The unity of the body of Christ is a prime marker of the truth of the Gospel. The Church as an institution has admittedly not always represented Christ well but that does not detract from the reality of God and what happens when He is really at work. It is a straw-man argument to say that Jesus isn’t real just because of the hypocrisy of self-proclaimed Christians. First of all, it is scripturally true that not everyone who proclaims that they are Christian were legitimately changed supernaturally by God to become authentic believers/disciples of Jesus/Christians. The Bible mentions numerous times that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Second of all, it is also scripturally true that even authentic Christians are on the road of sanctification during their lives and won’t reach perfection and glorification until they meet Jesus face to face after they have ended their earthly lives. Paul writes in the Book of Romans that believers still sometimes and frequently do what they do not want to do because their flesh is at war with their spirit, and one is to ask for daily forgiveness. With all that said, even amidst the imperfection of authentic Christians – when God’s actually at work, it’s pretty darn apparent. That’s when the salt effect of preservation that the Lord has charged Christians with providing/carrying out actually works in a body of believers. It is in the brokenness that remains in the community but where we miraculously see unification that we see God glorified in how He makes everything work together for those who love Him. As Francis Chan said (paraphrased), the world will notice when the different parts of the body of Christ love one another in an amazing way, a paradigm shifting way. The WR has cultivated a space that has allowed for a demonstration of this kind of love and unity. From the way that squad leaders sacrifice their time and efforts to pray for and love on the squad to the way that feedback as a process works effectively to build up individual teams, the culture of honor and love that this organization has created has so made an impression on me. Even in Bible studies, the flow of the discussion is amazing, and the enthusiasm and passion of members ebb out. Although the World Race is just one of many organizations that try to adhere to building up Biblical community, it is one example of one that has effectiveness in doing so.
