It’s not easy to write about being united in Christ’s love. There are many reasons why this is so. An obvious one is the responsibility incumbent on the writer to live it out now that it’s written. Another would be the inability of many to live up to what is written. Another would be the discomfort of addressing something everyone knows is sorely lacking. And yet another would be the skepticism of the effectiveness of such an article. But naturally, these reasons are insufficient.

Whether the article is written or not, the responsibility is on the writer to live it out anyway. Furthermore, since we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, it isn’t the inability of the Christian, but rather the unwillingness of the Christian, that prevents this principle from being lived out. In addition, because unity is sorely lacking, such disobedience should be addressed, discomfort notwithstanding. And lastly, skepticism that the Word would be ineffective is unbelief.

So to learn about unity in Christ’s love, let us hear from Paul – he was one who lived out the unity he taught, he believed it could be lived out (otherwise he wouldn’t have taught it), he wasn’t afraid to address uncomfortable subjects, and he believed the Word of God would have good course in the lives of the obedient.

He taught in Ephesians 4:1-7 – "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."

Here, Paul commanded the Ephesians to walk together for God’s glory. Paul had just, in the first 3 chapters, taught them great doctrines – about election, salvation, the riches in Christ, the Christian’s inheritance, etc. And in chapter 4, he uses the word "therefore." Simply put, he’s telling them that they had to live the faith – once they knew their doctrine, they were to perform their duties. Indeed, we can know a lot about the Christian faith, but when it comes to practice, it’s altogether another matter. But he knew it was possible for them to obey, because if they had genuine faith, there would be good works that follow (James 2:18).

Despite their different backgrounds, personalities, aspirations, methods of doing things, etc, there could be unity. And the reason for this is because they all had Christ. And everyone who’s a Christian is part of the same body, has the same Spirit, the same hope, the same Lord, the same faith, the same Spiritual filling, the same God, and the same grace.

But despite these things they had in common, they could still have disunity. And that’s the same for us – we’re all Christians in church, but there’s disunity. So what does Paul say we ought to do in order to promote this unity? We must walk in unity! And Paul gives us very practical evidences of those who walk in unity.

There’ll be lowliness. This simply means humility – a most difficult virtue to exercise. To practice lowliness is more than just adopting a posture of humility – it is to adopt a mind of humility. One who is lowly in heart recognizes his insignificance but sees the worth of others. You see, often we think of humility as serving one another. This is true. But a person can serve others with great zeal, and yet be proud, getting offended when his service is not appreciated. We can serve and yet not be lowly. Sigh, what deceitful hearts indeed…

There’ll be meekness. This simply means gentleness. Now, a person who is offended might think himself justified to react against his offender. But when there’s meekness, he chooses to subdue this right and accept blame or accusations or a host of other things. We’re people who love to get angry, complain, and bear offenses. This can result in backbiting, angry stares, avoidance, desiring justice, etc. But meekness is more than just being silent or controlled. It’s to be gentle at heart. A person can be controlled in speech and reaction, but still bear the offenses in his heart. Sigh, what deceitful hearts indeed…

There’ll be longsuffering. This simply means to be patient. With all Christians proclaiming themselves as sinners, and knowing that we sinners take a lifetime to mature – it shouldn’t be any surprise that sinful actions and reactions abound. If we aren’t longsuffering, we’re simply adding to the sin. Doubtless, longsuffering doesn’t excuse sin. But many of us who are zealous for the righting of wrong things might be apt to justify impatience as zeal for God’s glory. Sigh, what deceitful hearts indeed…

There’ll be forbearance in love. Forbearance simply means to endure something. We’re all different – we have different opinions and different methods of working. When they don’t contradict the Bible, these things are okay. Sometimes we argue over the silliest of things – such as whether the toilet paper is dispensed over the top or from the bottom. We just want things done our way and to our liking. If worship takes place in our hearts, we can afford still to be very forbearing with an off-key chairman. Many things can be solved with forbearance if the heart is willing.

