If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 1 Corinthians 12:15-19 NKJV
Actually, I haven't seen a whole lot of jealousy or animosity between members of our church. What I do see between a lot of churches I've known is a bit of "our church is better than the others." What I'd like to see is agreement that each church that serves God has a part in God's body. Methodists are an ear; Catholics a hand; Baptists a foot; etc. All of use have a job to do to make God's body work the way it should.
Maybe a better verse to use for this would be the one that says, "For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?" (1 Corinthians 3:4, NKJV) Carnal is your new word of the day. As it's used here, it means not spiritual, merely human, temporal, or worldly. In other words, not behaving much like a Christian.
I don't want God to consider me un-Christian; do you? I want to be a part of His body of believers, doing my part to make us whole and useful to Him.
The most important thing is not the sign in front of the church announcing which denomination is inside. You can tell by the heart inside whether it is a part of His body.
Father--we need Your help to become parts of Your body. Show us how, please. We want to be of use to You. Amen.
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