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About Jesus - Steve Sweetman I approach issues
from an analytical, detailed, and systematic fashion.
This God-given character trait helps me understand the issues.
Most of you are not so orientated.
I'm sure you are relieved about that.
You, on the other hand, have your own God-given character traits,
many of which I am relieved not to possess.
Whatever traits we have, each has its advantages and disadvantages.
I, for example, sometimes battle with imposing my analytical,
detailed, and systematic tendencies onto others.
Such a battle is common to all of us.
The New Testament,
especially 1 Corinthians 12, teaches diversity within unity.
Each one of us is a vital and distinct member of the Body of
Christ, functioning in our own unique capacity.
Each one of us views things from our God-given personality and
placement in Christ's body. Imposing
who we are onto others is, thus, unbiblical.
Think of it this
way. A finger on your hand
sees things from a much different perspective than a toe on your foot.
Both your finger and your toe have their distinct placement and
function in your body. You
don't expect your toe to function as a finger.
If it did, you would be severely disabled.
In order for the
Body of Christ not to be disabled we must allow each other to be who we
are. We must not view others
through the lens of who we are and expect them to function as we function.
If we dance during a worship service, that's fine.
There is no need to expect others to follow your lead. I approach Bible
study from my analytical, detailed, and systematic disposition.
I dare not impose those traits onto others, although I do admit, I
sometimes really wish I could. It
is God, not me, who has formed each of us to be who we are.
Zechariah 12:1 makes that clear. "The
word of the LORD
concerning When we allow our
God-given personalities to function in the church as intended, the church
will be the better for it. Now
that I've mentioned the church, all of this applies to each local
expression of church as well. All expressions of
church have the same underlying Biblical mandate, but how that mandate is
implemented depends on the church's location, its cultural setting, its
members, and of course, God's will. Far
too often we just copy and paste the success of another church.
That more often than not fails because it neglects God's specific
plan for our local expression of church. There are Biblical
character traits that all expressions of church should hold in common, but
beyond that, things vary from place to place.
It is historically obvious that the first century church in Allowing each other
and each expression of church to be that which we have been called to be
is what the Body of Christ is all about.
It is called diversity in one unified body.
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