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There is a great mystery in the body of Christ. How can there be individualism and conformity at the same time - diversity in the midst of uniformity? The Apostle Paul states:

"I THEREFORE, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God's service, Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another. Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace. [There is] one body and one Spirit--just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received--[There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all], pervading all and [living] in [us] all." - Ephesians 4:4-7

But notice Paul's next statement: "Yet grace (God's unmerited favor) was given to each of us individually [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ's [rich and bounteous] gift." - Ephesians 4:1-7 (AMP)

Misunderstanding and assumptions have confused many concerning the position of each child of God within the church. Is he only a cog within a wheel? Does he have freedom of personality, or must each one conform to some way in order to legitimately be a Christian? There is always a tension between the physical and the spiritual. For instance, we have all heard the three words used together, "cause and effect". For every cause there is an effect. And for every effect, there is a cause. There is the conflict between causes and their effects. A certain cause does not always produce the same effect.

There is often disagreement about it all, opinions are formed, and like opinions gravitate closer together. Soon there develops a more or less separate group, having more or less the same opinions. In time, there forms a clear division. Diverse opinions can soon create a divide, each group feeling their division is the correct one. Hence, divisions, separations, and denominations. So it has been. So it still is today.

The Church is a spiritual organism, and being a spiritual entity manifested in the physical (human beings), and collected together by many organized human beings, it can sometimes cause doubts and questionings about how we should relate to each other across many boundaries. In the strictest spiritual sense, the body of Christ (His Church) is an invisible organism. Most of these boundaries between groups are human-made, although directed by God to keep order, to give accountability, and to protect the basic requirements for the spiritual body to grow.

However, these necessary efforts to form a unity in order to facilitate spiritual growth of the body, can at the same time serve to divide, and often have. Being fearful of division, it is easy to begin to promote a type of wrongful uniformatarianism (to borrow a word from creationism).

Individualism is not an enemy of uniformity, nor visa versa. In the wisdom of God, each has a proper function within the body of Christ, therefore within each of us. This is the reason for Paul's exhortations concerning individual preferences within the bounds of individual conscience in sight of Christ. This then becomes a part of being or not being judgmental of others and their persona allowances or preferences in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:23-32).

God did not create each of us to become robots. Else there could not be free moral agency, nor real freedom in Christ. There is real freedom only through becoming a captive of God in Christ. Again the enigma, truth within a contradiction. Freedom in Christ is much like Paul's classic definition of faith when he says:

"Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. For by faith [trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report. By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible." (Hebrews 11:1-3 AMP)

He also declares that there are three great spiritual principles or realities: Faith, Hope and Love (1 Corinthians 13:13), with the greatest of the three being Love. But all three are totally invisible unless manifested through their effects. Each one has a many-sided result or consequence in its effect and affect. Therefore, the definitions are variable and fluid because every Christian is in a different state of growth and understanding. Someone says this or that did or did not happen because of no faith, or not enough (how much is enough being determined by results).

With so many variables, there is one solution to all this. One correct approach, opinion, action, and belief. Whatever is to be thought or said, there is only the one true reality and answer. There is only one answer to any question in the spiritual or physical realm. The solution is the one seen laced throughout the Bible, and especially throughout the letters of the Apostle Paul.

I remember seeing a huge roadside sign years ago with only four words emblazoned across the entire space:

"Christ Is The Answer..."

It was correct then.

It still is.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

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