Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1 Corinthians 12:12–13
Unity Is Not Uniformity
In any healthy community, there is always a quiet tension between two things: unity and uniformity.
Uniformity is simple. It asks that we all think the same, speak the same, and, often, keep our differences to ourselves. On the surface, it can look like peace. But over time, it becomes fragile. When disagreement finally surfaces, it often does so with more force than anyone expected.
Unity is different. Unity does not require us to be the same. It invites us to remain connected even when we are not. It is through this that God’s grace has sustained us to this day. May we never take it for granted.
Scripture reflects this kind of unity. The early Church was not made up of identical people, but of many different parts learning, sometimes slowly, how to live faithfully together. Their strength did not come from sameness, but from their shared commitment to Christ and to one another.
In our own life together, we will not always agree. That is not a failure. In many ways, it is a sign that we are engaged, thinking, and growing.
What matters is how we hold those differences.
Do we listen with patience?
Do we speak with care?
Do we allow room for one another to grow?
Sometimes the answer to an idea or proposal is “not now.” Yet the life of the Church has never been purely either/or. As G. K. Chesterton suggested, truth is often found in holding together tensions that appear to pull apart. In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis observes that Christian truth is often found not by choosing between extremes, but by holding fast to a deeper reality that resists them both.
In matters of belief, things are not always as simple as right or wrong. This does not mean that truth is uncertain, but that our understanding and application of it often deepen over time. Faithful discernment requires patience, humility, and a willingness to live within that tension rather than resolve it too quickly.
As we move into the summer months, may we continue to be a community that values both truth and grace. May we resist the easy path of uniformity, and instead choose the deeper, stronger path of unity.
Always Yours in Christ,
Kregg