Last December I presented the first of three principles Paul presents in I Corinthians 12 about the need for unity among diversity. Today, I would like to present his second principle.
Paul's second principle about unity in diversity can be seen in verse 21. Here, he tells us that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” because our different body parts are mutually dependent upon one another. No one body part is able to do “all that needs to be done” on its own. Consequently, no one body part can fully serve every need that our body has. Instead, each body part is dependent upon other body parts to do that which it, itself, cannot do.
If we applied that principle to our circumstances, we should understand that no single church, organization, or denomination can accomplish everything that God wants his Church to do in our region. The work in our region is too diverse and the needs too broad for any single church, organization, or denomination to effectively reach every people group in our region.
This is why it is important for us to understand that the diversity in our region demands a diverse outreach - an outreach that is comprised of white churches, black churches, Hispanic churches, Chinese churches, Korean Churches as well as multi-ethnic churches to name a few. Each church is mutual dependent on other churches in our region for us to reach “all those that are lost.”
But, our mutual dependency does not stop there. Because we are Chinese churches seeking to reach those of Chinese ancestry this idea of mutual dependency goes even deeper. For the needs of those in our communities demand that we as Chinese churches establish ABC churches, Mandarin churches, Cantonese churches, Taiwanese churches, Pan-Asian churches, second generation churches, etc., etc., etc. No single Chinese church or denomination, no matter how big, can establish all of these ministries, in the numbers that are needed, to effectively reach all the Chinese in our region. Instead, we are all mutually dependent on one another to fill the gaps, to reach those that we ourselves can never reach.
If are to reach this diverse group of Chinese for Christ, we will all need to work together for the sake of the kingdom. Can we do that? Are we up to the task? We had better be. Otherwise, we are no different from the world. And if that proves to be true. How sad that would be. How truly sad that would be.
Howard
Paul's second principle about unity in diversity can be seen in verse 21. Here, he tells us that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you” because our different body parts are mutually dependent upon one another. No one body part is able to do “all that needs to be done” on its own. Consequently, no one body part can fully serve every need that our body has. Instead, each body part is dependent upon other body parts to do that which it, itself, cannot do.
If we applied that principle to our circumstances, we should understand that no single church, organization, or denomination can accomplish everything that God wants his Church to do in our region. The work in our region is too diverse and the needs too broad for any single church, organization, or denomination to effectively reach every people group in our region.
This is why it is important for us to understand that the diversity in our region demands a diverse outreach - an outreach that is comprised of white churches, black churches, Hispanic churches, Chinese churches, Korean Churches as well as multi-ethnic churches to name a few. Each church is mutual dependent on other churches in our region for us to reach “all those that are lost.”
But, our mutual dependency does not stop there. Because we are Chinese churches seeking to reach those of Chinese ancestry this idea of mutual dependency goes even deeper. For the needs of those in our communities demand that we as Chinese churches establish ABC churches, Mandarin churches, Cantonese churches, Taiwanese churches, Pan-Asian churches, second generation churches, etc., etc., etc. No single Chinese church or denomination, no matter how big, can establish all of these ministries, in the numbers that are needed, to effectively reach all the Chinese in our region. Instead, we are all mutually dependent on one another to fill the gaps, to reach those that we ourselves can never reach.
If are to reach this diverse group of Chinese for Christ, we will all need to work together for the sake of the kingdom. Can we do that? Are we up to the task? We had better be. Otherwise, we are no different from the world. And if that proves to be true. How sad that would be. How truly sad that would be.
Howard
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