Ekklesia: The Power of Unity
by Dr. Patti Amsden
by Dr. Patti Amsden
Observation of the functionality of the Trinity reveals perfect unity of purpose and will within the Godhead. The Father does not enforce submission upon the Son, but rather it is the delight of the Son to do the will of God (Heb. 10:7, 9; Ps. 40:6-8). The Holy Spirit does not promote His own agenda, but rather communicates the words of Jesus and seeks to bring honor to the Son (Jn. 16:13-15). God is One is Being, as was discussed in the last article, and God is one in purpose. He is perfect unity without division, schism, or disharmony.
Unity is discovered in the Godhead; unity is the goal of the church. One main passage that describes first – the call to unity, secondly – the pathway to unity, and finally – the goal of unity is found in Ephesians 4:1-13. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (KJV).
Paul begins his plea to the church of Ephesus by calling each believer do his part to keep unity by walking personally under a meek or harnessed soul and by demonstrating that tempered soul in dealing respectfully and patiently with others. If a man has an elevated view of himself, he will subjugate those around him. If a woman has an overinflated ego, her pride will cause her to suppress all perceived competition. Paul admonishes that each person view himself through the same filter Paul had applied – that of a prisoner of the Lord. Paul had voluntarily subjected himself to the rule of Christ. His mental, spiritual, and emotional subjugation was reflected in his dealing with others. He was not their superior nor did he boast himself to be so.
From his admonition that the saints patiently give preference one to another, Paul reminds them of their call and the source of their unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Their unity came not from their individuality but from those things which they held in common. The unity of any organization and its accompanying governmental structure flows from the collective identity. A family is one unit which consists of mother, father, children, grandparents; and yet all the parts with their particular rolls are only one family. This principle, known as the one and the many, applies in most areas of life and culture: one body – many cells; one nation – many citizens; one business – many workers; one school – many students; one university – many disciples; and on the list continues.
To maintain the unity of the one within the structure of the many operational parts requires a government. The government defines the flow of authority. Within the oneness of the Trinity, God the Father serves the role of the Chief Executive and is vested with authority. (I Cor. 24-28). God the Son voluntarily receives orders and manifests the will of the Father (Jn. 5:19; Mt. 21:23-27). Likewise, the Spirit serves the will of Father and Son. No part of the Godhead subjugates any other part of the Godhead but there is, nonetheless, submission within the Trinity concerning performance or functionality. Jesus, acting without compulsion or obligation, submitted to the Father.
Submission of every part, except for the executive role, serves to ensure that unity of purpose remains. The vision can flow down from the head through the body; the orders can be communicated through the rank and file; the unadulterated goal can be accomplished through the working of many parts. Submission is the willing act of the Son and Spirit to the Headship of the Father. Submission is, likewise, the willing act that must be present in every governmental structure and every time the scenario of the one and the many is found.
Paul, in his admonition on unity to the Ephesians (our passage under discussion) follows his call to unity with the explanation that Jesus ascended to the Father and dispensed executive gifts to the church: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. These executive offices were sent to provide the pathway to unity. They would assist in the development of the individual parts. They would oversee the perfecting, which means that they would see that all the individual gifts would function in harmony with one another. Such is the executive roll. For example, the CEO makes sure that the assembly line is producing what the engineers designed and that the products distributed to the market are those produced on the assembly line. The CEO ensures the perfecting, which – again – is the working together or knitting together of all the parts to accomplish the one purpose.
Further development of the above illustration reveals that the individual parts are required to do the submitting – submitting to the purpose, submitting to the systems, submitting to those in authority over them. This same requirement is found in the Paul’s same epistle to the Ephesians when the apostle is speaking to wives. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22, KJV). Submit is the Greek word hypotasso, which literally means to rank under. The word is often applied to military systems where, for example, an enlisted man would be required to rank under a superior officer. In the admonition to wives, Paul requires the wife to voluntarily rank under but does not give license to the husband to forcefully subdue. The female, being created in the image of God, is of equal substance and being with the male. He is empowered with the executive role in the family while she voluntarily brings her gifts into submission. She must not introduce diversity of vision – division – and thus produce schisms and disunity. The perfect manifestation of this process is observed in the hypotasso of the Son to the Father in the Godhead.
The chief executive who might be the CEO, the husband, or the five-fold ministry is charged with the goal of unity. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). Working with the many parts to achieve the unity requires the call (or the clear identification of the common purpose), the pathway (or the process wherein all the parts work together), and the goal (or the end result of unity). Unity is a higher principle than submission. The goal of unity can never be achieved unless the chief executive is willing to share his or her power. The Son operated under delegated or shared power from the Father. Jesus shared His power with His church. The chief executive who hoards power will never attain the goal of unity. Learn more in the next article.
Unity is discovered in the Godhead; unity is the goal of the church. One main passage that describes first – the call to unity, secondly – the pathway to unity, and finally – the goal of unity is found in Ephesians 4:1-13. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (KJV).
Paul begins his plea to the church of Ephesus by calling each believer do his part to keep unity by walking personally under a meek or harnessed soul and by demonstrating that tempered soul in dealing respectfully and patiently with others. If a man has an elevated view of himself, he will subjugate those around him. If a woman has an overinflated ego, her pride will cause her to suppress all perceived competition. Paul admonishes that each person view himself through the same filter Paul had applied – that of a prisoner of the Lord. Paul had voluntarily subjected himself to the rule of Christ. His mental, spiritual, and emotional subjugation was reflected in his dealing with others. He was not their superior nor did he boast himself to be so.
From his admonition that the saints patiently give preference one to another, Paul reminds them of their call and the source of their unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Their unity came not from their individuality but from those things which they held in common. The unity of any organization and its accompanying governmental structure flows from the collective identity. A family is one unit which consists of mother, father, children, grandparents; and yet all the parts with their particular rolls are only one family. This principle, known as the one and the many, applies in most areas of life and culture: one body – many cells; one nation – many citizens; one business – many workers; one school – many students; one university – many disciples; and on the list continues.
To maintain the unity of the one within the structure of the many operational parts requires a government. The government defines the flow of authority. Within the oneness of the Trinity, God the Father serves the role of the Chief Executive and is vested with authority. (I Cor. 24-28). God the Son voluntarily receives orders and manifests the will of the Father (Jn. 5:19; Mt. 21:23-27). Likewise, the Spirit serves the will of Father and Son. No part of the Godhead subjugates any other part of the Godhead but there is, nonetheless, submission within the Trinity concerning performance or functionality. Jesus, acting without compulsion or obligation, submitted to the Father.
Submission of every part, except for the executive role, serves to ensure that unity of purpose remains. The vision can flow down from the head through the body; the orders can be communicated through the rank and file; the unadulterated goal can be accomplished through the working of many parts. Submission is the willing act of the Son and Spirit to the Headship of the Father. Submission is, likewise, the willing act that must be present in every governmental structure and every time the scenario of the one and the many is found.
Paul, in his admonition on unity to the Ephesians (our passage under discussion) follows his call to unity with the explanation that Jesus ascended to the Father and dispensed executive gifts to the church: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. These executive offices were sent to provide the pathway to unity. They would assist in the development of the individual parts. They would oversee the perfecting, which means that they would see that all the individual gifts would function in harmony with one another. Such is the executive roll. For example, the CEO makes sure that the assembly line is producing what the engineers designed and that the products distributed to the market are those produced on the assembly line. The CEO ensures the perfecting, which – again – is the working together or knitting together of all the parts to accomplish the one purpose.
Further development of the above illustration reveals that the individual parts are required to do the submitting – submitting to the purpose, submitting to the systems, submitting to those in authority over them. This same requirement is found in the Paul’s same epistle to the Ephesians when the apostle is speaking to wives. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22, KJV). Submit is the Greek word hypotasso, which literally means to rank under. The word is often applied to military systems where, for example, an enlisted man would be required to rank under a superior officer. In the admonition to wives, Paul requires the wife to voluntarily rank under but does not give license to the husband to forcefully subdue. The female, being created in the image of God, is of equal substance and being with the male. He is empowered with the executive role in the family while she voluntarily brings her gifts into submission. She must not introduce diversity of vision – division – and thus produce schisms and disunity. The perfect manifestation of this process is observed in the hypotasso of the Son to the Father in the Godhead.
The chief executive who might be the CEO, the husband, or the five-fold ministry is charged with the goal of unity. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). Working with the many parts to achieve the unity requires the call (or the clear identification of the common purpose), the pathway (or the process wherein all the parts work together), and the goal (or the end result of unity). Unity is a higher principle than submission. The goal of unity can never be achieved unless the chief executive is willing to share his or her power. The Son operated under delegated or shared power from the Father. Jesus shared His power with His church. The chief executive who hoards power will never attain the goal of unity. Learn more in the next article.
