One Body in Christ

Bob Loudermilk

---

Reflective Inquiry: Does this accurately represent our local congregations? Individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and generations who genuinely love one another due to their shared faith in Jesus Christ.

It is difficult to read the New Testament without noticing how often the apostles returned to the subject of unity. This was no accident. The early church was remarkably diverse. Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, slaves and free, people from every corner of the Roman world were being called into one family. 

Many of the divisions that separated people in society threatened to follow them into the church. And the gospel did not ignore those differences—it transformed them.

Paul's remarkable words in Galatians still challenge every generation:

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus," Galatians 3:28.

Paul was not suggesting that nationality, culture, or personal identity suddenly disappeared. Rather, he declared that something greater now defined every believer. Our deepest identity is no longer found in ethnicity, social standing, politics, economics, or culture. It is found in Christ.

That truth changes everything. It changes how we worship together. It changes how we speak to one another, and who we welcome into our homes. It changes how quickly we forgive, how patiently we listen, and how sincerely we seek to understand those whose experiences differ from our own.

Unfortunately, history reminds us that Christians have not always reflected that beautiful reality. At times, cultural traditions, prejudice, fear, misunderstanding, and even racism have found their way into congregations that were intended to display the unity of heaven. While society has often been divided by race and culture, the church has not always escaped those same struggles.

Yet Scripture continually calls us higher.

Paul urged the Ephesian Christians, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit..." Ephesians 4:3-4.

Notice that unity is not something we create. Christ has already created it through His cross. Our responsibility is to preserve it, protect it, and visibly demonstrate it through humility, patience, kindness, forgiveness, and love.

James addressed another danger that quietly threatens Christian fellowship—showing favoritism. Whether based upon wealth, influence, appearance, or any outward distinction, partiality has no place among God's people.

"My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ," James 2:1.

Whenever we value people differently because of outward characteristics rather than their worth before God, we drift away from the very heart of the gospel.

Perhaps the greatest challenge comes from Jesus Himself. On the night before His crucifixion, knowing the cross was only hours away, He prayed, not for Himself, but for us.

"I pray... that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You... so that the world may believe that You sent Me," John 17:20-21.

What an astonishing thought. Jesus connected the credibility of the gospel with the visible unity of His followers.

The world expects people who look alike to love one another. But when people from different races, cultures, generations, and life experiences genuinely become one family through Christ, the world takes notice. Such unity cannot be manufactured by politics, social movements, or human effort. It is the transforming work of the gospel.

That does not mean difficult conversations disappear. It does not mean every perspective is identical. It does mean we approach one another with humility instead of suspicion, listening instead of assuming, and love instead of fear.

The church should be the safest place in the world to have honest conversations because it is the place where grace is greatest and Christ is Lord.

This Thursday, Bible Study Worldwide will explore this important and timely subject in a special conversation entitled "One Body: Navigating Race, Culture & Unity Through the Gospel."

Our guest will be James Ellis, evangelist from Chicago, Illinois, who will join us for an open, thoughtful discussion about race, reconciliation, and the unifying power of the gospel.

Together we will consider questions such as:

• What attitudes, assumptions, traditions, or personal biases might God be calling us to examine and surrender so that we can better reflect the unity Christ prayed for in John 17?

• What practical steps can each of us take—regardless of race, ethnicity, or cultural background—to strengthen genuine fellowship, understanding, and love within the body of Christ?

• If the community looked at your congregation today, would they see the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17?

• What changes need to begin with us personally so that the world may see Christ reflected in His church?

“O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You love Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:25-26