Ephesians 2:19-22

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

A fitting passage for a Tuesday when I normally pray for our team here in Barnwell. Unity is essential. There is something mysterious here: that we are not only individual tabernacles for the Trinity (John 14.23) but the community in which God chooses to dwell and through which He makes himself known to a watching world. We are his witnesses. We are those who demonstrate who Christ is (John 17.22-23) and what it means to be his Disciples (John 13.35) and we do so through our love for each other. So much is at stake if we fail to love our brothers and sisters. The truth of the Good News is tarnished by our failure to be loving ambassadors. No pressure then! But again there is the hope of the passive: we are not the master builders of this grand architectural project. God is. He's building himself a suitable home and we are the materials he's using. He knows exactly what we’re like but He has still chosen to make his people the place where he can live. This doesn't let us off the hook. Love is a doing word. God's in charge of ensuring the project gets finished but to be united as his body is the cry of our hearts and the work of our hands. And so, love, pray, serve, build up, and do it extravagantly. There's no place for petty squabbles in this kingdom.