Daily Devotions

What should a follower of Jesus do when they find themselves right in the middle of troubling conflict? When Paul found himself  in the  contentious situation of imprisonment, he wrote, “I urge you, then — I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you.” (Ephesians 4:1)

Whilst it should be well understood, it is often ignored that when someone enters into a society f faith, they take upon themselves the obligation to live a certain kind of life. If they fail in that obligation, they hinder the aims of their society and brings discredit on its name. Here, Paul paints the picture of the kind of life that a disciple must live when he enters the fellowship of the Christian Church. But this call  isn't only whilst we are in the church is it?  

I recently read, "Why has our society  become so mean?" An investigational journalist recently discovered that  a restaurant owner had said that he has to eject a customer from his restaurant for rude or cruel behaviour once a week—something that never used to happen. A head nurse at a hospital told shared that many of her staff are leaving the profession because patients have become so abusive. The writer concluded that the words that define our age reek of menace: conspiracy, polarisation, mass shootings, trauma, and the need for safe spaces.

It could be said that standards have slipped, but for the disciple what are those standards? Paul continues in his writing to say, “ I urge you to behave with all humility, and gentleness, and patience. I urge you to bear with one another in love. I urge you eagerly to preserve that unity which the Holy Spirit can bring by binding things together in peace.”

This oneness, this peace, these right relationships can be preserved only in one way. Every one of the four great Christian virtues depends on the there being less self in our behaviour. So long as self is at the centre of things, this oneness can never fully exist. In a society where self predominates, humankind cannot be other than a disintegrated collection of individualistic and warring units. But when self dies and Christ springs to life within our hearts. then comes the peace, the oneness, which is the great hall-mark of the true Church.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and our brother, 

you have called us to be your one Church. 

Make us one in our faith and hope, 

and one in our loving service. 

Make us one in worship and in daily living.

Lord Jesus, 

send your Spirit to make us one 

as you want us to be.

We ask this, Jesus, 

for you are our Lord and our Saviour for ever. Amen.