Unity and Diversity
I Corinthians 12:12–20
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
The Living Life writer says, “God has placed each part exactly where He wants it to be”, and that “God is glorified in diversity because it demonstrates the power of the Spirit to unite what the world seeks to keep divided.” Indeed, the bible says coming back to God’s original design intent for His kingdom, back in the innocence of garden of Eden, reinstated progressively in Christ, a revolution no less in the first century, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28).” In Christ, we find true unity in diversity. I couldn’t find the article from 2016, but to summarise, it says that with the early resurgence of populist nationalist political ideas vis-a-vis the refugee crisis, in the UK (or Europe), churches (and sports clubs) had been the actual bastions in acceptance of ethnic diversity and integration. God seeks to unite us with His perfect community of the Trinity and He has done that through His Son Jesus (John 3:16). God allowed for diversity but we can all find Him if we seek Him earnestly, “from one man He made every human nation, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that people would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring’ (Acts 17:26–28).”
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
The Living Life writer says, “God has placed each part exactly where He wants it to be”, and that “God is glorified in diversity because it demonstrates the power of the Spirit to unite what the world seeks to keep divided.” Indeed, the bible says coming back to God’s original design intent for His kingdom, back in the innocence of garden of Eden, reinstated progressively in Christ, a revolution no less in the first century, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28).” In Christ, we find true unity in diversity. I couldn’t find the article from 2016, but to summarise, it says that with the early resurgence of populist nationalist political ideas vis-a-vis the refugee crisis, in the UK (or Europe), churches (and sports clubs) had been the actual bastions in acceptance of ethnic diversity and integration. God seeks to unite us with His perfect community of the Trinity and He has done that through His Son Jesus (John 3:16). God allowed for diversity but we can all find Him if we seek Him earnestly, “from one man He made every human nation, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that people would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 'For in Him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring’ (Acts 17:26–28).”
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