Ephesians 4:3-4 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one home when you were called; one lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Today's episode is about Unity and how much we need it in this country. It also talks about how to have a conversation about unity instead of arguing. It discusses a few things I believe can move us closer to unity. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Unity Is the Goal
Ephesians 4:3-4 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one home when you were called; one lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Today’s prayer point for my healing ministry team is Unity. This is something I believe so many of us have been praying for quite some time now. Our country is more divided than I can remember it ever being. We really need unity in this country. This verse is also saying God would like unity within the church. This verse begins by saying, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Are we doing that? I think the most important part of that line might be “through the bond of peace.” There does not seem to be a lot of peace in the world right now. It does not seem like anyone can disagree with anyone peacefully. It seems as though most of us have forgotten that we can be peaceful and still disagree.
There are a few problems with this idea. First, if we aren’t peacefully talking about the issues then people probably aren’t listening. If people aren’t listening then how can we understand each other? If we want to get to unity we need to begin with understanding. We need to first understand where we are each coming from and then find some common ground. We need to make sure we are listening too. If we enter a conversation seeking to change the other person's mind, then we have already lost. We need to enter every conversation with the mindset of truly understanding what they are saying.
Imagine if we did this for each conversation we had. We didn’t enter the conversation with any preconceived notions of what the other person was going to say. What if we didn’t enter each conversation with the idea that we were right and they were wrong? What if we just entered the conversation with curiosity? I wonder how this would change our conversation.
Another issue with not peacefully discussing our issues is that if we get angry, or we frustrated then the other person stops listening. Think about the last time you got into an argument with someone about something. Did you continue to listen to them when they were raising their voice? When the conversation turns into an argument then you both stop listening to each other and the goal becomes to be right, to be the winner of the argument. This is not a way to gain unity. If unity is what you are seeking then arguing will not get you what you want. Arguing will just make people angry and may even make people not want to talk with you. If you are someone who tends to start arguments a lot, then people may avoid talking with you or spending time with you.
However, if you are someone who enters a conversation with a curiosity and a willingness to understand what the other person is saying then people will enjoy having a conversation with you. People will seek you out because they feel you really listen. People don’t really feel heard these days, especially with electronics. We are on our phones a lot these days and it can be very distracting. I have realized in the past few days that I have been on my phone while my kids have been talking to me. I am usually better about that and yet recently I have heard them get my attention and tell me they have said the same thing 3 times.
On one hand, I hate when I hear this. It makes me so frustrated that they have to tell me this. It makes me frustrated when it seems my phone controls me instead of just being a tool I use when I need it. On the other hand, I am thankful when they point it out so I can get it back under control. I don’t want to always be looking at my phone. I especially don’t want to be looking at my phone when my boys are trying to talk with me. I have teenage boys and the time they want to talk with their mom is limited. It is precious and I don’t want to waste any of it by being on my phone. Also, when we are on our phone when someone is talking to us that shows them that what they are saying is not important enough to look away from our phone. That is definitely not how I feel and not the message I want them to take away.
Now that we have talked about the importance of listening with curiosity and with the goal of understanding, another thing that I believe will help with unity is knowledge. If you want to be able to help unite then you have to know what you believe and why you believe it. I was once on a road trip with a fellow Christian. We were not the same denomination as I am Catholic and she is protestant. We talked a lot about our religions on the road trip. We talked about the things we both believe and the things one of us believed that the other one doesn’t. We were not arguing, we were not trying to convince the other person to believe what we believe, we were trying to understand where these varying beliefs came from. My friend had several incorrect beliefs about what Catholics actually believe and why we do what we do.
This is not an uncommon occurrence. We think we know what others believe or what they think and yet we get it wrong often. Misunderstanding can be a barrier to unity. We can’t be united if we don’t know what we believe. If we are having a conversation and yet we can’t explain what we believe and why we believe we won’t get anywhere. People can’t understand what you believe if you don’t even know. If we are talking about unity in the church, we need to understand as much as we can about the church. For instance, why am I Catholic? What do I believe and why do I believe it? It is also helpful to know common misunderstandings and what the truth is.
One example is that many people feel like Catholics pray to the Saints and they feel this is idolatry. They also don’t understand why we would pray to a Saint when we could pray straight to God. Catholics ask for the intercession of Saints. We are not praying to the Saints the way we pray to God. We know and believe we can pray straight to God, and we do, often. However, sometimes you are going through something that feels so big you need others to pray for you as well. Have you ever had something so big going on in your life that you asked everyone you know to pray for you? You called your pastor, you asked your friends, you asked anyone you know that prays to pray for you. This is similar to what it is like when Catholics pray to the Saints.
We are praying for the Saints to intercede for us. They are up in heaven with our heavenly Father, they served him faithfully while they were here on earth, and so we are asking them to go to the Lord and present our request as well. We tend to pray for the intercession of a Saint that has had some experience in whatever our struggle is. For instance, if we are praying for healing from cancer, we will pray for the intercession of St. Peregrine as God healed him and then used him to cure many others.
There are patron Saints for almost anything you could be going through and a quick internet search will give you the name of that patron Saint. In order to become a Saint, one of the qualifications you need to have is at least one miracle attributed to your name. In other words, after the saint died, people prayed for their intercession and after praying for their intercession if God granted that miracle, then they could become a Saint. Just to be clear, we attribute all the Glory to God for the miracle. We do not believe that the Saint performs the miracle. The Saint is just the intercessor, God is the miracle worker.
Do you see how important it is to understand why you believe what you believe? If you are having a conversation with someone and they want to know why you hold those beliefs or why you think the way you do, it is important to be able to explain it. The other really important thing to remember when your aim is unity it to lead with love. If you can change people’s hearts, you will change their minds. If people feel loved, respected, and listened to, they will usually stay in a conversation a lot longer than if they don’t. Unity is important and it is something this country and I think this world is really hungry for. Let’s help them out. Let’s approach people with love in our hearts and with the goal of curiosity and understanding in our minds. Let's judge less and understand more. Let’s argue less and love more. Isn’t it at least worth the try?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, we know you want unity in your church and we want to help you with that, show us how. Help us to approach each new conversation with openness, compassion, love, and curiosity. Help us to truly listen to the person we are talking to without any distractions. Help us to listen with the goal of understanding. Help us to be “little Christs” in this world. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with you will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to bringing you a witness tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!