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Saints!

Friday
March 29th, 2024
L&T Opinions Page

gary damronMY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

 

As part of small congregations most of our lives, my wife and I have been privileged to experience the “Family of God” in worship services and fellowship. As we discussed last week, the Church is made up of people with different callings, gifts – aptitudes, attitudes, abilities – but all come together into a whole. 

Trying to find a correlation with the human body, I consulted one of my wife’s nursing textbooks. The author wrote scientifically, even philosophically, about the mystery of conception. “The fertilized ovum begins to divide, differentiate, and grow into a person, a replica of humanity’s continuing generations and yet a unique individual.” It struck me as similar to the spiritual living growth of an individual, and of the collection of individuals as the body of Christ which is the church. 

Returning to the study of Ephesians, we find the root of both diversity and unity is found in the grace of God. A common New Testament word, grace refers to “an undeserved favor or a gift”. The gifts bestowed by Christ enable us to become ministers to others. 

Whether we walk by a trash can that needs emptied or people who are hurting, we’re each called to be a type of minister. We have an opportunity to do something. Jesus in his daily life never “walked by” anything. Each person who entered his presence received his attention, and if they accepted, help was given. A sick woman touched the hem of his garment, a blind man called out from the roadside. Little children were invited and given special attention. 

There at least three reasons in Ephesians 4:12-14 why we’re given different abilities to use in the Body of Christ. First, “…for the equipping of the saints” – each person is exercising gifts to strengthen and develop the whole. The “work of service” Paul refers to means the entire community is committed and involved in ministry. And finally, “for the edifying of the body of Christ”: more than merely professing Jesus, people using their gifts actually project Jesus. 

Believers working together bring the Body to a place of maturity, outlined in Ephesians 4:12-13. Conviction, consciousness and Christlikeness result in certainty and stability: “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.” 

An example of this might be a congregation in a large city which had two leaders promoting a lifestyle contrary to Scripture. After discussing with those leaders, the members changed a stance that their church had held for hundreds of years. When I questioned one of the men, he said the leaders believed the Spirit led them to accept the practice — so that superseded what the Bible said. He also indicated that the unity of the group was too valuable to split the congregation over the issue. Yes, Jesus loves and forgives. But Paul warned two thousand years ago that the Body must grow and mature in order to leave babyhood behind. 

So – results of our diversity are that the Body, the Church, is made up individuals, fearfully and wonderfully made, from many backgrounds – all saved by grace, working at unique assignments. A group of such believers can be powerful and productive. “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him 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 4:15-16). 

Thank the Lord you’re not like me and I’m not like you. How good it is that our unity doesn’t mean we’re identical – not all one big eye, or ear – or especially a nose. The organic unity of a living body is different also than the mechanical unity of a Mr. Potato Head with pieces stuck here and there. In unity, we grow together and follow the teachings of Jesus. “‘A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another (John 13:34-35).’” 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Reita Isaacs, Liberal

 

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