Beautiful Diversity
Unity, not Uniformity. As a body of Christ here in the earthly region we are to be unified in Him but not monolithic and the same. We see here that Paul calls out differences, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers...there is just a few examples of not being the same - we are different, and unique and equipped with a specific calling from God.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 unpacks even more:
1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed...4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. - 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-11
Radical differences, exquisite uniqueness and beautiful diversity with all these mixtures of gifts and talents. What really stands out to me this morning is what is required by us as an individual parts of the Body, for us to continue our growth, our contribution to the Body and a responsible part of the Body is to make sure we are not getting stuck in a single line of thinking or teaching. As a follower of Jesus, it is our responsibility to grow, to mature and to draw closer to God to live it out, to walk out our salvation here on Earth. To effectively do this, we must broaden our inputs, and not depend on a single teacher, or pastor, or even local church to be the full picture and source of our growth. If we don’t do this, we will be limiting our view of God, and be missing so many aspects of Gods character and nature. This does not mean a single teaching, church or pastor is bad...NO! What we see here is just the reality it is incomplete, and actually it is ridiculous for us to think it would be complete.
Our pastors, teachers, and churches have a specific calling and gifting that is from God. Sitting under this is fabulous and part of what we need to do to grow and mature - but please recognize we do not need or should we expect any of our inputs to be the complete picture of the Body of Christ. We must stop leaving our churches because they are “lacking _________.” Or find ourselves frustrated with a pastor or teacher because they never preach or teach on “___________.” As a Christ follower, it is your responsibility to fill in the gaps, to complete the picture with other parts of the Body of Christ. We must allow each part of the Body of Christ to do its job as it was called and made to do, and not expect it to be something it was never intended to be.
Find freedom in playing the part you were called to play and extend that freedom and grace to those you sit under. The full picture and complete story is only possibly by the whole body.
“From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” - Ephesians 4:16 NIV
If you want this to be driven home, jump over to the closing of 1 Corinthians 12...read verse 12-30 and see this come to light.
Do this, so that we all can live a life worthy of the calling we have received!