How is your walk? At a time when lots of people in Belfast are walking or marching, supposedly in the name of Christianity, it seems coincidental that we are have arrived at the place in the letter to the Ephesians 4:1-16 where Paul considers what kind of ‘walk’ the Christians there were displaying. From the context, it is clear that he isn’t concerned with their actual walking or marching, but he is using the metaphor of how we walk to visualise how they lived: “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:1–3, NLT) This question is relevant to many of us today who call are called ‘Christian.’ Do we struggle to walk at all, like a young toddler who falls down every few steps? Or do we walk with a limp, with something causing visible us pain as we try to keep going regardless? Or are we walking swiftly, confidently, in a mature manner, as someone who is healthy from head to toe? The Church united Paul shows that the Church, of all believers across the world, or in any local congregation or wider grouping of believers, ought to live and walk in love and unity. We are not called to disgruntled or disunited – There is one body of Christ (Church), one Spirit, one hope and calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all believers. However, implicit in his statement is the fact that such unity must not be in anything else other than one salvation and relationship with God. Unity for the sake of unity, or for any other cause (cultural, political, denominational, etc), is not biblical unity. Unity must be through a common relationship to God, through saving faith in Jesus Christ, and demonstrated in love. The Church is gifted Next, in Ephesians 4:8-10, Paul goes to some lengths to explain how Christ has given the Church the gifts of leadership that it needs. He doesn’t discuss all the spiritual gifts (although he and Peter elaborate on them at greater length in other letters), but just those necessary for the healthy growth of the body of Christ, the Church – both in numbers through evangelism, and in maturity through pastors and teachers. Just like a military conqueror in ancient times would share the bounty over a victorious nation with his loyal subjects, Paul share the image of Christ having conquered sin and death, and giving spiritual gifts to his Church. The Church is to grow to maturity Getting more practical, Paul shows that the point is that the Church would grow to maturity, and not walk in an embarrassing, immature, or stunted manner. On the abilities given to leaders, he writes: “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4:12–16, NLT) If Christians do not have good leaders, despite some individual exceptions, they can generally be expected to grow spiritually immature, being misled along one wrong path, then another, as they listen to clever sounding messages. But if they have good leadership that teaches sound doctrine, sensitively speaking the truth in love, they will grow into maturity and into the fullness of Christ. While this can never be completed this side of eternity (perfection is not possible in this fallen world), we must nevertheless strive towards it, since we can make significant growth in that direction. Praise God for his gifts and teaching, to help his children mature and walk in faith and love.