Loving One Another
Part 2
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself [herself] more highly than he[she] ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them …
(Words of Paul to the church in Rome: Romans 12:3-5 ESV)
A question posed recently: How do you respond to “ethnic, racial, gender, political, and cultural” identities within a wide variety of Christian traditions and communities? led me to add another quick thought in today’s blog as a follow-up to Part 1, posted November 13th.
Truthfully, I have been pondering questions like this for several years. With increased tension and divisiveness in our current culture, it is, I believe, a great one to ask. Most people I meet desire harmony, but figuring out how to achieve it is challenging since we all have our unique paradigms, established by personality, history, tradition, education, and even, biases.
After returning home from a recent getaway, I was going through Ron’s photos and came across ones taken during a visit to his niece’s workplace. Kris tenderly tends succulents in a special greenhouse. She also creates lovely arrangements such as this one, which I liked a lot.
In a most simplistic way, this succulent * arrangement reminds me of unity within the church, or the “body of Christ.” Every plant is distinct in its characteristics and each one has its own unique name.
Yet, arranged skillfully together, they create an attractive arrangement. The plants become more beautiful together than they are individually.
Within the broader church, members are generally called Christians, also individualistic and known by a variety of names. Within these various faith traditions, different biblical interpretation, doctrinal beliefs, laws, orders, procedures, and styles of worship are found.
Individually, each person in each faith tradition adds valuable variety. As the Holy Spirit arranges us all together, a more complete and beautiful vision of God’s love and Jesus’ gift of redemption is created.
* My Disclaimer: According to my limited botanical knowledge, I believe each plant in this arrangement is in the succulent family, but I realize, I may be wrong! The same applies to interaction with fellow Christians. Once while discussing my firm belief about a certain doctrinal position, a smarter, wiser, and more mature Christian woman told me, “Someday when we get to heaven, we’ll ALL realize we were not ALL right ALL the time!” What a great comfort to realize I don’t need to always be right—you don’t always need to be right--because God loves each of us unconditionally, and God is always right!
