Since the beginning of the Race, the Lord has been teaching me a lot about unity.
When our squad first came together in October last year. Many people spoke unity over our group. When we first met, we loved each other so much. We always wanted to spend time together and we were so excited to get to know each other deeper. However, before we left for this journey in January we became aware of the enemies schemes. Satan is TERRIFIED of the power of the unity in the body of Christ, so that is what he tries to attack first. He knows that a house divided cannot stand, so he tries to divide us and destroy our unity.
But God is stronger than satan and He knows His schemes, and He knows how to overcome them. That is why we turn to scripture to guide us. We already have all the instructions on how to win the battle right here. And luckily, He told us how to fight for unity in the body of Christ in 1st Corinthians chapter 12.
“Just as the body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body —. Whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many” 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
First, we need to remember that no matter how different we may seem, we love the same God. Paul emphasizes “one body, one spirit”. We first need to focus on our oneness, not our differences. Even though we come from different places, have experienced different things, and even speak different languages, we are one in Christ. Jesus died and the veil was torn. When He sacrificed Himself, He made a way for all people to be united to God through Him, and because of this we can come together as one family made whole in Christ.
“Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” 1 Corinthians 12:15-20
Second, we need to remember that we are all trying to accomplish the same goal:
To love others, and to bring those who are lost to salvation through Jesus Christ
And we have all been given different gifts in order to accomplish our one purpose. Whether our gifts seem big or small, they are all important in accomplishing the Great Commission Jesus gave us. We cannot let the spirit of jealousy tear apart the body of Christ. It’s easy to look at someone who is skilled at evangelism and say “Wow. I wish I had that gift. I feel like mine is useless”, but those thoughts are not of the Lord. Satan is afraid of ALL of the gifts of the spirit. He knows that even the smallest gifts are powerful, so he tries to make us feel like we are not important in order to tear apart the body of Christ. We must combat those thoughts and know they are not from God, and be grateful for the gifts He has given us, knowing that we all have an important role to play in the advancement of the gospel. If everyone was an evangelist, there would be no one to lead the church, and if everyone was a pastor, there would be no one to go out and preach the gospel to all nations. We all need each other.
“The eye cannot say to the hand “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:21-26
On the flip side, just as jealousy tears apart the body, so does pride. Both of these are unhealthy acts of comparison that have no place in the body of Christ. As soon as we look at someone and think “I could do that better”, that creates unhealthy division. We also cannot look at someone with what we may consider a ‘lesser gift’ and say they are not needed in the body. We must look at every part of the body of Christ as integral and important. No gift if better or worse than any other gift. They were all put in the body for a reason, and the body would not be fully functional without a single piece. We need to lay down our pride and know that even though we know we were created special, everyone else was, too.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of al apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way” 1 Corinthians 12:27-31
Fourth, we need to be encouraged, and know that we all have a purpose and a gift.
We all have an important role to play, and the Holy Spirit has gifted us accordingly, and as we grow in our faith, we can grow in our gifts, too. Paul says that we can desire the greater gifts. We may have been a helper when we were younger in our faith, but as we grow and understand more about the Holy Spirit, He may gift us with tongues and healing later on. Even though all gifts are important, our giftings can shift and change depending on our growth in faith and the needs of the church where we are. I identify as a worshipper. That is the gifting I operate in most strongly, but when I am put in a scenario where I need to preach or evangelize, I don’t just say “I can’t do that. That is not my gift.” I instead pray for the Holy Spirit to give me those gifts so in those moments, I can do what is most necessary for advancing the body of Christ in that moment. The Holy Spirit gifts us how He pleases for whatever is necessary in a moment.
However, with this in mind, Paul leaves us hanging a little bit by saying “And yet I will show you the most excellent way” which leads into the love chapter. So after all of this talk about the gifts of the Spirit and our roles in the body of Christ, he wraps it up by saying “Desiring the most helpful gifts is all fine and good, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have love, everything I just told you is pointless”. Some people get really stuck on the gifts, and desiring the greater gifts, like speaking in tongues and healing miracles, but that’s not the most important thing. The gifts are great, and we know God is faithful and will hear our prayers, but we need to be seeking the gifts for the right reasons. We need to love God and love others above all, because if we are not doing that, the gifts will be for nothing.
Our unity is what makes us strong. Even though we may be from different countries, speak different languages and have different giftings, we are all united through Christ, and it is through His love for us that we have all been redeemed, and we have a duty to share that with everyone around us, together.
