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It must always be remembered that God does not have many churches
in the world. Yes, there are many congregations of
Christian believers, even in one large city. But there is
only one real church, the Body of Christ. All true
believers in this age make up that one church, that huge
fellowship of God's children around the world.
Any human being who has been truly born again (I'm not speaking of
some religious ritual here, but a personal encounter with God
that results in a new life) is a member of God's world-wide
family. We may (or may not) belong to a local Christian
fellowship. But if we know God by faith in Jesus Christ,
we are members of the one Body of Christ, the one true church.
It is almost funny how different religious groups sometimes argue
that their particular organization is the "one true Church."
The fact is, none of our denominations or associations, none of
our religious organizations can rightly claim to be "God's true
church." Only God controls the spiritual membership of the
real church. No human being on earth has the authority to
decide who is and who is not a child of God.
Yet we do have spiritual Christian leadership within the Body of
Christ. And we also each have a part to play in the
working of God's church, whether locally or universally.
Christ is head over all things to the church, and he directs
each member, by and through the working of the Holy Spirit of
God.
I have certain gifts and so do you, if you belong to Jesus Christ.
We are not all pastors or even preachers. Not all of us
are teachers or singers or evangelists. We do not all do
the same work, but we all work for Christ, if we are His.
You can read more about this in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, and
in Ephesians, chapter 4, for starters.
We can look around and wring our hands over all the "division" we
find in the church today. But that will not get much good
accomplished. What works better is to know that God is not
weak or failing. He is in control. Christ Jesus
still has His Body doing what it needs to do, even though men
and women may not always get along very well.
Unity is good, but false or superficial unity (or uniformity to
men's ideas) will never accomplish God's will. All true
believers can recognize each other, regardless of church
affiliations or doctrinal differences. How? By the
Holy Spirit that indwells every child of God. Just as we
can recognize God's voice in Holy Scripture, we can also
recognize our fellow believers around the world.
For our part, we can work on loving one another, even when we
disagree. And we can be careful not to count others as
less than Christian when they fail to see things our way.
Always hang on to what you have learned from God and His
ministers, but with the other hand, reach out and embrace your
brothers and sisters in Christ.
©2007 GospelGifs
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