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There is Diversity in the Body of Christ
God has designed the church (that's us) in diversity.
I'm weary of seeing judgement in the body of Christ (particularly on this website). I'm weary that we don't celebrate eachother enough, and recognize the diversity in eachother.
God's Creativity blesses us and helps us to grow, be sanctified, get the job done, and Praise Him in this diversity. Are you praising God for the differences in others...or condemning the methods that others may use? (don't worry, I'm posing this question to myself also)
Webster's online dictionary defines 'diversity' in this way:
Definition of DIVERSITY
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JB on
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Carla
There are diversities in the body, but not in Christ.
Christ is only one Spirit, Christ is not divided, there are diversities of tongues, and various gifts, but the Spirit is not divided. Should read 1Cor.12.……, Rom.8:9.…,
When you are talking about diversities in the body, whether physical, or a church body, they are always in the flesh, physical, or sensual realm, And are mainly perceived by the senses. And for the benefit of some, I must say IMO.
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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Joe,
I'd like some clarity on what you mean by this
There are diversities in the body, but not in Christ.
...not that i disagree with you...I'd just like you to clarify why you wrote that.
I think we may be talking about two different things.
Regarding this of your comment
"When you are talking about diversities in the body, whether physical, or a church body, they are always in the flesh, physical, or sensual realm, And are mainly perceived by the senses. And for the benefit of some, I must say IMO."
It could be.. It's hard for us to say and pinpoint someone else's motivations. That's why God is the judge. ;-)
Thankfully! .....it's not you or me. We couldn't handle it.
Thanks... Carla
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I'd like some clarity on what you mean by this
There are diversities in the body, but not in Christ.
Carla,
All I am saying is, with our senses, “flesh” we can only perceive physical diversities..
But as Children of God; Christ in us: is not, nor can it be diverse, “divided“, it is the same Spirit in all of us, and in the spiritual realm, there are no diversity; we are the same.
1 Corinthians 1:13
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?1 Corinthians 6:17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.2 Corinthians 5:16
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.They knew Jesus after the flesh, until they got revelation of His divinity, then they knew Him after the spirit.
I believe we could appreciate and understand the diversities in people, if we could see and understand, or walk more it the spiritual realm.
I kinda feel that I have muddied the waters even more than before I tried to clarify my statements. lol
Joe
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Joe,
You said this:
I believe we could appreciate and understand the diversities in people, if we could see and understand, or walk more it the spiritual realm.
Yes, I agree this is one aspect of us getting to the point that we can celebrate our diversity.
There are certainly alot of distractions in the world that will keep us away from that... Putting those things aside is another discussion. :-)
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Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on
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Dear Carla
This is a very timely discussion and needs to be brought to the attention of all of the church if we are to ever accomplish the " mission" that the Lord has given to us.
In the 35 plus years since I first came to a knowledge of Christ I have attended and some times joined very diverse "denomnations" from very " hardline holiness " ( their discription of themselves , not necessarily mine ) to the very conservative or moderate baptist churches.
Ihave attended churches in several distinctive geographical regions as well. I simply say this to let you know that I have seen a great deal of the diversity ( both in doctrinal beliefs and " methods" of worship ). I have seen disagreements over such trival and insignificant things ( both in doctrine and traditions ) that it makes me wonder , at times , if their is any unity at all in the body of Christ. I'm speaking ( of course ) of the "church" that is the true body of Christ and not any specific denomination.
Many denominations make things seem so complicated and unattractive that it's a wonder to me ( sometimes ) if any of us truly understand what Christ has in mind for His 'church". The Lord really helped me cut through my confusion when He lead me to the 15th chapter of Corinthians where Paul said
1) Moreover brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2) by which also you are saved , if you hold fast that word which I preached to you - unless you believed in vain.
3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures , and that He was seen by
Cephas, then by the twelve.
Paul clarified the gospel in plain and simple terms ( at least in my opinion ) . Christ died for our sins , He was buried
and He rose the third day . All ' according to the scriptures ' . I like simple and I believe that God made it simple. We are the ones who try to complication it and use our own interpretations to set ourselves up as being 'special ' ( at least in our own minds ). we want to add our 'suppliments ' to the gospel and become offended when others don't embrace them as being equivalent to the gospel.
