Ephesians 4:13 True Unity and Diversity

They say that no two snowflakes are alike.  And there are around 900 thousand different kinds of insects in the world.

I am not a geneticist, but I think it’s safe to say that no two human beings have been identical in the history of humankind.  I read that even identical twins are not identical.

The world calls this diversity.  I prefer to think of it as uniqueness.  Every human being is unique.

Humans like to bunch humans together by things they have in common, like race, ethnicity, gender (I mean, sex), religion, sexual orientation, language, age, education, favorite sports, favorite books.

And that’s okay, because we all want things that unite us, things that bond us to others like us.  It helps to make conversation and even friendships. 

Humans today often put an emphasis on what they call diversity, because it seems so ‘enlightened’ and compassionate.  We look on outward signs of differences, but I think God sees those differences as arbitrary, minor, and distracting, a few out of a myriad of differences. 

Humans also like to classify things, which helps us to see some kind of order and structure, so we can feel like we have a hold on things to some extent.  God creates an infinite number of unique things as an expression of His infinite nature.   

But what does this have to do with true unity and diversity?

Diversity means differences, and we are all different, and to each one of us the manifestation of the Holy Spirit has been given for the common good.  (I Corinthians 14:7)  The Apostle Paul then lists 9 different kinds of manifestations of the Spirit, but then later in the chapter he names 6 more, and I doubt if these are all the possible ones.  With every person being unique, I suspect that different people with the same gifts will make different contributions, like different preachers preaching a sermon on the same passage of Scripture create unique sermons with unique benefits.

Now each person is a member of the Body of Christ, and as a member he/she has a function that is needed for the well-bring of the Body.

When you read about how Paul sees church gatherings, it is clear that they are small ones, like we would call a small group.  Each person is to bring something to the group.  (I Corinthians 14:26)  Each one contributes something unique to them.  Paul only names a few gifts, or manifestations, here, but each person being unique I think we can expect unique ministries here, one person offering what no one else can in quite the same way.

Now these are also open groups, unlike many small groups in churches today.  Paul speaks of unbelievers being present (I Corinthians 14:24), and many gifts certainly help in reaching people for Christ.

Churches today like big gatherings, and that’s OK.  Some preachers and teachers are better than others, and they will draw people to hear them.  And if you want worship music in your gathering, larger is often better. 

So if we are all unique and diverse, how do we unite?

We unite around our common goal of building the Body of Christ:

Ephesians 4:11–13 (NASB95)  11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

And, of course, adding members to the Body of Christ is probably even more important than our building up each other in the faith.

We are all diverse in our uniqueness, which means that we should find ways to take advantage of those differences, and we are united when we live with the goal of building up each other, as the Body of Christ, and adding new people to it.