For simple, participatory church to thrive, we need each other …

And our different God-given gifts, motivations and perceptions.

That’s because Christ, in His wisdom, does not want any one person, ability or ministry to dominate His church …

But distributes His many gifts among us instead.

It’s like we each have different glasses that allow us to see and sense, and thus understand and do, different things.

Some, however, are dismissive of those God-given differences.

Often, they push a form of mono-church that’s rampant today – as folks promote their own God-given gifts and abilities on the Body of Christ as normative for all …

Or even superior to all.

If you look closely, however, rarely will you find among them a healthy, functional expression of the Body of Christ …

Or any sustained ability to be a truly integrated part of a healthy, local gathering of believers.

At most, they may be part of some mono-church that’s centered around their own particular gifts, motivations and perceptions.

Traditional churches, which frequently revolve around the unbiblical position of a “senior pastor” and his own giftings, often share this trait …

But I’ve also seen it in house churches that organize around some particular leader’s own agenda and vision.

Mono-churches, however, are seldom healthy or lasting. They typically start with a bang as the pinnacle leader’s strengths are accentuated …

But often end badly – for him and everyone else – as his limitations eventually become a frustrating bottleneck.

Different Gifts

In contrast to unbiblical mono-churches, we need to learn to submit to each other by preferring one another’s God-given gifts, motivations and perceptions above our own.

For example, maybe God gifted you to be an encourager and you see and interact with Him, others and the world primarily through the lens of relationships and the need to maintain harmony and peace.

That makes wonderful glasses! We need encouragers – often they supply the social glue that helps bind a community together.

Or maybe you wear the glasses of a teacher – who brings stability to a fellowship through the detailed study, understanding and sharing of Biblical truths.

Those too are wonderful glasses.

But healthy community, and the Body of Christ, is so much more.

The Unity of Diversity

If we expect everyone to wear our own glasses, where is the place in our churches for those – and their vitally needed but very different gifts, motivations and perceptions – who see the Lord, others and the world through different lenses?

If we all wore the glasses of an encourager or a teacher, where would be the additionally needed perspectives of truth and justice, or compassion and mercy, or creating and giving, or initiating and implementing, or serving and helping, or whatever?

Even love, as a common motivation we all should share, is expressed very differently depending on our different gifts, motivations and perceptions.

Authentic love may be embracing, compassionate and relational – but not always!

For example, in the Body of Christ we need those who wear prophetic glasses – and thus sometimes express a fierce protective love that defends others by confronting injustice or unrepentant sin.

Likewise, we need those who see and act through evangelistic glasses, mercy glasses, healing glasses, administration glasses, helper glasses, giver glasses, pastoral glasses, apostolic glasses, and on and on.

When individuals or “churches” de-legitimize others with God-given abilities and perspectives that differ from their own, they sin against Christ …

And His numerous New Testament commands about being His multi-gifted, multi-part, multi-functional Body in our local communities.

In essence, they are saying the Body of Christ needs to see, think and be just like them.

B-o-r-i-n-g!

Bottom line:

True unity, and true church, is NOT about conforming to one gifted “leader” …

But submitting to one another as we learn to prefer each other’s different God-given gifts, motivations and perceptions above our own.