Paul was so convined ( at least in my opinion ) that this gospel was enough that He wasn't concerned so much about how it was presented as he was 'that ' it was presented . He wrote to the church at Phillipi and told them
Phil.1 : 12 -18 But I want you to know , brethren, that the things which happened to me hav e actually turned out for the
furthurance of the gospel,
so that it has become evident to the whole palace gaurd , and to all the rest , that my chains are in Christ :
andmost of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident in my chains , are much more bolder to speak the
word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ even if from envy and strife , and some from goodwill;
The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely , supposing to add affliction to my chains ;
but the latter out of love , knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel .
What then ? Only that in every way , wether in pretense or in truth , Christ is preached ; and in this I rejoice
and will rejoice. "
Here ( in my opinion only) I believe that the joy of Paul's life was to hear that "Christ is preached" . He wasn't even terrible concerned of the ' motives ' behind the preaching ( God would deal with that ) , he was rejoicing that Christ was being preached. This was the whole purpose of the Apostle Paul's life and is a tremendous example to us.
We may not like or even agree with the way the gospel is presented by we can still rejoice that it is being presented and let God deal with anything beyond that. now am I saying that just any way is alright ? God knows what I'm trying to say.
I believe that the scriptural admonishion ( sp?) to " be wise as sepants , but harmless as doves " applies here. We must not allow ourselves to be decieved or mislead but we should also consult the Lord as to wether or not HE has a problem with something before we become confrontational ( for lack of a better word ) about it .
After all God is the one who sees the heart and knows what the person's true motives or intentions are. Then He can let us know wether or not to confront the situation with others or simply leave it alone and ' rejoice that Christ is being preached ' .
I guess that my ' bottom line ' is that if we have a problem with the way a sister or brother worships or presents the gospel ,
let us first as God wether HE has a problem with it . If He let's us know ( and He will if we truly seek His opinion ) that it's alright with Him then let us rejoice that the name of Jesus is being lifted up''.
And if He let's us know that He doesn't approve , then let's seek HIS will on what to do about it. Many times we get offended and confrontational when God has no problem and may actually be using the people's action for His glory.
I believe that was something of what Gamaliel was saying to the Pharisees when they were discussing what to d o with the apostles in Acts 5 ; 33 - 39. He concludes in verse 39 by saying " but if it is of God , you cannot overthrow it - lest you be found to fight against God.
Be quick to rejoice but careful to confront. Let God lead in both word , actions and even thoughts.
God bless all of us as we seek Him and the unity He brings. If we become as we should be with God He will work it out and use to do what He wants us to do.
I just looked back over the comments and realized how long it was. I apologize for my lack of breivity.
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Dear Charles,
This is very good.. Thank you for your response. Simple, and a good place to start.
I hope everyone reads what you wrote....and I hope we will start to apply it. Lord help us.
Blessings, Carla
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Carla,
One of the most intriguing and amazing aspects of God's creation is the amount of diversity God has included in his creation. It truly is mind blowing to ponder on it. He has included diversity in how people come to him, mature in him, worship him etc, the list goes on and on, but as LT already mentioned it, as only God can do, in the diversity there is no chaos, but absolute truths that make the diversity possible and beautiful.
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Seeking
I can really relate to what you're talking about when you speak of the inflexibility of what you call the ' older generation'. However , not all of the older generation ( of which I am one ) are as inflexible as what you're speaking of. Also ( and I speak from experience ) the younger ones in congregations can lean heavily that way as well, depending on how they are taught.
I accepted the grace of God over 35 years ago in what is refered to as an old line holiness ( their name for themselves , not mine ) . I was a young adult at the time with no practical knowledge of God at all . Since I received the Lord in such an incredible way I simply assumed that since the Lord had so radically( maybe not the best word ) manifested Himself to me in that church I simply assumed that whatever they taught must be right.
It took several months to realize that what I was reading in the bible and what I was hearing in church were not lining up . I , naturally contributed to something being wrong with me and became discouraged . But God , who is always faithful, began to deal with my heart in my private prayer and reading of the bible. As I was experiencing the same wonderful presence in my prayer and reading that I did that precious night when I came to the knowledge of salvation I was comforted that I was being lead in a little ( or maybe not so little ) different way than what I was receiving in the church .
