One of my favorite Christian musicians was Steve Taylor. The first song I ever heard from him was titled I Want to be a Clone. The idea is that so many in the Christian realm seem to want to make all Christians the same. One line says, "If you wanna be one of His you gotta act like one of us." Whether or not we consciously think like that, I think there are a lot who believe that "I'm a pretty good Christian" so "Christians should be like me." Of course, then, the problem with other Christians is they're not.
It is quite a relief to read of Paul's concept of "the Body of Christ." Assuring us that there are a variety of gifts and ministries of the Spirit and that everyone has at least one (1 Cor 12:4-7), Paul claims, "The body is one and yet has many members" (1 Cor 12:12-14). He explains on one hand that you can't say, "Because I'm not like that person, I'm not part of the body" (1 Cor 12:15-16) and, on the other hand, how little sense it makes to say, "You should all be like me" (1 Cor 12:17-19). All of us need the others (1 Cor 12:21) and the "less showy parts" are more necessary than the "more impressive parts" (1 Cor 12:22-25). It is true, then, that all believers are part of the Body of Christ, but the unity Scripture repeatedly calls for is not uniformity because God wants to use all types.
People who know me are happy to point out that, in a lot of ways, I'm not like others. That used to bother me, but Paul's explanation of the Body is very helpful. We are not all teachers, all preachers, all prophets, all healers (1 Cor 12:29-30). God doesn't want a sea of sameness. He wants individuals doing individual ministries with individual gifts for the good of the Body. A gift of service is just as important as a gift of teaching. Ministry to the Body -- not status -- is the point. Unlike in the world, all of us are necessary and useful and have a part to play. I don't want to be a clone. I want to serve God in the way He has designed me to serve ... and not in the way He has designed you to.
4 comments:
We need to remember that we each have different roles to play in this world. I think the danger comes when we allow those different roles become allowance for sinful roles, when we let it become "you do you".
Steve Taylor is great.
I agree that we as a body have gotten away from acknowledging that we all have different roles and gifts, to demanding conformity on more and more nonessential things. David's concern is also valid as we see too many on the left incorporating all sorts on nonsense into their version of christianity.
It is human nature to desire some degree of conformity with our peers, and surely this applies to believers as well. While there will be common traits among those called to be like Christ (Gal. 5:22-23), we will still look vastly different from each other. Afterall, if God can create billions of unique members of the human race through a combination of genomes and individual souls, He can certainly form unique spiritual children through His profoundly creative Spirit--all to richly and beautifully make up the Body of Christ (whose members display unity and not necessarily uniformity, as you say); indeed, I imagine that this ongoing creative work gives God great pleasure.
"some degree of conformity with our peers"
If the command is to have unity and to each have assigned but distinct ministry, we would indeed expect to have some degree of conformity with our fellow believers. You're right. Shared purpose, shared direction, shared Savior ... lots of commonalities.
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