Isn’t it God’s design to build a church made up of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation; to include all sorts of people with their God-given gifts to form a greater whole? We are all uniquely chosen to be gathered as the Body of Christ. Jesus offered himself on the cross so that all his people would find their wholeness in him.  The sacrifice was made so that by him, in him, and through him, our unique gifts and experiences would bring him glory.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”   Proverbs 27:17

“Spiritual Gifts; One Body, Many Members”   1 Corinthians 12

“Gifts of Grace”   Romans 12:3-8

Preface

This might be a personal interpretation that could be one-hundred percent wrong.  If so, I hope that godly men who think biblically and with grace as their guide in all things will point out the error in my thoughts and will lovingly guide me into the truth.  These thoughts have been with me since my early days of being a member of a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) body. I witnessed a well-meaning pastor who had randomly divided our small congregation of less than 100 into smaller groups for greater accountability and oversight by the Session.  Within thirty minutes, drastic changes in these groups were sought, such that the intent of the pastor was totally obscured.  It looked more like the NFL draft: “I think they should be in our group since we share an interest in… (choir, team sports, board games, outgoing, introverted, rich, poor, tall, short, former Roman Catholic…).”

My Interpretation and Application of God’s Word

To select others by our own choice, to seek only a common affinity, is not a reflection of the universality of the saving faith in Christ, the calling of the Holy Spirit, or the gifts given by God.

We should be careful of the practice that seeks to gather only with those who share common gifts or interests for discipleship or fellowship. Doing this limits the diversity of those ‘mini-bodies’ within the church.  It is to gather those that generally have the same ‘everything’ in common.

When believers assemble without recognizing the beauty God’s design of diverse gifts, needs, sizes, colors, and experiences, they stifle the blessings that this wider interaction can bring.  The leadership of the church would be wise to intentionally include diversity of all sorts so that we leave room for God to build his Church according to his plan.

The beauty of God’s plan is that we learn to see his people for who they are, with the variety of gifts they have, as well as the needs they all share together for mutual benefit.  If we are grouped mainly by what we all share in common, we won’t work as hard to appreciate what is below the surface, either personally, emotionally, or spiritually.  If we rely on a relational ‘shorthand’ we will think that our common connections, our gifts, struggles, and even our failures, must be exactly alike.

We must avoid the market segmentation approach within a church setting.  What works well in business will limit our ability to grow deeply together by sharing in our common and different traits.  Isn’t it precisely this tendency toward ‘sameness’ that prevents us from fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) outside of our normal circles?  If we are only seeking those like us, aren’t we limiting the makeup of the Kingdom, of which Jesus has made us ambassadors?  Isn’t it God’s design to build a church made up of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation; to include all sorts of people with their God-given gifts to form a greater whole? We are all uniquely chosen to be gathered as the Body of Christ. Jesus offered himself on the cross so that all his people would find their wholeness in him.  The sacrifice was made so that by him, in him, and through him, our unique gifts and experiences would bring him glory.

Church leaders should guide the church so that all believers will desire to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.

You may want to do as I have done: to examine the names on your prayer list.  I was surprised and sorry to see that there was little diversity in age, physical traits, gender, or ethnicity on my list.  We need to plead with the Lord to place us at the crossroads of the world around us, to stretch us by getting to know those who have different experiences, skills, and gifts than we have. Then we can praise God together from the unique perspective of the fullness of our diversity, experiencing a more complete and whole devotion.

We can claim intentionality; however, God targets perfectly.  Let’s get out of the way.

Roy Liddell is an elder in Christ Community Church (PCA) in Simpsonville, SC.