Beautiful variety

When I was twenty and recently married, Johnny and I joined a church in Tulsa that for the next ten years was the heart of my community. Tonight, I had dinner with four of the women that went to that church. This evening topped any reunion I have ever been a part of. Some of us have kept in touch to varying degrees. Those of us who forgot photos of the kids found them in someone else's wallet--how sweet is that? We have all stayed in Tulsa, so this was a time to reconnect with stories of kids, epiphanies, and job adventures.

It was like a brief convergence of five rivers, bubbling over with different things to share. The beauty in the lives and choices of each of these women struck me. I listened to story after story and delighted in the perspective and struggle and growth each one brought forth. Such different creatures! When the Twilight books came up, everyone had a different comment, a different perspective (except Rhonda, who is quiet--an aspect of her own beauty).

Our gathering brought to mind Christ's church. Paul says that the church is a body, with different parts, each performing his or her own service. As I delighted in my friends, I valued their uniqueness. I am sure that God looks down on his creation and values us each for how we are uniquely made. But often in church, we somehow expect everyone to be the same. I am not sure we could have discussed Twilight in a church building with the same freedom we had at Panera. There would perhaps be the prevailing notion that vampires are just WRONG (although given the number of church people that have read the series, that pervading sense may not be there--stick with me just for the sake of illustration).

Yet the church is supposed to be varied, and those varied parts come together with a common goal to sharpen and encourage each other. Different perspectives allow grace to operate and place God as our ultimate authority. There are things I can do, and some tasks that I cannot. Someone else--in fact, a lot of someone elses--with different personalities are needed, because if we were all like me, the church would not be whole, nor would it be healthy.

Hm . . .would you describe the American church as "healthy"?