That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
The church is Christ's many-membered body, joined to have no division but the same equal care of the members for one another. God Himself fits the members together and gives greater honor to the parts that lack it, so that all share one feeling, suffering together when one suffers and rejoicing together when one is honored. He gives different gifts, talents and offices to different members as He pleases for the good of the whole, and no one is self-sufficient or unnecessary, but where one lacks another supplies it. This unity is unity in variety rather than uniformity, with personal individuality remaining under Christ the Head and the same Spirit, so differing roles leave no place for rivalry, contempt, or forcing all to one pattern. The same care is shown in practical tenderness and help, in counseling and laboring together rather than working on an independent line, with the ministry of the word and medical missionary work blended as body and arm in inseparable union.
Body Without Division
The church is Christ's many-membered body, to have no division but the same equal care of members for one another. Different gifts, talents, capabilities, opportunities, duties, and lines of work do not make one member independent of another, superior to another, self-sufficient, or unneeded because work is different, for each member is needed and all belong to one body united under Christ as head. God assigns the different gifts, talents, and opportunities as it pleases Him in the way that will best promote His glory and advance His kingdom, and He will use anyone willing to be used in His appointed way. When members work against and contrary to one another instead of uniting, God is put to shame. A person gains perfection and influence not by doing another's work but by faithfully discharging his own duties as part of the great whole, joined to others by sympathy for one another and fidelity to Christ. Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently in that mutual relation, actively exercising their different gifts together with respect for each other's gifts. That mutual care excludes crowding, judging one another, comparing gifts, and measuring one gift against another.
God Himself joins the members together into one body and gives special and greater honor to the parts that lack it so that there will be no division. Having the same care one for another means shared feeling, so that when one member suffers all members suffer with it, and when one is honored all are honored, enlightened, and rejoice with him. No one can say to another member, as to the hand, I have no need of thee, for disciples of Jesus are living members of one body, mutually joined together and united in Christ the living head and mutually dependent upon each other. Each one has a distinctive place and part to act, as hand, head, ear, eye, or limbs of the body, with Christlikeness blending every quality in harmonious proportion into a symmetrical whole. This joined relation means church work cannot be made undenominational and separated from God's chosen and precious people, but must be joined in heart and spirit with them, without creating discord and strife by demanding perfect agreement with self.
The human body from head to feet and from eyes to feet illustrates the pattern, with different members having different offices yet all belonging to one body. As all the different members of the human system unite to form the entire body and each performs its office in obedience to the intelligence that governs the whole, so the members of the church of Christ are to be united in one symmetrical body subject to the sanctified intelligence and direction of the whole. All its members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being, by an unseen conscious indivisible unity, closely related and dependent like the parts of a machine. All gifts are by the same Spirit, and the diversity of operations is God's arrangement to meet the varied make-up, organizations, and minds in the world, since the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each member serves under God's direction, using entrusted abilities to help others and contribute to the perfection of the whole, rather than working independently.
Unity among believers is unity in variety, not uniformity. Therefore each one is to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities God gave them and keep their own will, identity, and independent natural traits, and those who lead must not govern and manage so completely that individuality is destroyed and minds have no opportunity to act out their own endowment. Members must not seek to make other minds bend to their own ideas, must not mold another's judgment and character to their own pattern, and must not destroy will and identity; every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers and strength for a special work, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch. The more believers drink in of the Spirit, the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, having the same care for one another with no schism in the body.
The Bible itself is likewise a complete body pervaded by one divine life, just as the human body is a complete structure with every part united to the others and dependent on them for life. Each book of the Bible is like a member of the body with its own special office, connected with the rest to form a complete whole, so every portion of Scripture has its use and no part stands apart. Every book is adapted to human beings in every phase of life to secure a special result, to make the human family complete in Christ.
The verse belongs to the teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13, which is to be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart, studied and digested and not ignored, and lived out in humble obedience to God. Its call for no division and mutual care should have more weight with believers, and heeding that whole teaching is needed in the present time of trial and testing to be shut in with God so the wicked one has no power. Church members must study and apply 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 to themselves for the continual humbling of individual self and the critical taking of self in hand, beginning with self-examination. Each one must deny himself and take up his own cross of self-denial and self-humiliation and self-sacrifice, and not lay his cross on somebody else to carry.
Diversity of Gifts
God assigns different gifts, talents, capabilities and opportunities to different members as it pleases Him, placing some for service in one line and others in other lines, including prophecy, teaching, miracles, healing and helps, all for the good of the whole body and to best promote His glory and kingdom and to meet the varied make-up and minds in the world. The strength of one servant is not the strength of another, so each is to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities given to him and keep his own will and identity, and God will use anyone willing to be used in His appointed way. When members work contrary to one another and against each other instead of uniting with their brethren, He is put to shame. The gifts are to represent truth and uplift Christ, not to exalt self, and He calls His people to help one another fulfill their different duties and faithfully complete their work.
No member is self-sufficient, independent, superior, inferior, unnecessary or complete alone, and the body is united under Christ its head with each member needed and with different gifts and roles exercised together in active respect. No one has every qualification needed for the work, but where one lacks another can supply it, with deficiencies in experience and ability made up by another's gifts through counseling and assisting one another with different minds and abilities. Among the members there is to be no crowding, judging, comparing, measuring one gift against another, envy or contempt for another's gifts or work, but the same equal care one for another with many gifts all belonging to one body.
Unity is unity in variety, not uniformity, as the human body from head to feet and from eyes to feet has different members with different offices yet all belong to one body and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being. Personal will, identity, independent natural traits and liberty of expression remain, and no one is to seek to make other minds bend to his own ideas, mold another's judgment and character to his own pattern, govern and manage so completely that individuality is destroyed, or force conformity and uniformity. Every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers and strength for a special work, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch, and suppressing another member's distinct strengths can hinder the work intended for that person. That care includes valuing and encouraging every gift even the smallest, respecting varied trusts and temperaments, ability and work, allowing people with differing traits to work together in harmony, and allowing each to seek God's direction rather than assigning another's work against conviction, since differing suitability does not make anyone faithless or unwilling.
Recognizing that differing roles and kinds of service are all directed and ordered by the same Spirit for the good of the whole guards against rivalry, carnal emulation, pride, envy, contempt, despising, crowding, judging and measuring, and strengthens unity and mutual love and care. A man gains perfection and influence not by doing another's work but by faithfully discharging his own duties and place as part of the great whole, united with others by sympathy and fidelity to Christ. Every member has his own part to act in his order and is not to be crowded out or take over another's work, and when each takes up his own special work and runs with patience the race set before him division is prevented. Even lowly service represented by the hand or foot rather than the head or heart is important, no work appointed by God is inferior or of little account, and worth depends not on size but on love and motive, with work done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ pleasing the Father for one's own best good, the good of fellow men and the advancement of His cause. God Himself accomplishes the work through human channels, so the channel is not to be exalted but all exaltation given to God, with the worker hiding in Jesus and letting Christ appear, and tests bravely borne teaching against self-sufficiency, self-seeking and self-uplifting which Christ will not sustain.
Varied gifts and different kinds of agencies are essential so one mind does not mold the work after his special ideas, build up meetings alone or give perfection by his own effort, but the work is built up strong and proportional and made complete under the Lord's direction. No one mind or judgment alone is sufficient to devise plans, direct the work or exert a healthful well-balanced influence, and God in providence brings together different temperaments with blending of diverse elements one adapted to the other, each with place and special work in one great plan bearing Christ's image. God has not given all wisdom to any one man and one man cannot bear alone the responsibilities of sacred office or carry evangelistic work alone to build the church as Christ desires, so leaders need helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines to supply deficiency, modestly regarding others' opinions as worthy of respect and as likely correct as their own. This requires harmonious cooperation each in appropriate position, those of careful thought checking exaggerated action and correcting slowness that loses precious time, brethren encouraged and educated to bear responsibilities, and sharing responsibilities lifting burdens from ministers and adding years to the worker who cooperates with God.
The church is made whole by people of different talents, classes and social ranks sharing a common interest with interests and sympathies bound together, and no member, part or contribution is to be undervalued, treated as lesser or excluded. All share responsibility for diffusing light and must not claim for themselves what is meant to benefit all, and without mutual concern, care and sympathy the church cannot maintain a healthy influence. Different gifts and kinds of work are needed in God's service, so no one should reject or oppose a fellow worker merely because that person works in a different way, since every gift is to be used in the shared work of saving souls.
