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.Happy and I went to Sri Lanka a number of years ago with Deo and Elaine Miller, who are part of our missionary outreach at Agape Church.
(Eph. 4:4-6)
Sri Lanka is a small, tear-shaped island right at the tip of India. It is a war-torn, poverty-stricken country in constant religious turmoil between the Tamils, who are Hindus, and the Singhalese, who are Buddhist.
Christianity is almost nonexistent. However, the numbers of Christians are growing, thanks to the men and women of faith who have given their very lives for the cause of Christ.
Some of the things I saw in Sri Lanka pricked my heart and left a scar that will be with me forever. A scar is a mark that is left after a wound. I was indeed wounded by the large statues of Buddha that I saw every mile that we drove. Some of them were almost three stories high.
By contrast, in America you see a church every mile and take it for granted. Even our coins say, "In God We Trust." We are a Christian nation, regardless of our faults.
When I returned home, I saw the Church as a whole more than ever before. It really does not matter what our differences are. As long as Jesus Christ is Lord and we are born again, we are members of His Body.
In America you can go one mile and see a Baptist church; go another mile and see an Assemblies of God church; and go another mile and see a Faith church, to name a few.
Although there are differences, each church represents Jesus Christ—not a statue of Buddha, a dumb idol representing a false god.
If we Christians could only get a revelation of the "Church as a whole" and start pulling together for the cause of Christ, how this would please our Father God! We all need each other. We are brothers and sisters in Christ and we should love one another.
You may think you don't need another's love, but you do. There may be someone at another church whom God may use to give you a word of wisdom when you are in trouble, or confirm something He has told you to do.
This happened to me in October of 1983. The Lord spoke to me to start teaching a ladies' Bible study, but the day before I was to teach, I was wondering if I had really heard from God correctly.
About that time a preacher in another state, whom Happy and I had not talked to in years, called to tell me of a dream he had had about me. He said he saw me teaching people how to be mature Christians and that what I was doing was very important.
His call was confirmation to me and it brought peace and confidence that God was directing my footsteps.
We need to pray that our attitudes will be like Jesus'—to love one another and serve one another unselfishly, regardless of our differences. There should be no competition or jealousy among us. I don't believe we will ever come together in our doctrine, but we can come together in our faith.
What we believe may divide us, but Who we believe in unites us. I realize people teach things that I do not agree with at all. But I can still love them because they are a part of Christ's body, the Church. We need to endeavor to strengthen one another.
A while back, I heard award-winning vocalist Steve Green on television. He was saying that a song he recorded has been very controversial. The song is called, "Let the Walls Come Down." He sang the song and it was powerful. The chorus goes;
Let the walls come down that divide us,Steve said he thought the unity of the Church was a mandate of Christ. Amen and amen!
Let the walls come down that hide us,
If in Christ we agree, let us seek unity,
Let the walls come down.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers