Paul pleads with me for unity, because I am part of the bigger body, the same body of Christ. (1Cor10:17) Yet another reason for the constant remembrance of the Lord through the Lord’s Supper, a breaking of the bread, a communal meal that means that I am he and he is me and I am my brother and sister and they are me and we are all together. Unity begins with something simple, as I am no different than any other human being and when I die God will look at me no differently than He would any other man. I have to adhere to the same set of standards – if I call myself His – than anyone else would have to. If I have fellowship with other Christians there are really no separations and no differences between us. That doesn’t mean that my talent is the same as another person, but that I am considered no less or more important than another. I can dig a ditch. Yipee!!! I can write a symphony. Bravo!!! I can clean a dog kennel perfectly so that it is sparkling clean and the vet’s office is spotless. Wonderful!! God is proud of me no matter what I do. Whether or not I produce plays, roses, offal, pick up the trash, play soccer, whatever. God is proud of me and loves me and He also loves everyone else with equal fervor. There are no favorites, although it may seem so. Why it is uneven is that there are men that consider something more important one decade something more important another decade. Whether I dance better than Sue or play the piano better than Jane doesn’t really matter to God, although it sure matters to humans. Humans don’t want to listen to bad voices or wrong notes. They don’t want to hear the humanness when a preacher is in the pulpit or a choir is in front. Or maybe they do, humans being humans…God doesn’t care that I can sing in a choir, or can produce a video on the suffering of Jesus, or give testimony. He only cares that I am His. (Eph 1:10; Eph 3:15,16; Col 3:11,15) I am an heir, as all those who are Christians, all who partake of His body, all who believe and walk as His Son did. And I guess that is my biggest concern about people that can only see the gifts of the Spirit (ie tongues, prophesying etc) and not that there are more important issues. Instead of worrying whether I can or not speak or teach or preach etc., which in Him all things are possible, why not concern myself with learning about His depths and drink from His well. Gifts, such that they are, do not indicate my spirituality one way or another, nor do gifts indicate anyone else’s spirituality for that matter. If they did then even Paul would be in trouble. Gifts are peripheral, icing on the cake, given so that Christians could be a witness of God in lieu of what was coming, the written word. Are the gifts defunct? Without putting myself on the limb let me say this, “Does it matter?” Does it truly matter that I can speak or teach or sing or play piano or speak Spanish or anything for that matter? Does He love me more? I doubt it. Will He use me? Only if I let Him. And only if I am in His rest, and realize that He is in control of me and that there is nothing I can do to improve His image…to anyone. The passage of 1 Corinthians 14:19-34 demonstrates just how much God loves us the way I am, with my talent, or lack thereof. It also shows while He wants to use my talent, while He thinks that my talent can influence more, He also loves me in spite of my talent. And He calls for me to live in peace with all others, no matter whether or not I can do anything better than them. Isaiah 56:3-10, speaks of this and that all peopels will come to God because of the new covenant that is coming. Not just Jews but Gentiles, not just those that can sing but those that can't. All peoples will be welcomed if they accept what God says to them. All will be welcome if they call upon the Lord and are joined to Him will come to His Holy Mountain.