Headship of Christ
The many members center in Christ the Head and work under the same Spirit and sanctified direction, with no division but equal care of members for one another. Different gifts and roles do not make one member independent of or superior to another, for no one in individual self is the whole body but only a part, and Christ must be the efficiency with the power and Spirit of God to do anything. No member is to be self-sufficient or to dismiss another as unneeded because the work is different, but all are to actively exercise their different gifts together in one body with respect for each other's gifts, with no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift against another. All gifts are by the same Spirit, illustrated by the human body from head to feet where different members have different offices yet all belong to one body, and this diversity is God's arrangement to meet varied make-up, organizations, and minds in the world, since the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each one is therefore to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities given them and keep personal will and identity, and leaders must not govern and manage so completely or mold another's judgment and character to their own pattern as to destroy will, identity, and independent natural traits. Every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers for a special work under Jesus Christ as acknowledged head rather than under human guidance or for self-exaltation, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch.
Connection with Christ involves connection with His church, for the relation is very close and sacred, He the head and the church the body, He the bridegroom and the church the bride. The church is organized for service, and in a life of service to Christ connection with the church is one of the first steps, with loyalty to Christ demanding faithful performance of church duties as training that in a church imbued with the Master's life leads directly to effort for the world without. The church is the Lord's body, the continued incarnation of Christ on earth, and its members are His working agencies who must live in unity of action with one another and become one with Christ as the great Head, with gospel ministers serving as undershepherds under Christ as the divine Shepherd. Believers are united to Christ as a limb is united to the body, so that believing in Christ means putting on Christ and entering this union, through which Christ in His humanity and divinity links finite humanity with God. People of varying types of character are brought into church capacity through profession of faith as members of Christ's body with Christ as Head with no division among them, but those whose names are on the church record yet do not belong to Jesus are like fruitless branches taken away, while one who is really fruitful has spiritual connection with God shown by bearing fruit and absolute allegiance to Christ, with faith and love as the gold of character ever working to unite and harmonize the members in the same care for one another.
The more members drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, having the same care for one another with no schism, and this unity is unity in variety, not uniformity. As the human body has variety from eyes to feet yet all members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being, so believers are to preserve harmonious action while remaining different. Christ's love is to flow through every part of that body as life-blood flows through the body, and as no organ can live by keeping its service to itself, each member must impart to others or perish, so that the member who refuses to give acts selfishly and will perish. The Spirit of Christ must circulate as the blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and the crucifixion of self, and when this takes place the day of Pentecost fully comes, uniting workers in true repentance and conversion with Christ and heavenly angels cooperating in daily labors. Ministers and physicians belong to one body and must remain united in mutual concern, with fault for division not lying altogether on one side, and the healthful current of blood circulating in the body pictures the true converting power of God that should circulate among them and bring great changes. Disrespect toward health reform, including the light against tea, coffee, and flesh meats, creates disunion that displeases God, while feeling injured and bearing down on ministers as a body in return is unjustifiable and felt too strongly.
The verse belongs to the teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13 to be studied and applied for the continual humbling of individual self and the critical taking of self in hand, beginning with self-examination. Each one must deny self and take up his own cross of self-denial and self-humiliation and self-sacrifice, and not lay his cross on somebody else to carry. The Lord accepts everyone who manifests repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, and no bar is to be placed in the way of any soul so that he loses courage to engage in the good warfare, with no criticizing, crowding, judging, or measuring of one gift by another. Instead each member must deal sternly with self, with close introspection examine peculiar temperament and weaknesses of character, and deal decidedly and bravely with perverse disposition so as not to dishonor God. Men of responsibility are given their place to be a help to others, not to seek supremacy and mastery, and their own course of action determines the value of many others, requiring a new conversion that conquers old hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, selfishness, high opinion of self, love of supremacy and desire for mastery. This is worked out in a clean, unselfish character by studying Christ's life and learning of Him, with close self-examination to become free from all selfishness.
God made provision for reciprocal action and mutual relation so that in the varied lines of Christ's work each part depends on the other part, all are connected together and the whole is connected to God, no one can be dropped out without affecting the whole, and nothing is independent of the rest. This reflects God's design in creating Adam and Eve as parents of all so that each human being stands related to the rest as part of the web of humanity. The church is Christ's body pervaded by the Holy Spirit, designed to organize and combine all sanctified united elements into one vast influential agency, with the same care for one another meaning working out united plans with the divine cooperating with the human, bringing the power of the future world into the present to transform the human into the divine. The law of cooperation is united converted agencies combined in one in reciprocal influence, with all influences bearing upon one another and no division allowed through kingly power where one man controls the whole, so that together they reveal Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin and iniquity. God's people are joined as members of one whole to live in unity and mutual care, not as individuals independent of one another, after the pattern of the harmony of heaven before sin where every being served in a place related to the work of others and none was indifferent to the rest. Unity of action with no division, each showing mutual care, is made possible because members partake of the divine nature having escaped worldly corruption and hold the doctrines of God's word in purity, becoming one with Christ the great Head.
Mutual Care Expressed
The same care means mutual tenderness in dealing with one another, with no standing apart in self-confidence, but speaking good words to help and strengthen brethren in counsel, uniting in service, and jealously guarding one another's interests even when mistakes are made, with the same unceasing tenderness the Lord shows His people. It means each member with a different office working together under God for the benefit of the whole, respected, encouraged and sustained, giving fellow workers due respect and recognition because God has given each a work, in harmonious well-regulated action without envy or evil thought, speech or conduct. It means the church united in love without divisions, where gifts and abilities benefit others so the weak and inexperienced are strengthened by those of greater hope and experience, while every member remains necessary and none rules or plans without careful consideration of the whole body. It is Christlike sympathy, kindly interest and practical help toward fellow workers, expressing the unity of the body and producing righteousness through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace. It is dependence for help without division or superiority, with leaders not made infallible or wiser by position but serving in Christ's meekness and humility, valuing each worker's help, comforting sufferers, encouraging the inexperienced, and joining heart to heart, including experienced workers patiently teaching and supporting those with less experience while all share God's love and avoid unkind criticism.
When one suffers all suffer with it, and when one is honored all rejoice, because God joins the many members into one body and gives special and greater honor to those that lack it so there will be no division, with each member caring equally for the others. Disciples are living members mutually joined and mutually dependent in Christ the living head, so that if one is honored all are honored, enlightened and rejoice with him, and none can say to another as to the hand that there is no need of him; therefore church work cannot be made undenominational and separated from God's chosen people but must be joined in heart and spirit without creating discord by demanding perfect agreement with self. Believers are formed into one body to strengthen and sustain one another, where each one's faith and courage blesses the others, and even the weakest belongs to Christ's body and through humble dependence on God can become strong and share the privileges of a child of God. There is to be no schism through hastily cutting off weak, suffering members like limbs about to be amputated; everything possible must first be done to restore them by every available means, with patient care and the very best treatment in the best place under faithful helpers rather than hasty conclusions, so none is lost or left to go through life crippled with usefulness damaged for life. The same care requires ministers to give encouragement, sympathy, consideration, and sustaining and stimulating support to fellow ministers who have ability for a special work others cannot do, bearing them up to earnest and persevering exertion instead of leaving them discouraged and unsupported.
Shared care is a duty to support ministers who have become old, ill or unable to work, and not leave them or their dependents in poverty or distress. Each member has a duty to do in the living spiritual body, including helping the sick, dependent and spiritually needy. Christ's people are one body dependent on one another and complete only in Christ, which calls for cooperation and mutual care across racial lines, with leaders helping develop the abilities of Black workers to serve their own people and all working together in saving souls, for men are part of the great web of humanity to pity, sympathize with, love and help, with God showing no caste and counting riches, position, talent or education as nothing unless surrendered as tribute at His feet to cooperate with divine agencies as a vessel unto honor.
