Unity and Interdependence
But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together (1 Corinthians 12:24-26).
In spite of all the divisions created by men, there is really only one Church. Christ cannot be divided. All those who believe in Christ are joined to Him spiritually, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore joined to one another. Just as we could not choose our siblings in the flesh, we cannot choose our spiritual family. When we were joined to Christ we got a lot of brothers and sisters, whether we were willing to accept them or not. But we must learn to accept them. The Apostle Paul wrote to Corinth because that Church had been torn apart. And division is perhaps the greatest damage that can be done to a church. It is a sin against Christ and a misrepresentation of Him to the world. I shudder to think what the Church must look like to the world! If we cannot agree with each other, how can we expect the world to take us seriously and listen to our message? We preach a message of reconciliation, yet we cannot ourselves be reconciled. It is no wonder that most people think Christians are nothing but hypocrites! In spite of this mess we have created, we must understand that Christ is not actually divided. This means there is only one, true Church which is the Body of Christ.
We are to strive to keep the unity that reflects the true nature of Christ. Christ is one, yet churches can become divided. It happened at Corinth and it happened later in Church history. And it still happens today. Unity can be a delicate thing. It is like a beautiful rose that can easily be destroyed if not properly cared for. We can’t actually divide the Body of Christ. But we can behave in a way that does not reflect the unity of Christ’s Body. In the same way it is possible for married people to fight and argue with one another. This does not mean they are not married, though they may not be happily married. If a couple fights with each other, they are still married but are not reflecting the true nature and purpose of a marriage. Now this metaphor breaks down because some married people do not reconcile and the marriage ends in divorce. Jesus will never divorce His Church, which is His Bride. So perhaps a better metaphor is that of the family where siblings must learn to live together. Siblings often fight with each other, yet they are still related to each other, having the same parents. Brothers and sisters may even refuse to speak to each other, yet they are still related and you can’t actually disown DNA! Siblings who fight each other are not reflecting what a loving family should be and was designed to be. In our marriages and our family relationships we must strive to maintain what is the true nature and purpose of these relationships. Likewise, the true nature and purpose of the Body of Christ must be maintained by the members of that Body. If this love and unity break down, this does not mean we are not brethren. We are all still in Christ. But it does mean we have failed to correctly represent Christ.
Why does unity often break down? Why do Church splits happen? And why do we have all of the different Christian groups and denominations today? The answer is actually very simple to understand, yet the problem is extremely difficult to solve in actual practice. Division is a work of the Flesh. The Flesh is that part of us that is still subject to sinful desires. In every believer there is still a little sinner who wants to have his own way and who does not care about anybody else. This is the part of us that we inherited from our Father Adam, who was the first sinner in the human race and passed on his problem to all his offspring. When we become Christians, we are born again and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our mortal bodies. This means that although we have this old, sinful nature still with us we also have a Helper who lives in us as well. The Spirit of God is stronger than our old, sinful nature and no believer has to live under sin’s dominion. However, this does not mean we are not capable of sin. Every Christian knows what it is like to slip back into the old ways of thinking and living. If we slip back into the Flesh, then there will almost certainly be a cause for division as pride, selfishness and worldly thinking begin to infect the Body. It happened at Corinth and it happens in churches today. The Flesh is a constant threat to the Body of Christ.
Division is a sure sign that the Flesh has been at work in the Body. And divisions can only be maintained if some of the members regard some of the other members as disposable. There are organs in the physical body that we can live without. Does this also apply to the Body of Christ? Can we ignore or remove certain members without any consequences? Because God has placed all of the members in the Body where He wanted them, we cannot view any member as unnecessary. Sometimes divisions are caused by members of the Body regarding other members as unnecessary or insignificant. This is usually a sign of the hideous sin of pride. At Corinth this pride may have been in spiritual gifts. Those with a certain gift considered themselves to be more important and other members who had different gifts were expendable. But if every member has a different place and function in the Body, then this makes each member indispensable. The members of the Body depend on each other because no single member has everything that is needed. We can all add something to each other. When we see how we need each other, it becomes impossible for us to maintain divisions and continue to ignore other members of the Body of Christ.
I believe that underneath many of the divisions in the Body of Christ is the sin of pride. When we are proud we think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We think we are better and are more important than other members of the Body. And therefore we think we don’t really need these other members after all. Pride leads to a feeling of independence. Some proud people think they don’t need God. And some proud Christians think they don’t need other Christians! We may think we have everything we need to make it on our own. So we don’t feel so bad about ignoring and excluding other members of the Body. In Western countries we have exalted the independence of the individual. The individual has the right to make his own decisions and be his own master, without conferring with anyone else. To many today the highest value is that of the freedom of the individual to chart his own course in life. This completely ignores the fact that we are in need of relationships and community. God created us this way. And when we are reconciled to God He places us in the Body of Christ where we must learn to depend on other members of the Body. This interdependence should make each of us more humble. We have to be humble enough to receive God’s grace, especially when God wants to give us grace through one of our brothers or sisters in the Body of Christ!
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