“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” –  Ephesians 4:4-6

Whether it is our favorite football team, political party, or other things that pit Christians against each other, we should always remember that we all serve the same Lord.  This world is divisive in every way.  As Christians, we need to be able to see the world from an eternal viewpoint.  This is our unification.  We may look different, talk different, be different in every way, but we are one body.

As Christians, it is up to us to unify.  Part of this unification is for us as Christians to have a heavenly view and take this view with us into every part of life.  As Christians, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.  How can we do this?

When I was a child growing up, my mom used to say, “Right is right and wrong is wrong no matter who is watching.”  If Christians starting holding ourselves, and those around us, to the values in the Bible, we would immediately start to make a difference in the world.  It is up to us to speak from a biblical viewpoint in our conversations and on social media.  As one body, we are called to a standard to be salt and light.  This means we MUST be different.

Think about the following situations and how we – as Christians – should be different than the rest of the world:

We should be able to cheer for our favorite college football team but denounce the violence by athletes against women on that campus.  The violence against women on college campuses is an epidemic.  If we cannot keep these future leaders of our country safe in college, think about the long-term impact.  We should still be able to cheer for our alma mater or favorite college football team without making excuses for the behaviors of some of the students on campus.  These young women are a part of this unified body.

We should have enough balance in our respective lives that we can cheer for the Dallas Cowboys, for example, but abhor the signing of Greg Hardy, a known purveyor of domestic violence.  Those of us with teenage sons and daughters can use these types of situations to have meaningful discussions only if we call right “right” and wrong “wrong.”  Most NFL teams have at least one player who has been arrested for domestic violence.  Christians need to speak out on this issue.  We should be unified on this topic.  We are one body.

We should be able to be a Texas A&M fan unhappy with the loss to UCLA but still sickened by the “fan” who wrote the racist letter to Coach Sumlin. There are no excuses for Christians to endorse such behavior. We are one body.

We should be able to “belong” to a political party but renounce behaviors of the leaders.  No matter which side of the political aisle you are aligned, your political party has leaders which have behaviors in conflict with biblical values.  We are one body.

Think about the impact to this divisive world if Christians began holding ourselves to the values we profess and start to make a difference in unifying this great country we are blessed to call home.  We are one body.

– Jeff Tefertiller

If you would like to submit a reader devotional, please email all submissions to jason@pao.org.