Different gifts and roles do not make one member independent of or superior to another, for each is needed under Christ the head; therefore there is to be no crowding, judging or comparing gifts, but the same equal care. Members with Jesus Christ as head must actively exercise their different gifts together in one body with respect for each other's gifts, with none self-sufficient or dismissing another as unneeded because the work differs, and with no crowding, judging of one another, or measuring one gift against another. As bodily members have no reason to strive over which is greatest, Christians are to have no division, contention or strife over who shall be greatest, but one common interest cooperating with Christ in restoring the moral image of God in man, each striving to work out his own salvation and that of family and associates, a responsibility none can disregard and keep a place in the redeemed family. The Lord accepts everyone manifesting repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, so no bar is to be placed to make a soul lose courage in the warfare against temptation; instead of criticizing, crowding, judging and measuring one gift by another, each must deal sternly with self, examine peculiar temperament and weaknesses by close introspection, and deal decidedly and bravely with perverse disposition so as not to dishonor God. God has given every man, woman and child a work in His moral vineyard, one fitted for one work and another for a different adapted line, each the complement of the others and none a complete whole alone; so those joined, as in school work, must blend together in union with the Holy Spirit, taking time from the first to understand each other instead of standing apart to watch, criticize and judge, finding points of resemblance, helping with one supplying another's lack, accepting keener perceptions in others and giving due credit to each ability.
Each person is a member of a common body bound to others even when the bonds are ignored, and must consider God's purposes for relationships and care for one another, since failure harms character and becomes a snare to others. No one is independent of fellow human beings because each person's well-being affects others, calling each to recognize responsibility for the welfare and happiness of others, with unselfish influence fostering harmony and no division but mutual care. Members are bound by real lasting obligations, each depending on others with something to receive and something to give, a responsibility not removed by ignoring or abusing the ties, which teachers should impress and model. Through Christ God has given men an influence making it impossible to live to self, binding them to God and the whole human family as Christ's life did, so all are connected as different parts of one great whole under mutual obligations with none independent of fellows. The health of the body depends on the well-being of its parts, so the work at its center affects all branches, and a healthy center helps the whole body carry truth forward.
People closely joined and dependent on one another should care without division, with all backgrounds and abilities needing kindness and sympathy, and through contact minds are refined until one person's weakness becomes strength for all. As no organ can live by keeping its service to itself, each member must impart to others or perish, and the member who refuses to give will perish. Christ's love is to flow through every part of the body as life-blood flows through the body, and a member refusing to give to others acts selfishly and will perish. Members dependent on one another and closely bound by human brotherhood receive polish and refinement by mutual contact, each calling on the other for assistance as master, servant or friend. The church's gifts are to live among its members, encouraging those who are fainting and correcting and reproving those who err, in unity and mutual care.
United Cooperative Labor
No member can disconnect from the agencies appointed by God to work on an independent line in supposed wisdom, for to try to work alone is a delusion of the enemy that will not prosper in the end even when one flatters himself he is doing God's work, and refusing cooperation works against the body and brings ruin. Every member is to remain united to the body and work in the respective capacity given, not shut up to self and living for self but likeminded with God, pure, holy and sincere, with the same care for one another. No one is to separate from the body or act only by independent judgment, for counsel and cooperation preserve the intended unity, and the church as God's people led and taught by Him has been entrusted with authority so that rejecting reproof and counsel and choosing independence leads to disaster and spiritual ruin.
Members are to counsel with and assist one another, with mind blending with mind in planning and carrying forward the work, sharing plans and ideas, trusting one another, and receiving advice and caution in brotherly kindness. No one is qualified to bear the burden alone or to act in unsanctified independence, for men of different minds have been joined together so that deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, and each worker must consider the relation sustained to fellow workers. Each has work to do and no one should act as though able to carry the work alone or think personal gifts or way of working are enough, and differences in gifts and ways of serving are not a reason to refuse cooperation but allow consulting, praying, and laboring in common so differences support rather than hinder. In school work and elsewhere each is the complement of the others since no one alone is a complete whole, one being fitted for one line and another for a different line for which he is adapted, requiring special effort in union with the Holy Spirit to blend together, taking time from the first to understand each other instead of standing apart to watch and criticize and judge, finding points of resemblance, supplying one another's lack, accepting keener perceptions in others, giving due credit to ability, cherishing confidence in the wisdom of brethren, and submitting to mutual instruction and correction as part of a great whole.
Those holding office are to stand as leaders, advisers, counselors and helpers in carrying burdens and leaders in thanksgiving, not to control and rule fellow laborers nor to order and command the Lord's workers, for the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people. There are to be no kings in the midst and no kingly centralized power perpetuated, no one man molding and directing important interests as the voice for the people, no right to forbid a worker to go to a field or to control support, and no dictating of consciences, since God has not given all wisdom to any one man and wisdom will not die with him. Those in trust must modestly regard the opinions of others as worthy of respect and as likely correct as their own, remembering God has made other men just as valuable and is willing to teach and guide them, treating fellow laborers with the consideration they would wish if they were the helpers and learning meekness from Christ, for all are brethren. To every man talents are given according to ability with minds differing in scope and lines of thought, so leaders need helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines that each may supply the other's deficiency, because one man alone cannot bear the responsibilities of sacred office, and every part of the work must work connected with another part joined by golden links, with no branch standing as a kingdom of itself and no one regarding one branch as vastly more important but every part showing equal concern for every other part. This forbids selfish striving to occupy the chief place and exercise mastery, such as treating an associate as unequal, seeking only inexperienced helpers who will obey, and picking fellow laborers by personal inclination, requiring instead respecting each member and giving a capable fellow worker every chance to be proved and to stand as an equal and counselor, each doing individual work under Christ with unity made possible when Christ dwells in the heart by faith.
There is to be no separation into factions or separate parties under different heads, for division gives a poor witness and does not show the power of truth, which is to be believed and obeyed in unity with care for one another. Gifts, though different, must never be used to separate believers or to lead converts to form parties, and no man is to be conscience for others or gain an experience for them, while no one should gather a group that simply agrees with him since members with different work and different minds need one another and what one lacks another can supply. Contention and party spirit when they appear must be investigated and called by their right names, for all dissension is born of narrow conceptions of unsanctified minds, and regarding individual judgment as supreme produces schism. Educators, ministers, and all laborers together with God are not to link interests with any political party, cast votes with or for them, or fight battles in the political world, because political alliance brings schism, but as citizens of heaven and subjects of Christ's kingdom with Christ as head they stand separate and peculiar, each as an individual part of His great whole doing only the work appointed and bearing the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, living in reconciliation rather than making enemies over political questions and keeping unity by truth in Jesus Christ.
Different assignments do not justify interfering with or taking over one another's work, for each member has a distinct service within the body and must stay in place and faithfully do the assigned work with the same care for the whole. Each must work in unison rather than rushing ahead, leaving personal work, or trying to correct and control the larger work, because such interference does not move the load but hinders it and produces discord and disturbance, whereas when everyone keeps hand on the own part and does it correctly and diligently the whole body moves beautifully, exactly, and harmoniously. Each person has work assigned by God and should remain faithful to that duty rather than neglecting it to take over another's, which keeps members in proper relation, and unity is applied through prayerful coordinated service under Christ's guidance since work done in human wisdom brings discord and failure.
Rejecting those appointed to lead and serve rejects a means provided to help, encourage, and strengthen the people, since Christ and the church are inseparable. Neglecting or despising those appointed to bear responsibilities rejects what has been ordained for help, encouragement, and strength, and insisting that light must come through no other channel than directly from God separates from channels of light and gives opportunity to deceive and overthrow, whereas wise arrangement enables human instrumentality to cooperate with the divine with every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit in organized well-directed effort to give the glad tidings of grace. No member should oppose the body whenever it disagrees with personal wishes but should be willing to learn from and submit to fellow believers rather than act independently, for no one is infallible and every erring fallible person needs guidance of brethren and must be subdued by the Spirit to yield private judgment, ideas, and plans to the judgment of others. To claim infallibility, insist one's way is perfect, carry out undertakings at any cost, concentrate the mind on one point until nothing can move it, refuse to be taught, reject light cherished by others because it does not coincide with personal ideas, and maintain opinion against plain facts, reason, and clearest proof in opposition to the body is extreme independence and one-man power claiming all must bend to one mind and will, which does not bear marks of God's hand and which the Word will not justify. A minister disqualifies himself from producing healthy united action when deficiencies of character remain unovercome, when guided by feeling instead of principle, when laboring only when inclined and refusing to speak and pray when disinclined, and when refusing self-discipline to do the work whether felt or not, so that where such influence is felt most the cause languishes, discouragement prevails, and those who wait for their shepherd and do not feel free to move independently suffer loss.
