AUGUST 7: Unity in Diversity: Appreciating God’s Wisdom in Church Ministry”

The model of church unity presented in the bible is unity-in-diversity, which protects it on one side, from an over-reliance on human hierarchies but on the other side from too great an emphasis on human autonomy.

The most frequent metaphor of Christ’s relationship to the church is that of marriage. The “Two becoming one” factor at the heart of marriage is in some sense, a conceptual analogy of the way the church is united in Christ. The two persons in marriage become one, but the two do not become identical. They remain different even as they are united. The same way, the church is to be “one and many” or “One and different” at the same time, united by the gospel and living out the gospel across many cultures, languages, and many gifted individuals.

Diversity is not an enemy of unity. It is very beautiful that we are diversely gifted and blessed in the same church. Diversity is the beauty of an organization or church. In today’s text, Paul talked about the oneness of the church, and afterwards, clarifies in verse 7 that unity does not mean sameness; “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” The point here is that God has brought us together as a church, but has given us gifts differently so we can build up the church.

I believe strongly that there will be deficiency in the church if it is made up of people from one tribe alone, one language, one colour, one particular gift of grace, one particular skill, one particular profession or career, and so on. Therefore, we must whole-heartedly embrace the beauty of diversity in our unity in the church.

PRAYER: LORD, grant us the grace to embrace the diversity in our unity.