I Am of Who?

In the 5th chapter of Galatians, Paul paints a picture of a unified body of Christ and how effective we can be if we resist the temptation to walk in the flesh and denigrate other people:
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

God has called us into His kingdom and we are part of the body of Christ - Jesus is the head, and we allow His thoughts, His direction, His power, and His love to guide us in our activities.   We are called to walk in a manner that pleases Him and draws others to see Him through us - we are not merely placed on this earth to gratify ourselves or exalt ourselves at the expense of others.  No, we are called to humbly serve the living God and to serve others.   We have a purpose greater than ourselves, and if we're sidetracked by pride, envy, and a sense of rivalry with our fellow believers, then we miss the big picture of what the Lord wants to do through His people in the earth.

In 1st Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul warned against the impotency of a divided church:
(3) For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

The latest "Star Trek" film boldly went into theaters this weekend, and while the studio predicted that this installment would do somewhere $100 million dollar range, it fell quite a bit short, at "only" just under $87.  Meanwhile, the new "Iron Man 3" has roared over $300 million in domestic box office and over $700 million worldwide - it's expected to move into the #5 position all-time by the end of this weekend.

We love our science fiction, no doubt - but there's a cautionary tale of excess that has emerged out of Norwich, England.   Randee Dawn opens an article on the TODAY Show website by saying:

Sci-fi fans are generally fairly mild-mannered folk. But don't get them angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry. Unfortunately, there was lots of anger in Norwich, UK, over the weekend, when fans of "Doctor Who" and "Star Wars" squared off outside a convention -- and yes, "the force" was called. The police force.

Apparently, the convention had refused entry to members of the Norwich Sci-Fi Club by the members of the Norwich "Star Wars" Club, reportedly after the treasurer of the Sci-Fi Club asked a "Doctor Who" actor for an autograph.

Sci-Fi Club treasurer Jim Poole was asked to leave after requesting the autograph, and he and organizer Richard Walker reportedly had words inside before taking it outdoors.   But, there were no light-saber and sonic screwdriver duels, but police did respond to a report that someone had been assaulted - turns out no one assaulted, and the event ultimately was termed a success.

So many of us have our favorite sci-fi characters, but I'm not about to get into a debate involving one of my personal favorites, the Doctor from the British sci-fi series which, by the way, is chock full of spiritual overtones.   And, even though William Shatner and Carrie Fisher have been known to verbally mix it up about Star Trek vs. Star Wars, it's merely a matter of entertainment choices - but we can be so provincial sometimes...

...and of course, that applies to the church - it is something to which the apostle Paul desired to devote no shortage of ink in his writings - and it's consistent with the words of Jesus in John chapter 17.   

We have various units within Christianity - particular points of view, expressed in our churches and denominations.  And, these units give us the ability to worship in the way we feel comfortable, with people with whom we have a connection.   The birth of the church, at Pentecost, which was celebrated yesterday, gives us a glimpse on how the Holy Spirit brought people together for the purpose of establishing the kingdom of God - overcoming language barriers so that the message of Christ's love and redemption might be preached effectively - and some 3000 people were saved because they heard the Word and saw the expression of the Spirit.

We are not as effective as we could be because so often we are turning our attention n ourselves and focusing on the faults of others rather than walking in a spirit of unity and being focused on those that do not know Him.   When we realize that we are part of one universal body of Christ, the church triumphant, the church of the living God, we can experience great power.    We are one in Jesus, called together to reflect His glory.