Fellowship is a local expression of the very visible church that corporately makes up the universal church.<\/p>\n

In Ephesians 5 Paul is writing to the local visible church at Ephesus.\u00a0 In these verses he is offering practical inspiration concerning proper relationships and unity, but on a deeper level he is speaking of the church, the body of Christ, in terms we must grasp.<\/p>\n

In Ephesians 5:30-32 Paul specifically relates the church to a marriage.\u00a0 If we are married to Christ, then are we not joined to one another? If Christ loves and cherishes His body, the church, should we not all the more love and cherish one another, His body the church?\u00a0 If He will not divide, why do we divide?\u00a0 If He has not allowed the offenses that we have committed against Him to keep us divided and separated from Him, why do we allow offenses to divided us and separate us from one another?<\/p>\n

The answer to why is really very simple, it is called sin.\u00a0 Another word we could use is unbelief.\u00a0 The solution is also simple, it is called repentance.\u00a0 Here is the reality; if He will not allow our offenses to keep us separated from Him, neither must we allow our own offenses to separate and divide us from one another.\u00a0 As we are in Him, let us repent, and so I am.<\/p>\n

We, the church, are called a family, and a family has disagreements, but families do not stop being family.\u00a0 A husband and wife will have offenses and reasons to divide, but they must not, for they are called and commanded to be one flesh\u2026bone of bone and flesh of flesh.<\/p>\n

A husband does not have to ask the Lord for a sign as to weather he should leave his wife or not.\u00a0 He should already know what the Lord commands.\u00a0 He can make all kinds of excuses as to why he should, why he wants to, why the relationship is deficient, but God commands unity\u2026oneness in the family.\u00a0 The same goes for wives and for parents and for children.\u00a0 The same goes for the church, the local body of believers.\u00a0 We are commanded to unity and we should repent for anything less.<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the battle and the death of Saul, after God had turned the kingdom over to David, all Israel came together, including the sons of Issachar who understood the times.\u00a0 They came together to David declaring; \u201cIndeed we are your bone and your flesh\u201d (1Chronicles 11:1).\u00a0 It is time for the church, the Body of Christ, to utter this same cry to one another and to our King.\u00a0 It is time for the visible church, the world is watching, to stand up as one and cry; \u201cIndeed we are your bone and your flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until the world sees a church, until our city sees a people willing to remain one, in spite of offenses, misunderstandings, disagreements, and miscommunications\u2026a people willing to remain one in spite of the failing and frailty of human flesh\u2026until they see that unified people they will not see Jesus.\u00a0 They will only continue to see and hear the justification of their own unbelieving hearts that say; \u201cThey are just like us, there is no difference, why should I join that?\u201d\u00a0 And so, they will not.<\/p>\n

As long as the church, from pulpit to pew, individually and corporately, continues to seek its own satisfaction, its own convenience, its own self centered desire, the world will continue to see every reason that it remains in unbelief.\u00a0 Until we the church, come to the place of laying down our offenses, of looking past our misunderstandings, and in spite of our disagreements, stand as one mighty man and cry to our King\u2026\u201dIndeed\u00a0we are<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0your bone and your flesh\u201d\u2026until then, the world will not see the King.<\/p>\n

Unity in the Body of Christ is not a suggestion from the Lord, it is His heart commandment for the healthy function of His body to this end, that the world may believe the Father sent the Son (John 17:21 and 1 Corinthians 12:25).<\/p>\n

In Ephesians 6:12, the Apostle Paul reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, in other words, we are not each others enemies, and so we should not allow division, or offense, or any other thing that would give place to the true enemy to stand.\u00a0 In fact, in Ephesians 4, Paul instructs the church in how to grow and walk together with one another and commands the church to \u201cgive no place to the devil\u201d (Ephesians 4:27).\u00a0 He commands us \u201cdo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God\u201d (Ephesians 4:30).\u00a0 How do we avoid doing that?\u00a0 By not allowing any corrupt word to come from our mouth, but instead, what is good and necessary for building up\u2026by imparting grace to the hearer (Ephesians 4:29).\u00a0 We are commanded to put away the things that are \u201cunkind\u201d and to \u201cbe kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you\u201d (Ephesians 4:31-32).<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore be imitators of God as dear children.\u00a0 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us\u201d (Ephesians 5:1-2).\u00a0 And as you meditate on these things remember that love is patient\u2026love endures all things\u2026love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).<\/p>\n

As the church stands in unity truly the church will we be seen as one family, as one body, as one man\u2026for in unity our witness is pure and undefiled.\u00a0 Not because we are many without failings, but because we are one in love\u2026in spite of our many failings.<\/p>\n

1<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>2<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>3<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing\u2014 Life forevermore. Psalm 133<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally written on September 12, 2010\u00a0by Jeff Ripple. His confession and exhortation for our church and the broader community of believers is eerily applicable in light of recent events surrounding Christ Fellowship Church. One thing many pastors struggle with is how to bring discipline to the body.\u00a0 In our politically correct culture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[114,111,112,113],"class_list":["post-1093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","tag-dicipline","tag-jeff","tag-ripple","tag-unity"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5C2eY-hD","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1093\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calebripple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}