Unity in diversity governs presenting truth, for an unseen conscious indivisible unity keeps the bodily machinery in action with each part working in harmony with every other, all worked by the same Spirit and fed from the same source, and personal individuality remains while all testimonies unite to form one whole without contradiction. Different minds may use different figures, expressions, and ways of presentation to interest and educate different minds and to meet varied minds, each viewing and expressing truth according to constitution, education, and mental development under the Holy Spirit, without selfishness and self-exaltation, without straining for originality or new strange productions, and without making difference a virtue. As many stones with different lights and messages make one breastplate, so the same thought from God may be expressed in different ways without contradiction and without speaking the very same things in the same words, and those who differ in viewing or expressing truth may be just as precious in God's sight, so difference should not perplex or confuse. When the same vitalizing current flows through minds and hearts believers act in harmony, draw closely together by dwelling on things in which all can agree, and show true love as members of the same family in pity, courtesy, and noble unselfish deeds, united under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit and not straining for original new light.
Diversity held in unity requires pledged union in action with equal interest, each having liberty of expression but no one working out a plan of personal invention in raising means, supporting schools, or sustaining the ministry, but all blending capabilities with those chosen to lead and pledging by prayer and promise to fulfill the work coming to every conference, not allowing selfishness to rule the heart. Unity and love with the glory of God in view make of different gifts a complete whole, reached through explaining plans plainly, earnest prayer together, singing, shaking hands, and voting without a dissenting voice, so that camp meetings and all essential meetings are carried with perfect harmony. That same care keeps confusion and diversity in place of unity from entering, enables standing together in heat of opposition and conflict against strange fanaticism and heresies to sustain truth as the Bible presents it, and keeps manifestations of the Holy Spirit differing in expression unto holiness, with every soul aiming at the perfection of the character of Jesus Christ and no man launching out against another. Unity in the body also calls for working together rather than holding back for fear of not being accepted as in harmony with the body, for the French work was hindered because the brothers did not unite their efforts and advance it together.
Medical and Ministry Union
The ministry of the word and medical missionary work are distinct members of the same body that must blend in inseparable union with no schism, each needing the other under Christ's direction and neither allowed to replace or disregard the other, for separation brings confusion and leaves parts of the vineyard unworked, and neither part is complete alone. Health reform belongs to the gospel work and cannot be a perfect whole when treated as separate from it, and the same united care requires varied gifts to be used humbly to bless humanity, with harmony in every action and no jealousy, party spirit, or friction. The ministry is also a member of the same body that cannot be ignored without ignoring God, and hindering advancement on God's appointed lines greatly displeases Him, while the united work must combine medical service with instructing churches, teaching the needy and outcast, holding the old landmarks of truth and duty, and giving the warning message, never making medical work the principal all-important line.
Medical missionary work is the arm, hand, and right hand joined to the body, not the whole body, while the gospel ministry is the body, and the arm has power only while joined to and controlled by the head and body, never to be made supreme or the center. Jesus Christ is the head, and church and ministry are to cooperate as one unit so salvation is revealed, with every branch needed and moving together in mutual care rather than giving all strength to one part. The ministry of the Word holds first place among human agencies as the great educational force calling minds to the Scriptures, and it must be sustained and retain its place, with no essential line allowed to crowd out or diminish another. Lack of interest in medical work and speech discouraging it disrespects the right hand of the body, and those unable to discern spiritual things should change their attitude and remain silent until their minds are sanctified.
To disparage the ministry and conduct medical work independently is to separate the arms from the body, leaving hands and flying arms dispensing means without direction from the head, producing unbalanced disproportionate work that unsettles minds, brings confusion, leaves many portions of the vineyard unworked, and places men where they will scoff at Bible truth. Beginning about 1893 and increasing afterward, ambition and selfishness treated the medical work as the body itself instead of the hands and arms united to the body, drawing means into it and making it a great barrier and the greatest peril to the cause, though it began as a benevolent work connected with gospel ministry to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. The medical arm must not be exalted above the church's other work or eclipse the proclamation of Christ's soon coming and the third angel's message, but health reform as the right arm is to be joined to that message to work effectively for defense of the body of truth, keeping every important part strengthened in balance. When the hand and arm take the place of the whole body until the ministry finds no standing room, the work consumes means needed in other lines, consumes but does not produce, and saps all life and force from the ministry instead of proving the entering wedge for truth. That arm must stay connected to the body and ministry, not stand apart, not speak to the discredit of ministers, and not grasp all means to itself while other parts are left without support, so no one line is dropped and no one line absorbs everything and makes the work disproportionate.
Mutual care continues practically when all tithes go to one treasury rather than tithes of medical workers being separated to support sanitarium religious and benevolent work or to go to the Medical Association, and when the conference is liberal in sending ministers to work in connection with the medical work. Medical work as arm and hand is to go hand in hand with pitching the tent, preaching, and establishing churches, creating confidence and interest both ways, with health work and cooking schools helping leave something solid behind, and afterward the new church pays tithe into the conference to send ministers elsewhere. Every minister of the gospel must be prepared to do practical medical missionary work, and in large cities this united work opens doors for truth, while reluctance toward health reform from unwillingness to deny self breaks unity. The ministry gives prominence and stability to medical work, and medical work demonstrates the practical working of the gospel, so the worldwide message must go forward symmetrically in every line and many places, not by one man or a few men in one or two lines, that truth reaches all parts of the vineyard and every part bears fruit. Fault for division does not lie altogether on one side, for disrespect toward health reform including the light against tea, coffee, and flesh meats creates disunion displeasing to God, while feeling injured and bearing down on ministers as a body in return is unjustifiable and felt too strongly, and only the true converting power circulating like healthful blood can bring great changes.
The same care forbids any branch standing as a kingdom of itself, with no kingly centralized power perpetuated, and no one connected with one branch regarding it as vastly more important than others, but every part showing equal concern for every other part. Publishing work, sanitarium work, school work, canvassing, health reform, conferences, and workers in one field must protect, build up, and strengthen one another rather than concentrate resources selfishly or let self displace Christ, and shared concern for interests in other fields prevents jealousy and resentment. Gospel ministry, medical missionary work, and publications containing present truth are members of one body that must work together with the same care, one not superseding another, all made effectual by faith as the Holy Spirit impresses hearts that earnestly desire to know what is right.
Wider Church Applications
The verse means the entire church is to act as one, blending in perfect union as a living, active missionary agency moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit, with every man, woman, and child having work to do in the moral vineyard according to ability as burden-bearers and stewards standing in lot and place. Every addition to the church is to become one more agency for carrying on the great plan of redemption, with the same devotion seen in Christ, with subjection of every social claim and earthly affection, with God's claims made paramount, and with unceasing effort for the good of others, for truth not lived and not imparted loses its life-giving power and healing virtue. Different lines of work are committed to different people according to their several ability, but all work done for the Master is connected with the great whole, all are to work together in concert each controlled by divine power to draw those around them to Christ, with hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery, each part dependent on the other yet standing distinct in action, each member having a duty whose influence can strengthen the others and acting not for narrow selfish interests. Leaders are to plan so everyone can contribute and have a part to act, talents and means are to be used for the whole, and leaving members idle wastes their talents and can make the church fruitless. In the perils of the last days every mental and physical power and every God-given talent of mind must be cultivated as the Lord's garden and used in right relation to each other so as to make the church a perfect whole building that represents the wisdom and character of God and forms character after the divine similitude.
The verse means there is to be no schism in the body but harmonious united action with the same care one for another, part working in harmony with part in love and unity and Christian fellowship, as branches of the living vine, brothers and sisters of one family, members of one body, branches of one root. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, so spiritual peace and harmony under the Holy Spirit's influence bring health to the church just as harmonious action of all parts promotes physical health, with efficiency to stewardship and sacred duties for the strengthening and establishment of the church. That oneness in Christ through belief of the truth, kept only by those united by truth in Jesus Christ, gives a convincing testimony to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners and exhibits God's miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. This unity is preserved by pure love not as impulse or spasmodic feeling but as a divine principle and permanent power drawn fresh from the love flowing from the heart of God, by which hearts quickened and sustained by the Holy Spirit are bound heart to heart to love God supremely and one another truly, sincerely, unaffectedly and fervently with pure hearts, with friendship true and untainted without partiality and without hypocrisy, with mutual responsibility and natural obligations, with sanctified talents exercised for benefit rather than perverted to hurt, and with truthful speech because all are members one of another. With the Lord as center every part contributes without selfishness or rivalry though different in individuality and disposition, and their actions produce harmony.
God ordained simple organization and church order for the unity and perfection of the church, so that no church, conference, or individual is to separate from conference organization to display supposed efficiency, because every church and every conference is under His plan of reciprocal dependence. The sacred chain of dependence that binds men together is not slavery, and to treat it as such and break it lets the enemy bring discord and separation that robs families of happiness and the church of usefulness and hinders reformation, while the verse forbids any confederacy that binds about the work or places all means and all power in one man's hands, for that plan is of man and not of God. A man holding office is to stand as leader, adviser, counselor and helper in carrying burdens and leader in thanksgiving, not to control and rule fellow laborers nor to order and command the Lord's workers, but to treat those laboring with him with the same consideration he would wish as a helper, with no kingly authority from position and learning meekness from Christ, for all are brethren and the Lord is over His heritage. Members have the same care for one another by building one another up in the most holy faith and seeking the Holy Spirit so light shines in clear rays, with different lines of missionary work combining to make a great whole, soldiers on earth standing united with the army of heaven, those blessed with advantages supplying those in destitute regions, and strength added by talent of means, speech, and genius used to advance the work as a whole, while evil thinking and evil speaking that cause disunion violate the verse. A member connected to the body only in name without drawing life from Christ is like a paralyzed member whose fitful movements are not lasting activity or spiritual growth, for a living member must receive life from Christ and show enduring growth and fruit. The church itself is the main body and the Institute is an arm or branch of that body, so that when the church stands in the counsel of God in holiness and enjoys His favor and the light of His countenance it sends a vitalizing healthful current to that arm and diffuses light and controls its errors, but when the church is sickly and in moral darkness and spiritual blindness leading away from God it circulates a sickly deathly influence through the living body until disease is apparent everywhere and its own darkness creates moral darkness and spiritual death in the Institute. Workers throughout the printing office are members of one body in which the Spirit of Christ must circulate as blood circulates, requiring true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and crucifixion of self, and when this takes place the day of Pentecost fully comes to them in true repentance and conversion with Christ and heavenly angels cooperating in daily labors.
If one errs and disagreement arises it must be settled at once between those involved by praying and conversing together instead of recrimination, breaking down barriers until heart is cemented to heart and self-will and selfishness die, with all in church capacity sharing the ministry of reconciliation beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God, each acting the part God appointed at his post, and with no counter-influence in the church. There is to be no schism, no party strife, no shade of strife among believers, and especially among Seventh-day Adventists, with Christ as the great Center uniting all in one, who died that men might be made one with Him and with each other. Through the uplifted Saviour believers are made necessary to one another and to God, as individual parts of a mighty whole of the human family bound to God by love and laid under obligation to work for fellow men, where no soul can be made independent, the well-being of each is the happiness of the whole, and no partition walls are to be built between man and man. In Christ believers are pledged to shun any course causing schism, questions at issue in the world are not to be the theme of conversation, and Christ trains His subjects to imitate His meekness and lowliness, goodness, patience, and love, consecrating heart and hand to His service as channels of God's love to bless others, which youth especially are to understand in meekness and love. Each part must work in harmony with the other parts and all parts must be in accord with the whole.
Ministers must stand shoulder to shoulder and step by step keep rank and file in perfect order, serving God with power and purpose by dwelling on the large treasures of subjects in God's storehouse and feeding the flock with the simplest and most essential truths. They are forbidden to regard matters in an intense light, gathering up little points of seeming difference and staking the soul upon their verity, placing differences in the strongest light by extravagant ideas and fruitful imagination, leading minds to miscalculate and carry things too strongly, confusing minds and burying essential truth by strong expressions, so that labor does more harm than good and becomes a failure. Inexperienced medical students reflect the verse by working humbly with experienced physicians, accepting their guidance and correction rather than acting separately and divided.
The church is Christ's many-membered body, joined to have no division but the same equal care of the members for one another. God Himself fits the members together and gives greater honor to the parts that lack it, so that all share one feeling, suffering together when one suffers and rejoicing together when one is honored. He gives different gifts, talents and offices to different members as He pleases for the good of the whole, and no one is self-sufficient or unnecessary, but where one lacks another supplies it. This unity is unity in variety rather than uniformity, with personal individuality remaining under Christ the Head and the same Spirit, so differing roles leave no place for rivalry, contempt, or forcing all to one pattern. The same care is shown in practical tenderness and help, in counseling and laboring together rather than working on an independent line, with the ministry of the word and medical missionary work blended as body and arm in inseparable union.
Body Without Division
The church is Christ's many-membered body, to have no division but the same equal care of members for one another. Different gifts, talents, capabilities, opportunities, duties, and lines of work do not make one member independent of another, superior to another, self-sufficient, or unneeded because work is different, for each member is needed and all belong to one body united under Christ as head. God assigns the different gifts, talents, and opportunities as it pleases Him in the way that will best promote His glory and advance His kingdom, and He will use anyone willing to be used in His appointed way. When members work against and contrary to one another instead of uniting, God is put to shame. A person gains perfection and influence not by doing another's work but by faithfully discharging his own duties as part of the great whole, joined to others by sympathy for one another and fidelity to Christ. Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently in that mutual relation, actively exercising their different gifts together with respect for each other's gifts. That mutual care excludes crowding, judging one another, comparing gifts, and measuring one gift against another.
God Himself joins the members together into one body and gives special and greater honor to the parts that lack it so that there will be no division. Having the same care one for another means shared feeling, so that when one member suffers all members suffer with it, and when one is honored all are honored, enlightened, and rejoice with him. No one can say to another member, as to the hand, I have no need of thee, for disciples of Jesus are living members of one body, mutually joined together and united in Christ the living head and mutually dependent upon each other. Each one has a distinctive place and part to act, as hand, head, ear, eye, or limbs of the body, with Christlikeness blending every quality in harmonious proportion into a symmetrical whole. This joined relation means church work cannot be made undenominational and separated from God's chosen and precious people, but must be joined in heart and spirit with them, without creating discord and strife by demanding perfect agreement with self.
The human body from head to feet and from eyes to feet illustrates the pattern, with different members having different offices yet all belonging to one body. As all the different members of the human system unite to form the entire body and each performs its office in obedience to the intelligence that governs the whole, so the members of the church of Christ are to be united in one symmetrical body subject to the sanctified intelligence and direction of the whole. All its members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being, by an unseen conscious indivisible unity, closely related and dependent like the parts of a machine. All gifts are by the same Spirit, and the diversity of operations is God's arrangement to meet the varied make-up, organizations, and minds in the world, since the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each member serves under God's direction, using entrusted abilities to help others and contribute to the perfection of the whole, rather than working independently.
Unity among believers is unity in variety, not uniformity. Therefore each one is to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities God gave them and keep their own will, identity, and independent natural traits, and those who lead must not govern and manage so completely that individuality is destroyed and minds have no opportunity to act out their own endowment. Members must not seek to make other minds bend to their own ideas, must not mold another's judgment and character to their own pattern, and must not destroy will and identity; every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers and strength for a special work, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch. The more believers drink in of the Spirit, the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, having the same care for one another with no schism in the body.
The Bible itself is likewise a complete body pervaded by one divine life, just as the human body is a complete structure with every part united to the others and dependent on them for life. Each book of the Bible is like a member of the body with its own special office, connected with the rest to form a complete whole, so every portion of Scripture has its use and no part stands apart. Every book is adapted to human beings in every phase of life to secure a special result, to make the human family complete in Christ.
The verse belongs to the teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13, which is to be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart, studied and digested and not ignored, and lived out in humble obedience to God. Its call for no division and mutual care should have more weight with believers, and heeding that whole teaching is needed in the present time of trial and testing to be shut in with God so the wicked one has no power. Church members must study and apply 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 to themselves for the continual humbling of individual self and the critical taking of self in hand, beginning with self-examination. Each one must deny himself and take up his own cross of self-denial and self-humiliation and self-sacrifice, and not lay his cross on somebody else to carry.
