Is our church a mirror?
“so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” (1 Corinthians 12:25)
Is our church a mirror to imitate, or is our church a mirror not to imitate?
Now the church is the mirror that shouldn’t be imitated. How do we know that? We know this because of conflict in the church. Then, why is there conflict in the church? One of the reasons is because of those who think they stand (1 Cor. 10:12). In other words, the church is in conflict because of the arrogant people. They are creating conflict in the church by denying the diversity of the church in the name of pursuing their own unity. And they seem to admit that the church is one body of the Lord, but they deny that there are many members in one body of the Lord (12:12). The reason why they deny that there are various members with different gifts in the church of Christ's body is because they try to exalt themselves in the church by differentiating themselves from other members. As a result, there is contention, faction building, and conflict in the church. Therefore, the church is becoming the mirror that shouldn’t be imitated because it cannot keep its unity in diversity.
Our church should be a mirror to imitate. In order to do this, our church must be a church that maintains unity in diversity. In other words, our church must acknowledge that there are many members in the body of Christ, and at the same time, know that the various members are one body of Christ. And the various members of our church must have the same care for one other (12:25) with the love of Christ (ch. 13) to keep the unity of the church of the Lord's body. What must we do to do this? I would like to be instructed in three ways centered on 1 Corinthians 12:21-24:
First, we must know that we need each other in order to keep our church unity in diversity.
Look at 1 Corinthians 12:21-22: “And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” Apostle Paul says that members of the Lord's body shouldn’t say to each other that they are useless. The reason is because they need each other. Before, one of our church members used to say ‘I am useless’ to me. Whenever she said that to me, I told her ‘No no, our church needs you. You are a mother of prayer who is praying for me (a senior pastor), other church leaders and the whole congregation members. Please keep on praying for us.’ There is no unnecessary part in our bodies. Not only we need eyes, we need hands, head and feet. We need weak members in our bodies. We should never think that we don’t need weak parts in our bodies. Likewise, in the church, which is the body of the Lord, we need all members, whether we are weak in faith and weak in body. We should never say ‘I am useless to this church’ or ‘You are useless to our church.’ The reason is because we need each other.
Second, we must deem honorable to each other in order to keep our church unity in diversity.
Look at the first half of 1 Corinthians 12:23 – “and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, ….” God has placed the members in the church, the body of the Lord, just as He desired (v. 18). “God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked” (v. 24). The purpose is “so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (v. 25). Therefore, we, members of the church, the body of the Lord, are not to quarrel with one another and fight with each other. Rather, we must care for one another. As we care for one another, we must suffer together when one member suffers (v. 26). And if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (v. 26). We should value and take care of those members who are less honorable in the church or those who are lacking. The reason is because God honors them.
Third, we must see beauty from one another in order to keep our church unity in diversity.
Look at 1 Corinthians 12:23b-24a: “… And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. …” We have tendency to have pride in those members in the church who are “presentable” but to be embarrassed with those who are “unpresentable.” It's as if we have a little bit of pride in our bodies that look beautiful, but we're a little bit of embarrass in our bodies that don’t look beautiful. That’s why God says to us that “the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty” (v. 23). The purpose is so that they are no division in the church (v. 25). And God commands us to treat the unpresentable members with special modesty so that the members can have equal concern for each other, whether they are presentable or unpresentable (v. 25). Therefore, we must see the beauty of Christ from one another in order not to contend with one another but to care for one another. In other words, we must see little Christ in each other. As we look more and more like Jesus, we can keep our church unity in diversity. Then our church can manifest beauty of Christ in this ugly world.
Our church should be a mirror to imitate. In order to do so, our church must become a church that keeps the unity of the church in diversity. And the way to do so is to know that we need each other, we value each other and we see the beauty of Christ in each other. Then our church will be the mirror that shines the light of Jesus Christ in this world.