The words of the U2 song 'One' say, '...We're one but we're not the same, We carry each other, We carry each other...'
This week our series in Ephesians reaches 4:1-16, the message of which is really, 'we're one but we're not the same'. Paul has been revealing to his readers that as Christians they are 'one in Christ' with all other followers of Jesus. For the readers in first century Ephesus the issue was Jew / Gentile - that is how do Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians relate to each other. So far in Ephesians there have only been two instructions - 2:11 and 3:13. Now the instructions start to come thick and fast, but the thrust of verses 1-6 is essentially that as Christians we must do everything to ensure unity. Because there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, Lord, faith, baptism and God (4-5) division in the church is inconsistent with the life we have been called to live (1).
The second part of Paul's argument here follows on - although we're one, we're not all the same. Instead we are all interdependent on each other. In his book God has a Dream: A Vision of Hope in our Time, Desmond Tutu speaks of the African concept of 'ubuntu': the idea that I am because I belong; that my well being is somehow inextricably wound up in your well being (p25-27). God has designed the church so that we will be interdependent on each other. No one has all the gifts and abilities and talents. Instead these gifts, abilities and talents are shared out among everyone. This means that everyone in the church has a role to play and it also means that if one person is not playing their part the rest will suffer. The message that Paul preaches is that we are saved to serve - not saved to sit. What has God called you to do?
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