One … But Different!

Illus: Our difference reminds me of the three women who were convicted of criminal charges and were brought before a firing squad.

• One was a redhead, and all the guns were pointed at her and the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the redhead hollered “Earthquake”. They all looked around and she escaped!”

• One was a brunette, and when all the guns were pointed at her, the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the brunette hollered, “Tornado”. They all looked around and she escaped!

• One was a blonde, and when all the guns were pointed at her, the Captain said, “Ready, Aim…,” and the blonde hollered “Fire!”

We are all different in many ways.

• EMOTIONALLY

• PHYSICALLY

• INTELLECTUALLY

We are all different.

But while we have our DIFFERENCES, we also have our SIMILARITIES. For example:

• WE ARE ALL BORN WITH THIS ADAMIC NATURE

• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS

• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR TRAGEDIES

• WE ALL HAVE SIMILAR DISAPPOINTMENTS

• WE ALL HAVE TO FACE DEATH

We are DIFFERENT, BUT ALSO WE ARE VERY SIMILAR!

Because of our differences, the church has a problem. How can you take all these differences that we have, and bring them together to function in a way that will bring glory to the Lord?

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? The solution is for the DIFFERENT MEMBERS of the body of Christ to learn to function as ONE BODY.

For example, when babies are first born, they go through many discoveries and adjustments.

• When their eyes are open, they are laying in their little crib and all of a sudden a little hand appears. They do not have the slightest idea where it came from. But as they lay there, that little hand appears again. And soon they discover that little hand is attached to their body, and they learn how to make it go up and down and all around. They learn that the hand has little fingers, and soon they learn how to make every one of them move and function.

• Later on as they are laying in their little crib, they have the impulse to move some muscles in the lower part of their body, and they start to see a couple of little feet appear. Again, they do not have the slightest idea where those little feet came from. But later on they discover they are attached to their body, and they must learn how to use them. They first learn to crawl with them, and eventually they learn how to walk with them.

This is where the church has problems. The church today needs to discover the many members in the body of Christ, and learn how to work together as ONE BODY! This working together is called UNITY!

Unity is a must if a church is to function as the body of Christ.

• Look at what Jesus said in Luke 11:17, “But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, EVERY KINGDOM DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF IS BROUGHT TO DESOLATION…”

• Look at what Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:25,26, “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

Let’s look at the UNITY that we should seek to find in God’s church:

I. WE MUST BE UNIFIED IN OUR MINDS

1 Cor. 1:10 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER in the SAME MIND and in the SAME JUDGEMENT."

God had a purpose when He created these bodies of ours and put only ONE MIND in each of them.

Illus: (Humor) I have never heard of anyone being accused of having two minds. I have heard of some who thought perhaps God forgot to give someone a mind.

It is essential that we, the body of Christ, have only ONE MIND and that we are going in the same direction.

A church has the same basic problems a marriage has.

Illus: That is, you have two people who have come from two different backgrounds, and now for the marriage to be a good marriage, they must become one. Each marriage partner has to discover their role, and carry out the responsibilities of their part in the marriage.

Illus: In the "Peanuts" comic strip, drawn by Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown says to his friend, "My Grandpa and Grandma have been married for fifty years!" The friend replies, "They're lucky, aren't they?" Charlie Brown answers. "Grandma says it isn't luck--it's skill!" (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).