Tag: Diversity

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Unity in Diversity.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our recent sermon series we’ve been going through the image of God in us and through us. Our identity is reflective of God because He made us in His image. The Apostle Paul calls this out often within his 13 letters to the New Testament churches.

Here in Corinthians, Paul makes the case that even our body, made up of thousands of individual parts, make up one body. No part tries to outdo or take precedence over another. All our parts operate in total unity. Paul does not mention this, but the fact is Cancer is so dangerous and deadly precisely because it organizes rogue cells to commandeer control of the body. One cell becomes rebellious, seeking to destroy healthy cells by converting them to join their revolt.

Paul makes the unity object lesson, to point out the kind of unity believers should have in Christ. He uses two ethnic and two societal examples. Some are Jews, some Gentiles – both have been baptized into one body, one Spirit. Similarly, some are slaves, some are free – yet still we come into sharing the same Spirit. The Church is the one place where true diversity should exist!

The Bible doesn’t exalt or eliminate one ethos over another. All are created in the image of God, therefore ethnic groups should be celebrated. When culture aims to divide, bringing conflict and violence to obtain power of one over the other, the Bible aims to have unity within diversity because we are all one, all equal, all image-bearers of God.

Prayer

​Dad,
You know I absolutely love the beauty and wildly extravagant differences, not just in our humanness, but also in Your Church. Really, no two churches are alike! Yet we share the most important aspect of our existence – Christ! I do believe, going forward, it will increasingly critical for us to in unity on the basics of belief instead thrashing our differences in public spaces. And for those who are out of sync with the truth of the Word, I trust that you will separate them out in the end. Thank you for Your Church. Thank you that it is unstoppable in reaching across the thresholds of hell and snatching people from the gripping lies of the enemy.

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Some are just PASSIONATE about special abilities!

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“There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭14:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The Apostle Paul gets down to some serious Spirit-business! Churches in Corinth, they’re a wild bunch. Smart, savvy, metropolitan, maybe even cool. They were probably wealthier than their sisters and brothers in the other cities. Corinth was a major seaport, and you know those sailors – just kidding. The city was a high concentration not just of proud Greeks, but people from all over the known world. They were there buying and selling goods.

The church there was also bustling. With a mix of backgrounds and former ways of life, people were a bit more celebrative, you know a “happy” group. Paul addressed so many abuses in their theology and behavior that he wrote three or four letters explaining, in detail, a lot of things of the Spirit. There were HIGHS, the love chapter and LOWS, the sexual permissiveness scoldings.

I love how Paul frames the “speaking in tongue’s” conversation – “since you are eager…” Paul uses a word, “zélótés” or zealous. However, the root of that word, “zeloo” is jealous, or “eager to possess.” This church was crazy passionate about spiritual gifts.

Fine, Paul says, let’s just keep this in perspective…use them to STRENGTHEN the whole church – cough, cough, not just yourself! I’m also interested because in the verses that follow Paul instructs them about two different kinds of people that are in the church gathering. Those who are believers, members of Jesus body, the gathering of saints. And… the unbeliever. For if you bless God (eulogeó) in the Spirit, how can the uninformed, the “idiṓtēs”– a person who conspicuously lacks education, status or understanding benefit and join in?

Paul is concerned both for the church folk AND the person who comes in off the street. He gives an illustration of preference in verse 19. In the (ekklésia) assembly, a congregation I would rather speak FIVE intelligent words or instructive words than 10,000 words in tongues. Does Paul believe in speaking in tongues? Absolutely, he does so often, he writes. However, when gathering have some order, have some understanding, READ THE ROOM Corinthians – it’s not just about ME or even US, it’s also about THEM.

Don’t ya just love that the body of Christ is so beautiful, so diverse in color and culture? Yet, we are family. We are “blood” because of Jesus. We may have “denominations” for practical reasons or even preferences, but we are ONE under the lordship of Jesus. Churches in Corinth and Rome may be different in expression, but they are the same in belief!

PRAYER:

​Dad,
I don’t like the fact that there are so many different “denominations,” but I get it. Folks have to be able to free to live and live in ways that make them feel more comfortable.

But still, we should be able to see that these different gatherings are based on preferences, not theology. I get diversity in unity because you made us so different from each other in personality.

But as family, we are the same. As family we are thrilled to gather TOGETHER and celebrate the variations of perspective and opinion. Help us Oh God be one even as you are one!