Hi Friend,

Christians are known to disagree with one another, which explains why so many denominations exist. You’ve also heard Christians ask, if we can’t live in harmony now, how can we do it for eternity?

One question Christians have regarding creation, is why did the Intelligent Designer make us so diverse? The differences cause so much strife—why didn’t He make us all alike? After all, God is one—why not human beings?

Respecting differences in other people has been a problem since Adam. When Joseph was in Egypt, even though he became Prime Minister, he was not allowed to eat with the Egyptians because he was of a different race. By contrast, one could become a citizen of Israel by being circumcised. Israel was unique for a nation of people who were descended from one man, Abraham, yet included those of other races. The “mixed multitude” that left Egypt to pursue the dream of the Promised Land was the forerunner of the “melting pot” that became America.

This example was also the basis for the Christian practice of baptism. Even gentiles could be Christians if they repented and became baptized. The early Christians fought the battle to establish the belief that physical differences did not exclude one from being part of the body. What mattered was the circumcision of the heart—not the body.

If unity had been the goal God desired, why did He create so many different races? If God had made us all the same color with the same physical characteristics it would have avoided countless problems.

For that matter, why did God create us “male and female?” God made Komodo dragons to reproduce asexually, so He could have made humans the same—if we were all the same sex, it would eliminate a lot of disagreements within families. On the other hand, the very differences that express dissimilarities create so much joy; as the French say, “Vive la differénce.”

It is one of the mysteries of God that we can thank the Apostle Paul for revealing. He described a fundamental concept of Christianity that could only be depicted by the most intimate relationship of marriage. Paul, quoting Genesis, wrote “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  If that had been all Paul had said, it would not be remarkable, but he followed by saying, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32)

Notice that Paul says, “This is a profound mystery.”

What is the mystery? The meaning for marriage is that two human beings, so different in both emotional and physical makeup, can become one. Paul was saying that it is the differences that enable us to become one. Forcing the other person to become like us, undermines the plan of God. That very concept is the mystery of the relationship among Christians.

The intent of marriage, as with the church, is we become one without giving up our individuality. She was created to be a woman, and he was made to be a man, yet they are one.

Those who can’t appreciate individual differences can never function well in the body because they don’t understand 1 Corinthians 12—that the body has many different parts. And it takes each one of those parts to fulfill the tasks required for a body to function effectively. It’s those differences that make us the Body of Christ.

When Jesus returns to the earth, He will reward His disciples as individuals. The value of individuality is recorded in His promise in Matthew 16:27, “He will reward each person according to what they have done.”

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien