The picture God gives of the body of Christ is one of unity in diversity (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11-16). I am convinced that this principle applies beyond the limits of the church. This avoids two of the dangerous pitfalls to which our culture is prone. The one is pure individualism, the idea that each individual is to be their own person and to consider others only to the extent they fit in with their purposes. It also leads to the belief that if we just follow our own selfish purposes, it will somehow come together for the greater benefit of all. But one does not see a hand or an eye walking about on its own. The opposite error is seeing people as interchangeable counters. This fits with the concept that equality is the same as interchangeability. Biblical equality is an equality of value that results from being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26,27; 9:6; James 3:9). This holds regardless of a person’s identity or station in life. Nowhere are the destructive tendencies of these two forces seen more strongly then in the relationship of men and women.

What does it mean to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31; 6:20; Romans 14:17)? Sometimes we think of things done to the glory of God as being “spiritual” things, those things that directly pertain to Christian ministry or church. The result is that we can make a compartment in our life where we put the things of God and then have the rest of our life that we live for ourselves. But this is not is not the Scriptural approach. Now granted, there are some things we cannot do to the glory of God because they violate His commandments. But Scripture does say we are to do even ordinary things to the glory of God. Now clearly part of this is doing those things while looking for an opportunity to minister to people’s spiritual needs (1 Peter 4:11; 3:15; Colossians 4:5,6). But there is more to it than that.

The Christian life is pictured as a race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Hebrews 12:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:5). This is not contrary to salvation by grace. We are saved by putting our faith in God’s grace apart from anything we can do to earn it (Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 4:4,5; Philippians 3:9). But this results in a transformation of our life (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1,2) through love for the One who saved us (1 John 4:19; 2 Corinthians 5:14,15; Romans 12:1,2). This transformation is not based on us, but on God’s power working in us (2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:29). But this results in a process of disciplined growth throughout our life (1 Timothy 4:7,8; Hebrews 5:14; Philippians 3:11-14). This is the race.

How do we avoid temptation? And where do we draw the line? On the one hand, we can think we are strong and can take more than we really can. But there is also a danger of being so afraid that we hide from the world. And temptation can pull subtle tricks on you. One of my weaknesses is curiosity. Wanting to know about, for instance, a particular book or movie for pure curiosity’s sake, even though I know it will be a temptation for me. So how do we approach this so as not to put ourselves in danger without becoming totally legalistic and narrow?

What are you not willing to give up in order to reach people for Christ? This is a question that was asked in a group discussion at a previous church I attended. It is a question worth considering as individuals and as a congregation. The Scripture does say that we should be willing to reach out to people where they are (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; 10:31-33; Matthew 9:10-13). But it gets more complicated than that. The one thing we cannot give up is the message (Galatians 1:8,9; John 14:6; Acts 4:12). At the heart of this is the cross of Christ, that He died and rose again so that those who put their faith in Him will be saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Romans 3:21-31; Colossians 2:9-15). And we are told that this is a stumbling block to those outside of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; 1 Peter 2:4-8). But the question still needs to be asked, are people stumbling over the message or are they stumbling over us?

One of the problems sometimes found in the Christian church is not being willing to allow people to think. There is a fear that if we let people think, they might not do what we want them to. This is particularly evident in the proliferation of large numbers of rules. The danger we face here is at both extremes. There are those who feel we must have definite rules on everything, so they multiply rules in the areas where Scripture does not clearly speak. There are others who demand liberty to the extent that they feel they need not question what they can do if it is not forbidden in black and white in the Bible. The actual Biblical approach is more complicated. It is scary because it requires us to think and requires us to allow others to think.