[Thursday's Devotional] - Be United in Difference

I read a story about a small town in Tennessee that had a chapel with a sign in front that read: "Left Foot Baptist Church".  A student had passed by it many times and wondered about the name.  Finally, waiting for his bus, the student asked somebody in the town about the significance of the rather unusual name of the church; a number of years ago, there had been a split in the local congregation, which practiced foot-washing.  An argument broke out over which foot should be washed first, and the group insisting on the left foot taking precedence finally withdrew and split off to organize its own church and named its congregation accordingly  "Left Foot Baptist Church".

It sounds ridiculous, but it happens. The Congregational Church in a village I used to live in started as a result of a disagreement on whether you should kneel or stand to receive communion.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. “
Ephesians 4:1-6 [NIV]

We are not being called to uniformity. We are all unique – each a beautiful creation of God. You have a unique personality, gifts and talents. You are fulfilling your purpose when you are using these to bring glory to God, in your own unique way, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received”. We are however called to unity.  We don’t look alike, we don’t think or work in the same ways, but we are all important, needed and interdependent. We should be working toward the same end, the purposes for which we were designed to function in the body of the church.

Make every effort – work at it- to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14 [NIV]

Father – Help us to celebrate difference in unity.

Guy Mowbray