Humility in the Church, from Ephesians 4

Last night at church, our pastor was speaking about humility from Ephesians 4, emphasizing the necessity of humility for the unity of the church.  That a humble spirit is necessary to walk with the Lord is beyond question.  So it makes sense then that the church would necessarily need to possess a humble spirit as well.  Check out Ephesians 4:1-6:

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

It’s interesting to note that the very first thing Paul lists in conjunction with walking “in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” is humility.  Humility was at the top of Paul’s list of character traits that were necessary for the church and its members.  In my mind, it seems that the subsequent traits listed by Paul—gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, and an eagerness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace—are all outgrowths of a humble heart. 

Many churches are tormented by a lack of unity, and this is due in large part to pride, whether it’s recognized as the cause or not.  Look at Paul’s list: humility, gentleness, patience, and so on.  How missing these are from so many churches!  A church filled with a meek and humble spirit won’t have silly arguments over silly things.  A truly humble congregation will not allow anger, bitterness, and ego to enter into a discussion.  If a body of believers has truly embraced a spirit of humility, they won’t even be capable of arguing and dividing over the most non-essential ideas.  It will seem silly to them to do so.  A humble church’s members will interact with each other graciously and charitably, not in spite or anger.  A humble church’s members will have patience with each other, though they may not see eye to eye with another party.  A humble church will find its unity around the clear truth of God’s Word, not by pridefully and stubbornly rallying around extra-Biblical ideas.

Instead, sadly, we hear of churches splitting, and if not splitting, having major blow-ups over things that have no business dividing a congregation.  But where this is happening I can almost assure you that pride is likely alive and well in the hearts of folks on both sides of a given issue.  You hear of people leaving churches over what others might wear to church.  I’m baffled when I hear things like that.  I can’t imagine how dissappointed our gracious Father and His loving Son are when they witness such things.  That people would cause division over such things seems to run directly contrary to the teaching of the Bible on unity in the church.  Now, it should be noted that I’m not talking about issues of doctrine here.  I’m talking about peripheral issues that have no business dividing believers.  Yet we see it so frequently that it’s almost become commonplace in some circles.

It pains me to see a church divided over issues that are insignificant.  It truly pains me to see Christians allowing pride to so dominate their hearts (as I have done for years) to the extent that they would divide a church over almost meaningless issues.  I think it pains me most, however, to think that this very sin of pride has dominated my own life for so long.  By God’s grace, I have purposed to wage a life-long war on pride.  If His body, the church, would only have the courage to embrace a spirit of humility, we would see churches made whole, and unity around God’s truth restored.

~ by Matt on December 20, 2007.