We must endeavor to keep the unity. This simply means we need to exert ourselves. This is a prerequisite for unity. It’s so easy to be proud. It’s so easy to react. It’s so easy to be impatient. And it’s so easy to make a mountain out of a molehill. But it’s not easy to endeavor, especially with weak hearts like ours.

And when there’s such unity, there’ll be balanced Christian living. The word "worthy" means balanced. A scale with equal weight on both sides won’t tilt – this is considered worthy. If it tilts to one side, it’s not worthy. Hence, if we walk in unity, it means that our Christian lives are balanced – our doctrine is balanced with our duty, our talk is balanced with our walk. I’ve got a big head but a small heart. It’s deceitful, weak, and often unwilling to obey. I suspect it’s the same with most of us. But if our heads are saturated with the Word, let our hearts also be likewise. Only then will there be unity and a balanced Christianity.
—Mark Chen

God demands that we dwell together in unity (Philippians 2:3; Psalm 133). There must be that bond of agape love for one another. Every member of the body of Christ should work towards unity and love with one another and this is exhorted in 1 Corinthians 12:26-27, "And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored all the members rejoiced with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular."

Our Lord Jesus came "not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Matthew 20:28). How much more must we as His disciples minister one to another. The word "minister" generally means "service of any kind." It also means "support, take care of, wait on, serve."

Actively serving one another is not just shaking hands with the people we meet or exchanging the WARM programme’s introductory cards. Every child of God must realize that actively serving one another is doing what God wants us to do (1 John 4:7). In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus commands us that, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Therefore, there must first be commitment from every Lifer. We are to follow Christ’s example with a purpose that everyone we meet is an opportunity for us to minister. This commitment must be out of love for God and in humility. "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:3-4). There must be an interest in getting to know one another and be good friends out of a pure heart, "…see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently"(1 Peter 1:22).

Secondly, we have to sincerely care and bear one another’s burdens and dilemmas (Galatians 6:2). We should render whatever practical help we can give to alleviate one another’s problems. We must not succumb to the temptation of just saying, "I will pray for you". This is covering our unloving heart with spirituality as depicted graphically in the book of James, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" (James 2:15,16).

Thirdly, vigilance in guarding our tongue is needed. We need to constantly have words to edify one another and not to tear the other person down. We should never be found like those wicked men as depicted by David, "who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words" (Psalm 64:3). An untamed tongue is a deadly poison (James 3:8).

Fourthly, we should have compassion, empathy and understanding with one another. The apostle exhorted us to be of "one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous" (1 Peter 3:8). We must "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15). To lend a sympathetic ear to others and yearn for the welfare of our brethren is love in action. We must not neglect to pray and follow up on their plight. In addition, we should not be quick to judge on what we see or perceive. God says in John 7:24, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

Fifthly, we must never be manipulative in our dealing with one another. The Psalmist warns that manipulative people are those who "speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak" (Psalm 12:2). The Lord shall cut off those who speak falsehood, those who flatter and those who have hidden agendas in dealing with people. Actively ministering to one another means that, we should never use people for our own selfish gains. There must be spiritual integrity before God and man. "The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me" (Psalm 7:8)

Sixthly, if we have offended, injured or have been inconsiderate to our brethren, we must be willing to take responsibility for our mistakes and not be too quick to blame others. We must be clothed with humility to confess our faults one to another (James 5:16). We who have been the injured or offended party should always be ready to be gracious and to forgive (Ephesians 4:32).

Last but not least, we should have a family atmosphere whereby at every assembly of saints, there should be no exclusiveness. No person should be ignored or ostracized. Cliquing with familiar friends only is more destructive than constructive for a Christian familial relationship.

The above list of how to be actively ministering is not exhaustive. Every Lifer must actively minister to one another. In order to fulfill the royal law of love, he or she must take the first and right step of loving God and His Word. When we love God sincerely, we would obey His commandments to love and serve others. May we ponder these provoking words of God, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also" (1 John 4:20-21).

—Quek Keng Khwang