Diversity of Gifts
God assigns different gifts, talents, capabilities and opportunities to different members as it pleases Him, placing some for service in one line and others in other lines, including prophecy, teaching, miracles, healing and helps, all for the good of the whole body and to best promote His glory and kingdom and to meet the varied make-up and minds in the world. The strength of one servant is not the strength of another, so each is to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities given to him and keep his own will and identity, and God will use anyone willing to be used in His appointed way. When members work contrary to one another and against each other instead of uniting with their brethren, He is put to shame. The gifts are to represent truth and uplift Christ, not to exalt self, and He calls His people to help one another fulfill their different duties and faithfully complete their work.
No member is self-sufficient, independent, superior, inferior, unnecessary or complete alone, and the body is united under Christ its head with each member needed and with different gifts and roles exercised together in active respect. No one has every qualification needed for the work, but where one lacks another can supply it, with deficiencies in experience and ability made up by another's gifts through counseling and assisting one another with different minds and abilities. Among the members there is to be no crowding, judging, comparing, measuring one gift against another, envy or contempt for another's gifts or work, but the same equal care one for another with many gifts all belonging to one body.
Unity is unity in variety, not uniformity, as the human body from head to feet and from eyes to feet has different members with different offices yet all belong to one body and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being. Personal will, identity, independent natural traits and liberty of expression remain, and no one is to seek to make other minds bend to his own ideas, mold another's judgment and character to his own pattern, govern and manage so completely that individuality is destroyed, or force conformity and uniformity. Every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers and strength for a special work, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch, and suppressing another member's distinct strengths can hinder the work intended for that person. That care includes valuing and encouraging every gift even the smallest, respecting varied trusts and temperaments, ability and work, allowing people with differing traits to work together in harmony, and allowing each to seek God's direction rather than assigning another's work against conviction, since differing suitability does not make anyone faithless or unwilling.
Recognizing that differing roles and kinds of service are all directed and ordered by the same Spirit for the good of the whole guards against rivalry, carnal emulation, pride, envy, contempt, despising, crowding, judging and measuring, and strengthens unity and mutual love and care. A man gains perfection and influence not by doing another's work but by faithfully discharging his own duties and place as part of the great whole, united with others by sympathy and fidelity to Christ. Every member has his own part to act in his order and is not to be crowded out or take over another's work, and when each takes up his own special work and runs with patience the race set before him division is prevented. Even lowly service represented by the hand or foot rather than the head or heart is important, no work appointed by God is inferior or of little account, and worth depends not on size but on love and motive, with work done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ pleasing the Father for one's own best good, the good of fellow men and the advancement of His cause. God Himself accomplishes the work through human channels, so the channel is not to be exalted but all exaltation given to God, with the worker hiding in Jesus and letting Christ appear, and tests bravely borne teaching against self-sufficiency, self-seeking and self-uplifting which Christ will not sustain.
Varied gifts and different kinds of agencies are essential so one mind does not mold the work after his special ideas, build up meetings alone or give perfection by his own effort, but the work is built up strong and proportional and made complete under the Lord's direction. No one mind or judgment alone is sufficient to devise plans, direct the work or exert a healthful well-balanced influence, and God in providence brings together different temperaments with blending of diverse elements one adapted to the other, each with place and special work in one great plan bearing Christ's image. God has not given all wisdom to any one man and one man cannot bear alone the responsibilities of sacred office or carry evangelistic work alone to build the church as Christ desires, so leaders need helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines to supply deficiency, modestly regarding others' opinions as worthy of respect and as likely correct as their own. This requires harmonious cooperation each in appropriate position, those of careful thought checking exaggerated action and correcting slowness that loses precious time, brethren encouraged and educated to bear responsibilities, and sharing responsibilities lifting burdens from ministers and adding years to the worker who cooperates with God.
The church is made whole by people of different talents, classes and social ranks sharing a common interest with interests and sympathies bound together, and no member, part or contribution is to be undervalued, treated as lesser or excluded. All share responsibility for diffusing light and must not claim for themselves what is meant to benefit all, and without mutual concern, care and sympathy the church cannot maintain a healthy influence. Different gifts and kinds of work are needed in God's service, so no one should reject or oppose a fellow worker merely because that person works in a different way, since every gift is to be used in the shared work of saving souls.
Headship of Christ
The many members center in Christ the Head and work under the same Spirit and sanctified direction, with no division but equal care of members for one another. Different gifts and roles do not make one member independent of or superior to another, for no one in individual self is the whole body but only a part, and Christ must be the efficiency with the power and Spirit of God to do anything. No member is to be self-sufficient or to dismiss another as unneeded because the work is different, but all are to actively exercise their different gifts together in one body with respect for each other's gifts, with no crowding, no judging, and no measuring of one gift against another. All gifts are by the same Spirit, illustrated by the human body from head to feet where different members have different offices yet all belong to one body, and this diversity is God's arrangement to meet varied make-up, organizations, and minds in the world, since the strength of one servant is not the strength of another. Each one is therefore to cultivate and develop the powers and qualities given them and keep personal will and identity, and leaders must not govern and manage so completely or mold another's judgment and character to their own pattern as to destroy will, identity, and independent natural traits. Every person must be left free for God to convict the heart and develop individual powers for a special work under Jesus Christ as acknowledged head rather than under human guidance or for self-exaltation, since those peculiar traits give access to a class that others could not touch.
Connection with Christ involves connection with His church, for the relation is very close and sacred, He the head and the church the body, He the bridegroom and the church the bride. The church is organized for service, and in a life of service to Christ connection with the church is one of the first steps, with loyalty to Christ demanding faithful performance of church duties as training that in a church imbued with the Master's life leads directly to effort for the world without. The church is the Lord's body, the continued incarnation of Christ on earth, and its members are His working agencies who must live in unity of action with one another and become one with Christ as the great Head, with gospel ministers serving as undershepherds under Christ as the divine Shepherd. Believers are united to Christ as a limb is united to the body, so that believing in Christ means putting on Christ and entering this union, through which Christ in His humanity and divinity links finite humanity with God. People of varying types of character are brought into church capacity through profession of faith as members of Christ's body with Christ as Head with no division among them, but those whose names are on the church record yet do not belong to Jesus are like fruitless branches taken away, while one who is really fruitful has spiritual connection with God shown by bearing fruit and absolute allegiance to Christ, with faith and love as the gold of character ever working to unite and harmonize the members in the same care for one another.
The more members drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by His surpassing love, having the same care for one another with no schism, and this unity is unity in variety, not uniformity. As the human body has variety from eyes to feet yet all members depend upon one another to make a perfect whole and act harmoniously in conformity to the laws controlling the being, so believers are to preserve harmonious action while remaining different. Christ's love is to flow through every part of that body as life-blood flows through the body, and as no organ can live by keeping its service to itself, each member must impart to others or perish, so that the member who refuses to give acts selfishly and will perish. The Spirit of Christ must circulate as the blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and the crucifixion of self, and when this takes place the day of Pentecost fully comes, uniting workers in true repentance and conversion with Christ and heavenly angels cooperating in daily labors. Ministers and physicians belong to one body and must remain united in mutual concern, with fault for division not lying altogether on one side, and the healthful current of blood circulating in the body pictures the true converting power of God that should circulate among them and bring great changes. Disrespect toward health reform, including the light against tea, coffee, and flesh meats, creates disunion that displeases God, while feeling injured and bearing down on ministers as a body in return is unjustifiable and felt too strongly.
The verse belongs to the teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13 to be studied and applied for the continual humbling of individual self and the critical taking of self in hand, beginning with self-examination. Each one must deny self and take up his own cross of self-denial and self-humiliation and self-sacrifice, and not lay his cross on somebody else to carry. The Lord accepts everyone who manifests repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, and no bar is to be placed in the way of any soul so that he loses courage to engage in the good warfare, with no criticizing, crowding, judging, or measuring of one gift by another. Instead each member must deal sternly with self, with close introspection examine peculiar temperament and weaknesses of character, and deal decidedly and bravely with perverse disposition so as not to dishonor God. Men of responsibility are given their place to be a help to others, not to seek supremacy and mastery, and their own course of action determines the value of many others, requiring a new conversion that conquers old hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, selfishness, high opinion of self, love of supremacy and desire for mastery. This is worked out in a clean, unselfish character by studying Christ's life and learning of Him, with close self-examination to become free from all selfishness.
God made provision for reciprocal action and mutual relation so that in the varied lines of Christ's work each part depends on the other part, all are connected together and the whole is connected to God, no one can be dropped out without affecting the whole, and nothing is independent of the rest. This reflects God's design in creating Adam and Eve as parents of all so that each human being stands related to the rest as part of the web of humanity. The church is Christ's body pervaded by the Holy Spirit, designed to organize and combine all sanctified united elements into one vast influential agency, with the same care for one another meaning working out united plans with the divine cooperating with the human, bringing the power of the future world into the present to transform the human into the divine. The law of cooperation is united converted agencies combined in one in reciprocal influence, with all influences bearing upon one another and no division allowed through kingly power where one man controls the whole, so that together they reveal Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin and iniquity. God's people are joined as members of one whole to live in unity and mutual care, not as individuals independent of one another, after the pattern of the harmony of heaven before sin where every being served in a place related to the work of others and none was indifferent to the rest. Unity of action with no division, each showing mutual care, is made possible because members partake of the divine nature having escaped worldly corruption and hold the doctrines of God's word in purity, becoming one with Christ the great Head.
Mutual Care Expressed
The same care means mutual tenderness in dealing with one another, with no standing apart in self-confidence, but speaking good words to help and strengthen brethren in counsel, uniting in service, and jealously guarding one another's interests even when mistakes are made, with the same unceasing tenderness the Lord shows His people. It means each member with a different office working together under God for the benefit of the whole, respected, encouraged and sustained, giving fellow workers due respect and recognition because God has given each a work, in harmonious well-regulated action without envy or evil thought, speech or conduct. It means the church united in love without divisions, where gifts and abilities benefit others so the weak and inexperienced are strengthened by those of greater hope and experience, while every member remains necessary and none rules or plans without careful consideration of the whole body. It is Christlike sympathy, kindly interest and practical help toward fellow workers, expressing the unity of the body and producing righteousness through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace. It is dependence for help without division or superiority, with leaders not made infallible or wiser by position but serving in Christ's meekness and humility, valuing each worker's help, comforting sufferers, encouraging the inexperienced, and joining heart to heart, including experienced workers patiently teaching and supporting those with less experience while all share God's love and avoid unkind criticism.
When one suffers all suffer with it, and when one is honored all rejoice, because God joins the many members into one body and gives special and greater honor to those that lack it so there will be no division, with each member caring equally for the others. Disciples are living members mutually joined and mutually dependent in Christ the living head, so that if one is honored all are honored, enlightened and rejoice with him, and none can say to another as to the hand that there is no need of him; therefore church work cannot be made undenominational and separated from God's chosen people but must be joined in heart and spirit without creating discord by demanding perfect agreement with self. Believers are formed into one body to strengthen and sustain one another, where each one's faith and courage blesses the others, and even the weakest belongs to Christ's body and through humble dependence on God can become strong and share the privileges of a child of God. There is to be no schism through hastily cutting off weak, suffering members like limbs about to be amputated; everything possible must first be done to restore them by every available means, with patient care and the very best treatment in the best place under faithful helpers rather than hasty conclusions, so none is lost or left to go through life crippled with usefulness damaged for life. The same care requires ministers to give encouragement, sympathy, consideration, and sustaining and stimulating support to fellow ministers who have ability for a special work others cannot do, bearing them up to earnest and persevering exertion instead of leaving them discouraged and unsupported.
Shared care is a duty to support ministers who have become old, ill or unable to work, and not leave them or their dependents in poverty or distress. Each member has a duty to do in the living spiritual body, including helping the sick, dependent and spiritually needy. Christ's people are one body dependent on one another and complete only in Christ, which calls for cooperation and mutual care across racial lines, with leaders helping develop the abilities of Black workers to serve their own people and all working together in saving souls, for men are part of the great web of humanity to pity, sympathize with, love and help, with God showing no caste and counting riches, position, talent or education as nothing unless surrendered as tribute at His feet to cooperate with divine agencies as a vessel unto honor.
Different gifts and roles do not make one member independent of or superior to another, for each is needed under Christ the head; therefore there is to be no crowding, judging or comparing gifts, but the same equal care. Members with Jesus Christ as head must actively exercise their different gifts together in one body with respect for each other's gifts, with none self-sufficient or dismissing another as unneeded because the work differs, and with no crowding, judging of one another, or measuring one gift against another. As bodily members have no reason to strive over which is greatest, Christians are to have no division, contention or strife over who shall be greatest, but one common interest cooperating with Christ in restoring the moral image of God in man, each striving to work out his own salvation and that of family and associates, a responsibility none can disregard and keep a place in the redeemed family. The Lord accepts everyone manifesting repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ, so no bar is to be placed to make a soul lose courage in the warfare against temptation; instead of criticizing, crowding, judging and measuring one gift by another, each must deal sternly with self, examine peculiar temperament and weaknesses by close introspection, and deal decidedly and bravely with perverse disposition so as not to dishonor God. God has given every man, woman and child a work in His moral vineyard, one fitted for one work and another for a different adapted line, each the complement of the others and none a complete whole alone; so those joined, as in school work, must blend together in union with the Holy Spirit, taking time from the first to understand each other instead of standing apart to watch, criticize and judge, finding points of resemblance, helping with one supplying another's lack, accepting keener perceptions in others and giving due credit to each ability.
Each person is a member of a common body bound to others even when the bonds are ignored, and must consider God's purposes for relationships and care for one another, since failure harms character and becomes a snare to others. No one is independent of fellow human beings because each person's well-being affects others, calling each to recognize responsibility for the welfare and happiness of others, with unselfish influence fostering harmony and no division but mutual care. Members are bound by real lasting obligations, each depending on others with something to receive and something to give, a responsibility not removed by ignoring or abusing the ties, which teachers should impress and model. Through Christ God has given men an influence making it impossible to live to self, binding them to God and the whole human family as Christ's life did, so all are connected as different parts of one great whole under mutual obligations with none independent of fellows. The health of the body depends on the well-being of its parts, so the work at its center affects all branches, and a healthy center helps the whole body carry truth forward.
People closely joined and dependent on one another should care without division, with all backgrounds and abilities needing kindness and sympathy, and through contact minds are refined until one person's weakness becomes strength for all. As no organ can live by keeping its service to itself, each member must impart to others or perish, and the member who refuses to give will perish. Christ's love is to flow through every part of the body as life-blood flows through the body, and a member refusing to give to others acts selfishly and will perish. Members dependent on one another and closely bound by human brotherhood receive polish and refinement by mutual contact, each calling on the other for assistance as master, servant or friend. The church's gifts are to live among its members, encouraging those who are fainting and correcting and reproving those who err, in unity and mutual care.
United Cooperative Labor
No member can disconnect from the agencies appointed by God to work on an independent line in supposed wisdom, for to try to work alone is a delusion of the enemy that will not prosper in the end even when one flatters himself he is doing God's work, and refusing cooperation works against the body and brings ruin. Every member is to remain united to the body and work in the respective capacity given, not shut up to self and living for self but likeminded with God, pure, holy and sincere, with the same care for one another. No one is to separate from the body or act only by independent judgment, for counsel and cooperation preserve the intended unity, and the church as God's people led and taught by Him has been entrusted with authority so that rejecting reproof and counsel and choosing independence leads to disaster and spiritual ruin.
Members are to counsel with and assist one another, with mind blending with mind in planning and carrying forward the work, sharing plans and ideas, trusting one another, and receiving advice and caution in brotherly kindness. No one is qualified to bear the burden alone or to act in unsanctified independence, for men of different minds have been joined together so that deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, and each worker must consider the relation sustained to fellow workers. Each has work to do and no one should act as though able to carry the work alone or think personal gifts or way of working are enough, and differences in gifts and ways of serving are not a reason to refuse cooperation but allow consulting, praying, and laboring in common so differences support rather than hinder. In school work and elsewhere each is the complement of the others since no one alone is a complete whole, one being fitted for one line and another for a different line for which he is adapted, requiring special effort in union with the Holy Spirit to blend together, taking time from the first to understand each other instead of standing apart to watch and criticize and judge, finding points of resemblance, supplying one another's lack, accepting keener perceptions in others, giving due credit to ability, cherishing confidence in the wisdom of brethren, and submitting to mutual instruction and correction as part of a great whole.
