“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
Philippians 2:1-4 NLT
Like mindedness is a central trait of the body of Christ. It is part of the reason that the scripture compares believers to an organism rather than a mere machine. Whereas a mere machine has parts that can be swapped out, an organism cannot do so without drastically hurting the organism. Each part is integral as it is part of a greater collective that functions willingly in the whole. Each part eagerly participated in its prescribed way with the overall purpose of the mind, allowing for many parts to act as one. In this way, diversity and conflict actually serve to edify the whole organism, rather than grind it to a halt. Equilibrium of parts is maintained by submission to the Spirit of God as revealed in Christ and testified in Scripture. It is not maintained by the efforts of any one part over any other. This is how Paul can feel the Body is being successful, even when he is in chains. Because, the Body is not in chains. The Body of Christ is active, alive and transcendent to any individual situation, its politics or its frailties. It becomes imperative that we maintain this truth when tempted to shrink our view to the storm at hand, the persecutions in our midst, or our conflicts with each other. This is how we stay strong, even in our weakness. It is of utmost important.
JOSH McGARY. COM 