Session 4

The one thing that unites people from all backgrounds

From Ephesians: A 10-Day Devotional

When you grow up in a non-sports household and marry into a football family, you learn quickly that “tailgate,” formerly a noun, is now a verb. Thousands of people drive for hours to hang out in a parking lot together.

Even if you can’t make it to the stadium, nothing seems to bring people together like football. Fans meet in houses and sports bars just to be around other people who root for the same team.

The same way that football unites people of all backgrounds and walks of life around a common love, our love for Jesus is what unites Christians around the world as one church. A shared love for Jesus breaks down the wall of hostility between people who would disagree in any other setting — Republicans and Democrats, Carolina fans and Clemson fans, Coke people and Pepsi people.

At the time Ephesians was written, the great divide was between Jews and non-Jews, or Gentiles. But the message remains the same: In the Church, we all root for the same team, because we’ve all received the same grace.

Faith in Jesus is the great equalizer. “For through [Jesus] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (Ephesians 2:18).

When we stop seeing other Christians as “us vs. them”, we experience the Church the way Jesus intended. Like fans of the same team, we celebrate together and mourn together. We share the faith struggles that come with not seeing God’s promises immediately fulfilled. We encourage each other with verses from the Bible and stories of God’s past faithfulness and answered prayers.

And as we love each other this way, we are being “built together into a dwelling place for God” (Ephesians 2:22).

Reflect:

• What’s one similarity you see between the connection fans have and the connection Christians have?
• Is anything keeping you from forming deeper friendships with other believers? If so, what is it?
• What’s one step you can this week to build unity among the Christians in your life? Maybe it’s the ladies in your Bible study, the men at your work, or the people at your lunch table at school. What’s one way you can bring a “same team” mentality to those circles today?