One body, one Spirit...

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. – Ephesians 4.4-6

We are one body. We all have the same spirit. We all have the same hope. We have the same Lord. We have the same faith. We have the same baptism on the Holy Spirit.

Wouldn’t you think that would be enough to unify us? With all of those things in common why do we fight and squabble over the petty stuff?

Too often I fear we make the traditions of men more important that the doctrines of God. We get convinced that we are the only ones doing it right and that anyone who does it differently is wrong and my way is always best.

Paul didn’t feel that way. When other preachers were being critical of him he didn’t fight back. If they were preaching the gospel he rejoiced. When the disciples saw someone doing Christ’s work, but not exactly the sake way they wanted to make them stop, but Jesus said ‘he that is not against us is for us.’

Sure, we must call out error and never compromise on truth. We need to see what we have in common and work on that basis.