Last year, we explained a lot of strategies of the Kingdom of darkness. Their strategies are well-known to the people in that kingdom to the extent that it’s as though we in the Light don’t know what our agendas are. However, we don’t have to know it all before we can play our part in this Kingdom. The Kingdom of God we are in is the most organized, most excellent, most strategic, most aligned and most transgenerational. I’m not talking about Heaven; I’m talking about the Body of Christ. I know you don’t believe me but stay with me on this one. We are not going to talk about what applies to all of us. We are rather going to talk about what we think should separate us when it clearly doesn’t. It will make you appreciate the Body so much.
Different Ministries: Same Spirit
I Corinthians 12:4-5 says “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.” In writing to the Corinthian church, Paul knew they were Greeks and had gods for everything. The god of thunder is different from the god of beauty and so on, in the kingdom of darkness. Every demon has their stronghold, ability, influence and infliction. Just like doctors can know which particular disease you’re suffering from based on diagnosis and the combination of symptoms you have, every demon has their signature on their victims that we can ascertain by discernment.
However, in our Kingdom, it’s the same Spirit for everything. The one in charge of the Body of Christ is not your head pastor or your denomination’s president. It is the Holy Spirit. It is His Government. He is in charge of gift allocation, character development and even diversity of ministration. The Body of Christ is not as haphazard as we think it is. Some are crying for a governmental body that will oversee certain things like the establishment of new churches, who gets to minister and which Bible versions should be put out of use. I’m here to tell you that someone is already in charge, and that Person will be here when you and I are gone. The Body of Christ will still continue to flourish no matter who leaves or dies.
Differences of ministries is not a disadvantage at all to the Body of Christ. Two people can have the same gift and even the same office but there can still be differences of ministries. John the Baptist didn’t perform any miracle, Daniel never said “thus saith the LORD”, Abraham never uttered a word of prophecy and yet, they were all prophets. In fact, David is the one who prophesied about Christ the most in the Psalms. Abraham’s entire life was the prophecy itself and every time he spoke, prophecy embedded in his words. Same office, different ministries. Paul said it this way, “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?”
See, we need each other o. I don’t know why we criticise each other for doing diverse things. We want Apostle A to address matters like Apostle B. We want ministry A to do the things ministry D is doing. Meanwhile, it is the same Spirit that is ministering to the Body in diverse ways. Everything everyone is doing is important. I shouldn’t expect you to be like me and you shouldn’t expect me to be like you. Yet, we are all expected to be like Christ. In this short life, each of our lives will exhibit Christ in a certain fashion idiosyncratically. Abraham is to fatherhood and faith as John is to love as David is to praise and authority. Solomon is to wisdom as Barnabas is to encouragement. We need each other as a Body because we are all different parts of the same whole.
Different Streams: Same River
There are different streams in the Body of Christ. There are ministries with a divine mandate for deliverance. Another into prosperity. Yet another into the Word of Faith. Another again into even wisdom. The mistake we make is that we think unity is conformity when the Spirit is focused on diversity. We can all prophesy but there are prophets. We can all teach but there are teachers. We can all evangelize but there are evangelists. We can all shepherd but there are pastors. However, everyone has what their ministry will point to.
A stream is not a specific church but various similar ministries that follow a certain trajectory based on the mandate the Spirit gave to such a ministry. So if you see a pastor preaching about only marriage issues, don’t think it’s not important. Being a spiritual person doesn’t automatically make your marriage work. It is their mandate. If you stop them, it will explode a problem far worse than you thought existed. The Prosperity Gospel is not from hell; it was a timely stream set up by the Spirit in an age where everything runs on money. Peter didn’t need money to preach on Pentecost Sunday but your fellowship needs it in our world today. To deny the importance of the Prosperity Gospel is sheer hypocrisy.
I have come to realise that whatever stream you condemn will be eradicated from your life. Whatever you dishonour, you won’t benefit from. Anything you despise, you will lack. You see others with the gift of miracles and healing (although we can all be used to heal) performing signs and wonders all the time. You think it’s not about miracles? You will need a miracle one day and you’ll realIse a miracle is not a luxury. Why is so-and-so always talking about spiritual warfare? Why is that one too always talking about success? See, inasmuch as every preacher is mandated to preach the whole counsel of God, there will always be an emphasis. The emphasis can be for a season but a mandate can be for a lifetime.
Different Emphases: Same Truth
If your emphasis is about holiness, you’ll tend to think holiness is the most important thing so all the others with a lesser focus should stop theirs and focus on holiness. However, the Spirit of God is the one in charge of what should be emphasized at what time. Be careful of what you condemn. You may be condemning something orchestrated by God Himself. Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were all alive at the same time at a point. Yet, although the Scriptures they wrote were about God primarily, they all had different emphasis. They were in different locations under different circumstances. In fact, what God revealed to each one was unique. In Daniel 9, we see Daniel reading the book of Jeremiah.
In one sect, fasting is at the core. When you are assigned to such a sect, you’ll fast as part of your consecration. Even though fasting is important to everyone in the Body, it is not necessarily given for all of us to fast all the time. There is no formula. Not every ministry is meant to go global. Some will stay at the local church level and be of tremendous help to their community. There is no need to put pressure on a local church to go global. Not every church will start a school. To one, God will say go. To another, He will say wait. However, to all, He says love. In this Kingdom, we don’t assume how things should be. All things are possible and yet our extensions and boundaries are set by the Spirit of God. Don’t waste your time on “side missions” because of external pressure of how things ought to be.
Sometimes in our bid to emphasize to the Body the emphasis of the season or of our mandate, we sometimes deemphasize some other things. In emphasizing wisdom, we de-emphasize prayer because there can be a lot of prayer but lack of wisdom. Or in emphasizing power, we de-emphasize wisdom. I’m not saying it is wrong to do so. It is the work of the same Spirit. The people who are meant to keep emphasizing prayer shouldn’t be offended at such deemphasis. They should keep emphasizing prayer. There are times and seasons for everything. Fasting is important but the disciples didn’t need to fast when Jesus was around, for instance. Thus, there are times where something deemphasized is overly-emphasized to bring balance to the Body.
Different Parts: Same Body
There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
It takes many parts to make a single body. That’s why the eyes cannot say they don’t need the hands. That’s also why the head cannot say it doesn’t need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don’t have to be modest about other parts. God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honored, the whole body will be happy. Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body.
So you see, we need to appreciate the Body of Christ more. The Same Spirit but different manifestations. One can pray for hours and years and never see angels. Another person drinks encounters like water. There are ones who can wake up and start prophesying. Others can teach all day if you give them the chance. They are some with the gift of administration like no other. How about the gift of helps? It is by the Same Spirit. We need to appreciate each other. There are those with eyes. Others are the arms that help the hands. Some are the ribcage who minister to their leaders. Some are the kidneys who make sure no evil doctrine enters the bloodstream of the Body. You may not like them o but they are necessary to the Body. Don’t expect the ear to play the role of the kidney, and don’t be mad at the kidneys for not acting more like the feet. This is the Body of Christ for you.
