Unity in the Body of Christ

[The Lemon]

This thread is interesting...this topic of Unity was yesterdays main message by one of the ministers in my local church. Unity is important, but I fear that in some cases it is over simplified. Unity takes time, effort, and most of all, in spiritual cases, God. This can not be rushed, forced, or manipulated. In my experience, much patience is required to see unity in an assembly.

The question that has been in my mind for some years now is the difference between unity and uniformity. Anotherwards, IMHO it is possible to have unity amoung a people while the same people also have a sense of individuality or diversity. Conversely, I believe it is impossible to have diversity in an atmosphere that requires uniformity. I suppose we could have a thread talking about this extensively.

At any rate, the message was good and important. The only snag came when the minister brought up one word...balance. He exclaimed how that balance is a word and idea that originates in eastern religion and is creeping in to american society and yes..the church. He stated that we should not be seeking balance but instead unity...because seeking balance means we are trying to do / live on our own.

Naturally, this part I disagreed with totally. I find it interesting how "balance" is automatically tied to eastern religion and philosophy when it is clearly written in the Word. Balance did not originate in Asia...it originated with God. At any rate, what is more interesting is that most of us Apostolics talk extensively about saving ourselves from this untoward generation, and sanctification, and Holiness...but then berate something like balance and attribute the striving for such things as works.

Anyway, while I know unity is Biblical, important, and necessary, I wonder sometimes if we sacrifice the real need for balance by burning ourselves out and each other for this common goal of unity that in some cases could be reached far easier if balance were not sacrificed on the alter...