Paul recognized that God’s desire was for two very diverse groups to be united as one as a result of Christ’s death on the cross. The nation that God had originally chosen to represent Him before a watching world was now to allow the walls of separation to crumble. God’s chosen people, the Jews, were to become one body of believers with non-Jews, called Gentiles, as individuals from both backgrounds came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he clearly expresses God’s desire and the ramifications of it. Christ himself has ... united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us ... Both Jews and Gentiles who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Jesus Christ. In other words, this diverse group of people share equally in all that God has for believers, and they share equally in all that they can potentially give to the body of Christ. Jewish people themselves, although united by a basic commonality of religious teaching and practices, still had differing personalities, idiosyncrasies, likes and dislikes, skills, abilities, and interests. The once pagan Gentile could be a strange mix of habits and perspectives simply as an outgrowth of his own upbringing and traditions. Paul still gently, but firmly, admonishes a unity that will proclaim grace and truth to those who have not believed. In doing so, he reminds his readers of where they were apart from Christ, and he gives practical instruction regarding lifestyle and relationships, all of which can impact the expression of unity.

 

Something happens within my own thinking and perspective when I am made more aware of the diversity and varied expression of individuals within Christ’s body. It happens when I attend a large conference that draws together believers from many churches. It happens when I listen to the stories from missionaries and hear of the intense fervor of believers in cultural settings very different from mine. It even happens when I pay attention in our annual all-church business meeting. What I see so clearly at these times is not only diversity, but the necessity of that diversity. In another letter that Paul wrote, he alludes to a fictitious conversation among different body parts. One body part feels insignificant and useless. Another thinks every body part should take on her passion and responsibilities. Still another becomes boastful and arrogant, overly bent on her own importance. Paul cautions again that diversity is not only a fact, but it is also a necessity. God is in us, individually and collectively, as believers, to create the will and the way for His church, His body, to radiantly display His glory to bring still others and their special uniqueness into this body that possesses a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.