-One body. One body. There is only one body of Christ. And there is only one Holy Spirit. This One Spirit draws and convicts and regenerates people into just one body. We are so bewitched and befuddled because of the preexistence of denominations and all the multitudinous flavors of Christianity in our society. If we could somehow hit the rewind button, go back to the beginning, or possibly just go to plant the Good News in some unreached region of the globe, like Paul did, get to a place or time where there would be no divisions whatsoever in the body, we would most likely find that we would not give one rat's petootie about what flavor of methobapterianism to which the locals would subscribe. we would simply point people to Jesus, first and foremost. Get em saved, trusting and following Jesus. Think about it - say an alien showed up, and read what Paul here is saying about one body and one Spirit, would he expect to find what we see today? Entire congregations of professing Christ-followers who meet regularly right next to each other yet who don’t ever talk to one another or even know one another? They probably have nothing to do with one another and most likely don’t even like each other. Where is the love? Where is the oneness? This is nothing that has been made by the One Spirit of Christ. If one hadn’t grown up in the midst of this unbiblical dysfunction, he would never ever envision that the biblical model of the body of Christ would wind up looking like this. But we were born into it and don’t know anything different - completely acclimated, we are. And so we just accept it, not even giving it a second thought. But no, family is forever. One body, begat by one Spirit.
-And more than this, we all have the one and the same exact hope. Every single one of us who name the Name of Jesus have been called by this same Jesus to believe in and follow the same Jesus and one day we will all worship and celebrate forever - together - the exact same Jesus. Our hope of eternal life is a shared, common hope. We’re all traveling in the same direction, on the same path, carried by the same Savior, all covered and cleansed by the same precious Blood. That which unites us is far greater than whatever might conspire to separate us - and yet to this we have succumbed in spades.
-But let’s say we were to allow that this problem will not easily if ever be solved this side of heaven, broken people and leaders and organizations being what they are. What if we simply start with the one local body to which we do (or should) presently belong. Let’s begin there. It is one body, and there is one Spirit, and everyone there has been called with the exact same hope. We then proceed with lowmindedness and gentleness and long-suffering and a steadfast holding-towards one another. We are family. We are one. Divorce is not an option (certainly not a biblical one - Malachi 2.16, Matthew 5.31, Matthew 19.8, 1Corinthians 7.11-12) - we make every effort to work it out. Yes, the world leaves - that’s what they do. But that’s not what God does, nor is it what His people do. At least we are not meant to. Sadly, for far too many of us, working it out is barely a blip on our radar. God have mercy on us and help us to rise above our worldly instinct to leave, to let go of the things which aren’t really necessary, and like Mary to find and choose the good part, which will never be taken away from us (Luke 10.42).
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