Body of Christ: conclusion

The Body of Christ means unity in diversity. We’ve explored the concept rather throughly over the part several posts. Yet, the question of, do most churches live up to this model, remains. I wish I could say yes to such a question, but the reality is this is frequently not the case. Many churches are often identified with a far more singular approach. There are many reasons why this may be, and we really can’t face or deal with anything we don’t acknowledge or recognize. So I came up with a list of reasons why we defy God’s model for church in favor of singularity.

• Someone of power and influence has a gifting or desire in a specific area - This can fall on the pastor or other dominant member. While it is good to pursue one’s spiritual gifts, nobody should assume that their calling is everyone else's as well. No mere moral has the right to force others to model their lives after themselves. All such people are doing is centering everything around themselves rather than Christ.
• Comfort and familiarity - Church singularity can be as simple as an act of maintaining a comfort zone. People just want things to remain the same as it was in their youth, or fit into their vision of what they wish things to be. While our God can be a God of comfort, when one really needs him to be. He is also a God who wants his children to grow. Growth never happens in places of comfort. Everyone has to step up and be an adult sometime, even in the sprit. 
• It’s what’s bringing the people in right now - When churches face declining numbers, the temptation to sacrifice integrity for a good bottom line is very real. Resorting to playing on peoples emotions via entertainment and two-dimensional feel good messages alone will certainly attract people. However, it does not induce spiritual growth, transformation, or any kind of real righteousness at all. Anything less than the whole truth, is no truth at all. 
• A perceived neglect - At times when certain people feel an aspect of the truth is being neglected, there is a big push to emphasis said truth. Which there is nothing wrong in itself, but sometimes that can also lead to neglecting something else as a result of this over emphasis. Churches have split, and denominations have arisen out of this idea. This is why the present day church is more defined by factions than the body of Christ. (Matthew 23:23, Galatians 5:19-20)
• A perception that one thing is more righteous than another - For example, the current church seems to be at war over which is more important; love or obedience. Both sides of the argument seem to mistakenly perceive these concepts as separate and mutually exclusive. The love side of the argument forgets that obedience is one of the ways we express love for God. (John 14:23) If we neglect that then we are just taking love without reciprocating, there is a word for that and it’s called selfishness. Love is a selfless act, not a selfish one. (1 John 3:16-17) The obedience side forget that we are commanded to love as Christ loved. When we fail to love, we are being disobedient to God. (John 15:12) Love and obedience are ultimately tied together, if we fail at one, we fail at both.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but reflects what I have observed. I would welcome other observations on this one. 

Drag