After fighting with the Spirit about something I felt I was being led to do , but absolutely did not want to do , I surrendered and moved from Florida to DC . H e then led me to the Central Union Mission where I lived , worked and learned for the next 2 years. I went from a 'hardline holiness ' church to a very conservative , baptist oriented environment.
No put down of the baptists is intended , I just used them to show the contrast between the types of teaching I was receiving and most people understand that there' s quite a difference from 'pentecostal' teaching and baptist. Ihave attended and been a member of both so Iam aware of the differences.
At this mission people came from many different denominations with many different concepts about serving Christ and Christianity in general. I began to see that the teaching I was receiving in my old church ,in Florida , was not a well aligned with the teaching of Jesus as I thought they were. They were not teaching heresy or anything like that , it's just that they were somewhat like you were describing. Especially about the way the women were to dress and such. Their 'doctrine seemed to be more about rules and regulations than about grace.
I entered the mission with certain prejudices ( I don't know what else to call them ) against some of the ways of the mission. God taught me through people that came to the mission and through an opportunity to attend bible college for a year or so. Through the experience at the college ( which the mission paid for ) I developed a real hunger to read the word and be more receptive to allowing the Spirit to " lead me into all truth" . Please don't thing for a moment that I think that I know everything , I'm simply saying that I was learning to lean on the Spirit for discernment in what I was being taught.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I seem to have a way of looking at scriptures that doesn't seem to match anyone else. I don't mean that I'm right and others are wrong if we disagree , Ijust mean that I'm working hard to try not to latch on to anyones prejudices again . I was a ' prisoner ' of that for several years before the Lord , in His mercy , delivered me from it.
I'm just try to see if the Lord actually has a problem with something before I get worked up over it. In this 'spiritual state ( again for lack of a better word ) I am learning to see that God , indeed , does not condemn everything that I may disagree with. He has really opened my understanding to Isaiah 55: 8-9 where He says
" For M y thought are not your thoughts , nor are your ways My ways, " says the Lord.
" For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."
As we see in the old testament God works in many ways that we may never be able to comprehend and ( in my opinion anyhow ) we need to be very careful when condemning anothers ministry until we know if God is working in it or not. Just because we don't understand doesn't mean He is not working.
By the same token , we must not be afraid to oppose something that God reveals to us in wrong according to the scriptures or any other form of ' discerment that He may give us. We all need to truly be on gaurd against opposing any sister or brother or ministry or group of people until we learn the Lord's heart in the matter.
This being spoken from one of the ' old generation'.
God bless you my friend and I pray that I haven't offended you in any way.
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It is through believing the Scripture and in the love of God , shown and commanded by our Lord and EXCERISESD in
Our love for each other as we empowered by the Holy Spirit , that Christians have unity by our Lord, and they can attain
the Unitybof the faith, " With Unity of Spirit " based on this, There is room for diversity and diversity in Unity,Although
differences of beliefs, doctrines , interpretations , and opinion may be held and expressed among believers they should
be expressed in love and friendship with those who may differ , and this is based on the freedom that is in Christ.
This is a very good post Carla, it was much needed to be put on the site, give you self a five on this one, I have to say Amen
to this,I agree with Richard, well done Carla. Elaine
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Elaine,
Thank you for your encouraging words. I agree that everything should be expressed in Love...Bless you.
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Permalink Reply by Sharon Theresa Theil on
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Carla,
Amen, Sister!
Christ is not a Communist! We do not all have to march in lock step.
While it is, true that the vital elements of our faith ...such as the Divinity of Jesus, Redemption through Him alone, etc...must be staunchly maintained and even defended...there is room for honest difference on some points of our faith...for example, the Lord says to Baptize but He never specifies the details.
So while most Christians are Baptized as babies, others are Baptized only over the age of accountability, but some denominations would not Baptize ones so young and instead only Baptize adults...all of which seems to me to be fine...since the Sacred Scripture does not specify any age requirement then I say we have latitude for diversity.
Isn’t there a some rule about that…like silence where the Scriptures are silent…or something?
Of course, I have Baptism on my mind of late because both my boys are to be baptized, with full immersion, at the Easter Vigil this April. They didn’t get Baptized as babies and our church provides us with options and I think that is the right spirit but, it does sadden me a little to think that some Christians will look with disgust as my boys are Baptized into the ‘whore of Babylon’.
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