Midway through the book of Ephesians, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write these words:

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).

Paul had spent the previous three chapters detailing how God through Christ was able to break down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile and bring both together into one body – the church. Now, since we know that God has done His part in creating this great unity in one body, Paul begins to tell us we are obligated to do our part to maintain this unity.

The word “endeavoring” is translated from the Greek word spoudazontes. This word means to work, to exert oneself, or to endeavor; to put forth an earnest effort to accomplish a specific task. Unity among any group of people is not maintained automatically, nor does it continue by accident. It requires work, sometimes hard work, on behalf of everyone involved.

We are to endeavor to “keep the unity.” The word “keep” is from the Greek word terein, which means to watch over protectively, to guard, or to preserve. This precious unity is established by Christ. It is maintained by the standards set forth by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:4-6). Our duty is to guard, preserve, and protect this unity.

Preserving our unity must be a priority for every member. Our unity was established through the death of God’s Son; a death we take the time to memorialize every Sunday. Our unity was the subject of our Lord’s prayer on the night that He was betrayed (John 17:20-21). The epistles are filled with admonitions for members of the local church to work and worship together in unity. Preserving our unity must be a priority for every member.

In endeavoring to keep this unity, there are some differences that must be tolerated. The Knollwood church of Christ is not made up of members of a physical family meeting in a little one-room church house out in the country. We have different backgrounds, experiences, family situations, and interests. We all face unique challenges in our daily lives. Regarding these differences, we are to humbly, gently, and patiently bear with one another in love (Eph. 4:1-2).

There are also some differences that must be overcome. Unity is kept on God’s terms. We must adhere to the doctrine of Christ. Unfortunately, we can have differences regarding our understanding and application of God’s word. These doctrinal differences pose a serious threat to our unity, so handling these kinds of differences is an important part of “endeavoring to keep the unity.”

Paul went on to speak of Christ giving the local church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the saints (Eph. 4:11-12). There is a specific goal in mind regarding this equipping process: “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” (v. 13).

Did you get that? Our goal is “to come to the unity of the faith.” We aren’t there yet. There are differences in understanding. The goal is to overcome these differences. How we go about overcoming these differences, and how we treat one another as we strive towards this God-given goal, is what matters. This is a part of keeping or protecting our unity.

Satan is seeking to destroy our unity. If he can get us to bite and devour one another (Gal. 5:15), he has won. We are growing as a congregation. It is when we are growing that we need to remember to “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). If Satan can get us upset and focused on our differences, we will take our eyes off the Lord’s work. We will forget to be humble, gentle, and patient with one another. Soon, our differences will become bigger than that which binds us together. Soon, we start to view one another as adversaries instead of brethren. Soon, the bitterness of this situation will begin to poison our hearts, we will find ways to selfishly sabotage our unity, and these sins will eventually cost us our souls.

Brethren, that which binds us together is always greater than that which can tear us apart – our faith in God, our love for Christ, our pardon from sin, and our hope in heaven, just to mention a few. We are all at different levels of understanding and different levels of maturity regarding how God’s word is applied to our lives. Despite these differences, we all tremble at God’s word (Is. 66:2). We all respect it as the final authority in our lives (John 12:48). As long as this is the case, we can endeavor to keep our unity on God’s terms and continue to worship and work as a faithful local church, meeting the needs of every member and spreading the gospel to a lost and dying world.