“Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”
-Psalm 117
One thing that I consider myself passionate about, yet am so sick of its absence, is the unification of the Body of Christ. I believe that one of the misconceptions that has led to this problem is that we think unification is synonymous with conformity. However, scripture is clear that “the body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor. 12:14). We are told that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14),” meaning that God specializes in hand crafting masterpieces and does not mass produce thousands of similar products. We are valued by God. He sent his own son to die for our sake because he loves what he so skillfully created. Each characteristic, personality, strength, weakness, and motivation that is within each one of us was purposely placed in every individual specifically to create the self. I’ve heard the saying that “God is colorblind and sees all people same.” I laugh at that God-restricting statement because I believe that God is not colorblind, seeing all people the same, but rather he is able to look at each person and see the true beauty that he has placed in every single one of his works of art. He knows every curve, nick, crack, texture, bump, and color because he put each one there with his hands. He was so intricately involved in our creation that he knows the numbers of every hair on our head. We are created different for a reason. Embrace it. Love it. Live like you believe it.
Now why do I talk so much about our creation when talking about the unification of the Body of Christ? Because some of us are eyes and some of us are ears. Some of us are hands and some are feet. We need to accept that and the noses need to stop trying to make the mouths smell. The elbows cannot get mad when the shins don’t bend. What is this guy rambling about? Am I trying to give a very bad anatomy lesson? Let me explain…
I have observed in the states that churches do not always get along in the best of ways. Some people are completely “anti-denomination,” claiming that they cause disunity among the church. However, I do not believe that denominations are inherently evil or divisive. They exist because people are different. When your membership in your church’s membership precedes your identity in Christ then that is when problems arise. But whatever stance you take on denominations, the fact is they still exist and (if they hold to Biblical teachings) they are part of the body of Christ. The funny thing that I have observed whenever I have traveled abroad for different mission trips is that everyone is quick to learn about the native culture. One resounding praise from my travels is always about how beautiful it was to be able to worship alongside the believers of other cultures, to be able to see how other people worship God in their own way. For example, I attended a worship service in India and my posture of worship differed from the Indian people. Neither form of worship was unbiblical or wrong, just different. Our posture of worship should be our natural response to the presence of God. I just naturally responded differently than they did because we were created differently. I did not get angry because they acted differently than I did and conversely I was not forced to worship in the manner that they participated. We just worshipped the King of Kings. Differently, but together.
I am now posing the question “Why can’t we get along at home?” When there is a joint worship service the different churches feel as if the others are hindering their ability to worship or will disdain the presence of others because they do not worship in the same way. Why can’t we appreciate the differences that each church (I would even go as far to say each culture because each church does possess a unique culture) brings to the table? I am not suggesting that we agree on everything (unity doesn’t equal conformity, remember) but we can work together for the cause of Christ and we can all worship the same God under the same roof. Now all this I have been guilty of myself. There have been times when I thought others’ expressions of worship were “weird” or even “wrong” because that wasn’t my natural inclination. This problem is not just found within a worship service setting, but was just one example.
Being on the Race with a squad that has comes from various backgrounds and churches has brought me to the realization that we can worship differently, go to different churches, and simply BE different and all still worship our savior Jesus Christ together while answering his call in the Great Commission. God has given us all different gifts, abilities, and desires, but we all have received the same calling, to proclaim the Gospel to the nations.
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
-Ephesians 4:15-16
I hope that this can be helpful in building unity among churches, or even just help change our perspectives on differences within the Body of Christ. Anyways, here are some cool pictures of Indonesia, enjoy :)…
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