"All People Are Equal, But Some Are More Equal Than Others"

I've noticed that many of the large Churches today are more like business organizations than unified bodies of believers in which every individual is considered of equal importance, and where everyone contributes to the ministry of Christ.

In Churches today, we frequently see jealousy, insecurity, unresolved disputes, hurts, unforgiveness, disrespect, antagonistic attitudes towards correction, controlling spirits, haughtiness in titles, and possessiveness of designated ministries. This is because we don't value all members equally, or because we see certain ministries as having more importance than other ministries. As a result, division and strife occur, causing both believers and unbelievers to turn away, rather than drawing them closer to Christ.

I can't help but wonder what God would think of the long and fancy titles that christen people with paid positions in churches today? Do you think God would be impressed? I can't even decipher the meaning of half of those titles.

I wonder what people in churches think when they turn over their bulletins and read on the back the short list of printed names of people with ministry titles in the church? Wouldn't people in the congregation get the impression that the roles of those members are more important? Yet every time I went to a secular concert of my sons' high school orchestra of over 100 students, the name of every member of the band was printed in the bulletin next to the instrument her/she played. This is because every member of the band was considered valuable, and rightly so, because as a group they were amazing and a great pleasure to listen to. But separately, well, that's a different story. (I know because each of my sons played percussion.)

What about when people enter a church and one of the first things they see is a large, glass-encrusted display of pictures that include only a fraction of the church's members? Wouldn't they wonder where the rest of the church body was? If all parts are vital to make a whole body function, then why aren't the rest being recognized? Why isn't a picture posted of a keyboard player, the nursery volunteer, or the person who tithes regularly? Is it because people who are paid to work in the church are considered more important than the volunteers or the ones who work hard all week in secular jobs and help support the finances in the church? When a parent wanders the hallways at a high school, don't they see the picture of every student who ever graduated from that high school?

The Bible states that all members of the church body are equally important, just like all parts of the human body are indispensable. If we treat one member as more important, then division occurs. When there is division in the church body, it starts to lose valuable parts or members, and its effectiveness to win souls for Christ.

"Now the body is not made up of one part, but of many. . .

But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body,

every one of them, just as He wanted them to be.

If they were all one part, where would the body be?

As it is, there are many parts, but one body. . .

But God has combined the members of the body,

and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it,

so that there should be no division in the body,

but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it;

if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it."

Ephesians 12:14-26

We need to be careful that we don't develop a mentality that values one member of the church body over another. Every single person that God brings into the church is vital for it to function properly.