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Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10 (NIV)
In 1683 William Penn made a treaty with the Indians in North America, and purchased from them a large woody tract, which, after its own nature and his name, he calledPennsylvania. Penn built a city in this tract of land which was populated by people of his own denomination, and called the cityPhiladelphia.
Regardless of what has transpired since then, Penn’s desire was to build a city of like minded people who were devoted to one another; that would be kindly affectioned to another with brotherly love.
The phrase ‘be devoted to one another’ in Romans 12:10 is best translated with that word-Philadelphia. Actually the original Greek wording in Romans is only used in that one spot. It’s best translated as the kind of love a parent might have for a child, or a brother might have for another brother. It’s a family kind of love. What Paul it telling us is that we are all part of one family and we should live as such.
The family has been the foundation of society since time began. This fact didn’t take away from the reality that differences arose as a result of personal preferences and personality traits. But the one defining characteristic that made families work was a devotion to one another regardless of those differences. We don’t agree, we may even quarrel, but you can’t change the DNA.
What’s true in the physical sense is true in the spiritual sense. Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as personal Savior and live in his forgiveness and grace are family. Jesus gives each of us the same spiritual DNA so that we will live in harmony with one another. Each of us brings our own likes and dislikes regarding worship and music. Each of us brings our own opinions based on our backgrounds and traditions. Each of us brings a load of baggage from our past.
Regardless of what we bring into the family, we are admonished to live in devotion to one another by honoring others above ourselves. The New Century Version translates the verse like this: Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves. That means we are not only to treat each other well, we are to treat each other better than we want to be treated.
So many times I hear people say they have quit going to church because of all the fighting between church members and denominations. What a difference it would make if William Penn’s dream of a place where everyone was of like mind and devotion was realized in the body of Christ.
PRAYER: Father, show me today if I harbor any feelings of discord towards a brother or sister in Christ or in a denominational body that believes differently than I do. Help me to live with the devotion my spiritual DNA calls me to so that your church can be united. Amen.Cross references:
So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:5 (NIV)
Take a look around you. Right now. While your reading this. What do you see? Look for details. Colors. Shapes. People and the various details of their presence (hair color, eyes, voice inflections, clothing tastes and colors).
Now take a deep breath and smell whatever aromas are around you. Listen to the various sounds. Try for a moment to let your senses take complete control of you and focus on the details, not the whole.
Have you ever take time to contemplate the huge variety of differences around us? Even just looked out the window to take notice of the many shades of green? Our world is full of a vast amount of variety. All of that ‘stuff’ that makes up our environment works together in perfect harmony. Were it not for man’s influence on our environment many of the problems it has would probably be non-existent because nature, in and of itself is marked by two things: variety and harmony, or if we want to narrow it down further, all of nature works together in unity.
Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus prayed his last prayer in the garden, just hours before he was brutally murdered, he prayed for unity among believers? He didn’t pray that we’d all have the same doctrinal beliefs. He didn’t pray for one denomination (frankly I think the idea of denominations was one reason he sweat great drops of blood!). Jesus prayed that all of us would work together just like the world he created, in perfect harmony amidst the variety.
How many marriages would be saved if the parties involved worked together in unity? How many churches would thrive if they let go of the denominational distinctions long enough to work towards bringing people to Jesus? How many people would be fed in third-world countries if rival political groups would set aside the things they disagree with to focus on feeding the starving people?
When God created the world, he created diversity because there is beauty in diversity. When he created you and me he didn’t use a rubber stamp because you and I working amidst the variety to create harmony is a thing of beauty.
Notice when Paul wrote to the Roman believers he wrote that we are all one body and not a group of bodies? We who claim to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior must celebrate the differences if we hope to win the world for Jesus. Set aside race issues. Destroy the ‘gender gap’. Eliminate the seclusion of denominational affiliation. Jesus calls us to go to ALL the world to bring the needy to him. Our time is short. It’s time to celebrate the differences!
PRAYER: Father God, You have created such a beautiful world full of variety and harmony. I pray that we, as your followers would celebrate the differences you have given us. Show us how to live in harmony and set aside the things that divide us. Please start with me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 