There is a certain tone of us & them that seems to be increasing in volume throughout the global church. It takes on many identities: evangelical & post-modern, west & the global south, catholic & protestant, incrowd & outcast, etc. Some claim to be involved in conversation or dialogue but this dialogue often turns into diatribe, dichotomy, and divisiveness.

 

Some christians speak of the church as though they are no longer a part of it. As though they could somehow separate themselves from the body of Christ. Other christians validate this skewed perspective by taking ownership of the church and allowing the self-professed outcasts to remain outcast – as though they had this kind of authority over the Son of Man. It is as though the hand points to the eye and says "if it weren’t for you all would be well here" and all the while the eye responds "if things are so bad then perhaps you should leave" failing to see the ridiculousness of their words.

 

Both perspectives are ultimately poor ones because both fail to see the nature of Christ’s body as a unity (whether we feel that way or not). Perhaps the great struggle in the church today is a failure of christians to love Christ as we should. When one fails to love oneself the response is often conflicted self-loathing and certainly disgust of others. When the body of Christ fail’s to love itself this same thing occurs.

 

The body of Christ is a human body but it is indwelt with the eternal spirit of God. This same body has been broken, torn and hung on a cross. It has been resurrected by this same Spirit but it still bears the marks. The body must not look at the wounds as imperfections but as evidence of eternal love and forgiveness. We must not look on each other as cancerous imperfections needing to be excised but as evidence of our need for love and forgiveness. If we fail to do this we will not be able to love and forgive those outside the body…Christ is the head and directs us in all that we do while we are the broken body bearing the wounds of sacrifice for a reason.

 

There is no us and them, there is only Christ.