Ephesians 4
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
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 to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
8 This is why it says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men."
9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?
10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Occasionally, we hear in the news of a military unit that got caught in the wrong place, and are mistakenly fired upon as the enemy. The key point is that it wasn't supposed to happen...
Sometimes, we hear something about a Christian who was perceived to be doing something wrong, but no effort was taken to make sure it was really them. Or it could be an unfounded rumor about another church. It could even be bickering between churches of the same denomination or different denominations. I bet the devil loves when Christians bicker amongst themselves... It creates a great atmosphere for him to work in, and it keeps Christians from saving the lost, because they may be too busy fighting about things that don't have eternal significance.
Aren't those who follow Jesus (those with the same basic beliefs), brothers and sisters in Christ?
Matthew 18
15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
Ephesians 4
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
We as Christians are called to put on our Armor of God every day to do battle with our enemy. Have you ever noticed that the armor is in the front? We don't really have any armor for our backs, because we are supposed to stand against the enemy, and not turn and run. God is enough to meet all our needs. Since we don't have armor on our backs, we are vulnerable to the people behind us, so we have to be able to trust them. As military units go through training, they develop a sense of team, where everyone works together, trusting each other.
f we all worked together for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, instead of arguments between denominations, how much farther could we go?