Uniquely You

Ephesians 4:11-16

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

There is a lot of talk of unity these days, but I'm concerned that often times in our culture, we confuse unity with conformity. Unity is being in step with the same purpose. The official definition is being joined as a whole. We want to be joined as a whole as a nation, and especially as a body of Christ, but how do we do that?

One of the ways, I think, is to live out the purpose that God set before us by living into the gifts that He gave us. As people who've accepted Christ as our Savior, we are given gifts that are supernatural and intended to be used for God's glory - not our own.

This Scripture in Ephesians is one of several in the Bible where the concept that we are all part of one body of Christ is taught. While this scripture doesn't go into detail about all of the specific gifts, 1 Corinthians 12-14 does. I encourage you to read through those chapters to get an understanding of the gifts available through the Holy Spirit.

The main thing I want us to all understand in this post is that we are all uniquely gifted and serve a unique purpose in the body of Christ, the church. We are not all called to be the same "body part" as it were. You have gifts and abilities that I don't, and if you don't use yours, but I do, then the body will be unbalanced. Also, even though we may have similar abilities, we are not exactly the same. The way you use your gift is unique to how God made you. This uniqueness eliminates the need for competition in the church.

God made our body to function in a certain way. He did the same thing when creating each one of us. We function in different, unique ways, which makes us invaluable to one another and to Him. In using our gifts and talents as part of the body of Christ, we unify/join as a whole to serve Jesus and those around us.

Competition is unnecessary when we realize that each of us is unique and contributes a unique set of thoughts, feelings, perspective, and talents to each and every situation.

In the beginning of this article, I stated that unity is sometimes confused with conformity. Conformity is defined as compliance with standards, rules, or laws. While that is the official definition, it seems to take a step further in our culture because there are extra standards, rules, or laws that we are conforming to in today's society. We are expected to be tolerant, but can't necessarily expect tolerance for our Christian views. Likewise, we are expected to go with the flow, not the rock the boat, get on the bandwagon...It is so much easier to follow the crowd and take on the same opinions, buy the same clothes, decorate your house the same way as everyone else. Can you say news media, Pinterest and HGTV? We all have that tendency to “keep up with the Joneses” to use another saying.

It is easy to see the correlation between material things or political ideology, but what about how we think about ourselves in relation to our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we ready to compete and try to be like someone in our sphere instead of applaud their gifts and talents?

I think this is why Paul teaches in Romans 12:2 that we are not to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The world is a place of competition - dog eat dog, climb the ladder, and so on, but when we transform our mind and align with God’s mind, we realize that unity comes from all of us using our gifts in concert to all point to Him. We can’t buy into the pressure or belief that we all have to be the same, or that we should be more like so and so instead of the person God made us to be.

Let’s come together and celebrate our differences - all of our differences - while we stand on the truth of the Bible. One of my favorite recording artists is Nichole Nordeman, she has a song called “Please Come” Part of the chorus says “Come, there is room enough for all of us.” In another place she sings "And our parts are never greater than the sum.” We are stronger together, standing on God’s truth about who we are and living out the work He’s set before us.

Let's unify and use our gifts and talents uniquely for the Lord. There is no need for competition or conformity in the church. We need each other just as God made us.

---

I would love to connect with you on social media. Join our community on Facebook. Share how Jesus makes you strong and courageous.

Want to go deeper in your own Bible study and begin to know Jesus better? Get your copy of Fulfilled: A Study of Jesus.

Do you love books like I do?! Check out the The Bookshelf for lots of recommendations. I'm starting 4, yes 4 new books this week. And I am super-excited about a book that is coming out on 11/17/2020 called X: Multiply Your God-Given Potential by John Bevere. There are affiliate links included, so I will receive a small commission if you purchase something using the link.