DAILY DEVOTIONAL – February 20, 2020
“TRUE UNITY”
Prayer: Almighty God, as Scripture teaches, we are all individually part of Your workmanship created in Christ Jesus to testify to Your goodness and mercy. Help us, Lord, to worship You by being united in faith and by building one another up in love. Amen.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:17-20
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Devotional – “True Unity”
I usually try not to describe things by generalizing them. The longer I live the more I see a deep and persistent diversity in nearly everything and everyone. I don’t think that any two experiences are exactly the same. Certainly no two people are exactly the same. No two circumstances are the same.
Back when I was attending seminary, I was friends with one of the science professors on campus. At lunch one day he was telling me about some experiments he was running that required him to replicate a scenario exactly over and over again in order to produce measurable and predictable results. “The problem” my friend said “is that even if I ensure that all the chemicals and measurements and environments are identical in an experiment, we will never have the ability to replicate exact scenarios.” “Why is that?” I asked. “Well for one, we can’t stop time or our place in the universe. No experiment will ever be conducted at the same time or in the same place.”
Science was never one of my strong suites, and I am not too sure how time or space affects an experiment in a lab, but I think I understood what my friend was saying. Even if by all appearances multiple experiments and resulting data seem to be identical, there are fundamental differences that are unavoidable.
The same I believe can be said for people. For all of the things we have in common, for all of the ways we may share similarities and for all the ways that today’s politically correct culture and society may want us to be the same, there are many unavoidable and fundamental differences between everyone and everything. Although there are many today who fight hard to blur the distinctions between us, the truth is, variety and differentiation are essential not only for our existence but for our enjoyment of life.
In 1961 Kurt Vonnegut wrote a short story called “Harrison Bergeron.” The story portrays a dystopian, futuristic world in which everyone is forced to be equal by the government. Strong people must wear weights tied to their body in order to ensure there was no such thing as weakness. Smart people must wear an ear piece that makes loud noises in their ears every so often to confuse them and ensure there was no such thing as retardation. Beautiful people are forced to wear masks in order to ensure there is no such thing as ugliness.
The goal is to make sure that no one’s feelings get hurt when someone turns out to have an unfair natural advantage. In Vonnegut’s imagined future dystopia (which many would argue is being realized today in our lifetime) everyone is forced to be equal, without distinction and made to be the same. The unfortunate result of this narcissistic experiment is not an increase in prosperity, but a universal poverty.
Requiring the strong and talented to handicap themselves doesn’t eliminate weakness, it increases it. Stifling the intelligent doesn’t rid the world of stupidity, it increases mediocrity. Masking what is beautiful doesn’t eliminate the grotesque, it results in the wonder in life being suppressed.
The majesty and splendor of God’s created universe is in its diversity and the evidence of His power is evidenced by the apparent fragility by which He holds all things together. The same can be said for mankind. The beauty of humanity is found in the fact that each of us is as the psalmist describes in Psalm 139:14, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Though we all are undoubtedly unique, there is one bond we all share that makes us fundamentally the same, the bond of sin. As the Scriptures make clear in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” Yet we also share in the same grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus. As John 3:16 famously says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him will never perish but have everlasting life.” Christ’s death on the cross paid for the sins of the world, and His resurrection made salvation available to everyone. To truly find life and enjoy life we must be united not with other sinful men, but be united to the Risen Jesus Christ who is life.
When we find our purpose and meaning and value in the God who has given us life, then we are not threatened or discouraged by our difference, but rather celebrate them being unified in faith. God is infinitely larger and more complex than we could ever imagine, and He wants to shine His light in us and through us in different ways. This is part of the gift given to the church and that testifies to God’s love and mercy. This is what Paul is talking about in our text for today when he says, “As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Through the church, the Body of Christ comprised of diversity and differences united in faith, Christ displays His love for all people and desire for them to be saved.
Thanks for joining me for another daily devotion, and remember, God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
