This is a guest post by Rev. Doug Morely, pastor of Bethel Wesleyan Church in Goldsboro, MD. This article originally appeared in the church's montly newsletter.
Oreo cookies are a regular snack in the Morley household; the dessert of choice for both our boys. It's interesting to watch the different ways each one approaches their cookie.
From the very beginning, almost by instinct, Drew has eaten his Oreo by twisting it apart and licking the creamy center first. Recently, Ryan has become a bit more daring, he dips his Oreo in a glass of milk and lets it soak a little before devouring the delightful dessert. Karen and I are a little less creative; we simple bite into the cookie until it's gone.
So how do you eat your Oreo?
Survey Central, an online polling agency, asked the same question and received the following results:
31% said that they eat the cookie and the icing together;
25% said that they twist their Oreo's apart;
16% said that they eat the icing first;
9% said that they dunk their cookie in milk before eating it; another
9% said they have a complex way of eating their Oreo's;
7% actually eat the cookie first and save the icing for last; and
3% imitate the person they are eating with.
Though there are many ways of eating an Oreo cookie, the result is always the same: the cookie is eaten!
The same is true when it comes to the mission of the church. Though we may approach the task in any number of ways, the goal is the same: "to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything" Jesus has commanded us to do.[1]
This is our mission. This is the reason we exist. This is the end result, the eaten Oreo if you will. It's what we all are aiming for. And when everyone is focused on the task at hand, somehow our differences take on less significance. In fact, as we see people come to know Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord, we may even begin to celebrate our differences, recognizing how God can use our unique approaches to bring about even greater results.
I think this is what Paul was getting at when he writes, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.[2] He goes on to say, The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.[3]
By all accounts, unity is an essential quality of the church. Jesus prayed that we may be "brought to complete unity" so that the world would know Him.[4] Paul prayed for "a spirit of unity" among followers of Christ [5] and encouraged believers to "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace"6. In fact, unity is a sign of spiritual maturity among believers.[7]When we can take our eyes off the different ways we eat the cookie and focus on actually eating the cookie, that's when we truly grow up "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". [8]
Somewhere along the way, the church has confused uniformity with unity. We have become so concerned about how others eat the cookie that we have forgotten to enjoy the dessert. That's why it's so important for us as a church to focus on our common mission: to love our community and world with Christ's love, offering everyone a fulfilling way of life. The way each of us approaches the task may be different, but by keeping the end result in focus we can experience true unity while rejoicing in our diversity.
[1Matthew 28:19-20; 21 Corinthians 12:4-6; 31 Corinthians 12:12; 4John 17:23; 5Romans 15:5; 6Ephesians 4:3; 7 Ephesians 4:11-16; 8 Ephesians 4:13]