Those holding office are to stand as leaders, advisers, counselors and helpers in carrying burdens and leaders in thanksgiving, not to control and rule fellow laborers nor to order and command the Lord's workers, for the Lord is over His heritage and will lead His people. There are to be no kings in the midst and no kingly centralized power perpetuated, no one man molding and directing important interests as the voice for the people, no right to forbid a worker to go to a field or to control support, and no dictating of consciences, since God has not given all wisdom to any one man and wisdom will not die with him. Those in trust must modestly regard the opinions of others as worthy of respect and as likely correct as their own, remembering God has made other men just as valuable and is willing to teach and guide them, treating fellow laborers with the consideration they would wish if they were the helpers and learning meekness from Christ, for all are brethren. To every man talents are given according to ability with minds differing in scope and lines of thought, so leaders need helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines that each may supply the other's deficiency, because one man alone cannot bear the responsibilities of sacred office, and every part of the work must work connected with another part joined by golden links, with no branch standing as a kingdom of itself and no one regarding one branch as vastly more important but every part showing equal concern for every other part. This forbids selfish striving to occupy the chief place and exercise mastery, such as treating an associate as unequal, seeking only inexperienced helpers who will obey, and picking fellow laborers by personal inclination, requiring instead respecting each member and giving a capable fellow worker every chance to be proved and to stand as an equal and counselor, each doing individual work under Christ with unity made possible when Christ dwells in the heart by faith.
There is to be no separation into factions or separate parties under different heads, for division gives a poor witness and does not show the power of truth, which is to be believed and obeyed in unity with care for one another. Gifts, though different, must never be used to separate believers or to lead converts to form parties, and no man is to be conscience for others or gain an experience for them, while no one should gather a group that simply agrees with him since members with different work and different minds need one another and what one lacks another can supply. Contention and party spirit when they appear must be investigated and called by their right names, for all dissension is born of narrow conceptions of unsanctified minds, and regarding individual judgment as supreme produces schism. Educators, ministers, and all laborers together with God are not to link interests with any political party, cast votes with or for them, or fight battles in the political world, because political alliance brings schism, but as citizens of heaven and subjects of Christ's kingdom with Christ as head they stand separate and peculiar, each as an individual part of His great whole doing only the work appointed and bearing the banner of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, living in reconciliation rather than making enemies over political questions and keeping unity by truth in Jesus Christ.
Different assignments do not justify interfering with or taking over one another's work, for each member has a distinct service within the body and must stay in place and faithfully do the assigned work with the same care for the whole. Each must work in unison rather than rushing ahead, leaving personal work, or trying to correct and control the larger work, because such interference does not move the load but hinders it and produces discord and disturbance, whereas when everyone keeps hand on the own part and does it correctly and diligently the whole body moves beautifully, exactly, and harmoniously. Each person has work assigned by God and should remain faithful to that duty rather than neglecting it to take over another's, which keeps members in proper relation, and unity is applied through prayerful coordinated service under Christ's guidance since work done in human wisdom brings discord and failure.
Rejecting those appointed to lead and serve rejects a means provided to help, encourage, and strengthen the people, since Christ and the church are inseparable. Neglecting or despising those appointed to bear responsibilities rejects what has been ordained for help, encouragement, and strength, and insisting that light must come through no other channel than directly from God separates from channels of light and gives opportunity to deceive and overthrow, whereas wise arrangement enables human instrumentality to cooperate with the divine with every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit in organized well-directed effort to give the glad tidings of grace. No member should oppose the body whenever it disagrees with personal wishes but should be willing to learn from and submit to fellow believers rather than act independently, for no one is infallible and every erring fallible person needs guidance of brethren and must be subdued by the Spirit to yield private judgment, ideas, and plans to the judgment of others. To claim infallibility, insist one's way is perfect, carry out undertakings at any cost, concentrate the mind on one point until nothing can move it, refuse to be taught, reject light cherished by others because it does not coincide with personal ideas, and maintain opinion against plain facts, reason, and clearest proof in opposition to the body is extreme independence and one-man power claiming all must bend to one mind and will, which does not bear marks of God's hand and which the Word will not justify. A minister disqualifies himself from producing healthy united action when deficiencies of character remain unovercome, when guided by feeling instead of principle, when laboring only when inclined and refusing to speak and pray when disinclined, and when refusing self-discipline to do the work whether felt or not, so that where such influence is felt most the cause languishes, discouragement prevails, and those who wait for their shepherd and do not feel free to move independently suffer loss.
Unity in diversity governs presenting truth, for an unseen conscious indivisible unity keeps the bodily machinery in action with each part working in harmony with every other, all worked by the same Spirit and fed from the same source, and personal individuality remains while all testimonies unite to form one whole without contradiction. Different minds may use different figures, expressions, and ways of presentation to interest and educate different minds and to meet varied minds, each viewing and expressing truth according to constitution, education, and mental development under the Holy Spirit, without selfishness and self-exaltation, without straining for originality or new strange productions, and without making difference a virtue. As many stones with different lights and messages make one breastplate, so the same thought from God may be expressed in different ways without contradiction and without speaking the very same things in the same words, and those who differ in viewing or expressing truth may be just as precious in God's sight, so difference should not perplex or confuse. When the same vitalizing current flows through minds and hearts believers act in harmony, draw closely together by dwelling on things in which all can agree, and show true love as members of the same family in pity, courtesy, and noble unselfish deeds, united under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit and not straining for original new light.
Diversity held in unity requires pledged union in action with equal interest, each having liberty of expression but no one working out a plan of personal invention in raising means, supporting schools, or sustaining the ministry, but all blending capabilities with those chosen to lead and pledging by prayer and promise to fulfill the work coming to every conference, not allowing selfishness to rule the heart. Unity and love with the glory of God in view make of different gifts a complete whole, reached through explaining plans plainly, earnest prayer together, singing, shaking hands, and voting without a dissenting voice, so that camp meetings and all essential meetings are carried with perfect harmony. That same care keeps confusion and diversity in place of unity from entering, enables standing together in heat of opposition and conflict against strange fanaticism and heresies to sustain truth as the Bible presents it, and keeps manifestations of the Holy Spirit differing in expression unto holiness, with every soul aiming at the perfection of the character of Jesus Christ and no man launching out against another. Unity in the body also calls for working together rather than holding back for fear of not being accepted as in harmony with the body, for the French work was hindered because the brothers did not unite their efforts and advance it together.
Medical and Ministry Union
The ministry of the word and medical missionary work are distinct members of the same body that must blend in inseparable union with no schism, each needing the other under Christ's direction and neither allowed to replace or disregard the other, for separation brings confusion and leaves parts of the vineyard unworked, and neither part is complete alone. Health reform belongs to the gospel work and cannot be a perfect whole when treated as separate from it, and the same united care requires varied gifts to be used humbly to bless humanity, with harmony in every action and no jealousy, party spirit, or friction. The ministry is also a member of the same body that cannot be ignored without ignoring God, and hindering advancement on God's appointed lines greatly displeases Him, while the united work must combine medical service with instructing churches, teaching the needy and outcast, holding the old landmarks of truth and duty, and giving the warning message, never making medical work the principal all-important line.
Medical missionary work is the arm, hand, and right hand joined to the body, not the whole body, while the gospel ministry is the body, and the arm has power only while joined to and controlled by the head and body, never to be made supreme or the center. Jesus Christ is the head, and church and ministry are to cooperate as one unit so salvation is revealed, with every branch needed and moving together in mutual care rather than giving all strength to one part. The ministry of the Word holds first place among human agencies as the great educational force calling minds to the Scriptures, and it must be sustained and retain its place, with no essential line allowed to crowd out or diminish another. Lack of interest in medical work and speech discouraging it disrespects the right hand of the body, and those unable to discern spiritual things should change their attitude and remain silent until their minds are sanctified.
To disparage the ministry and conduct medical work independently is to separate the arms from the body, leaving hands and flying arms dispensing means without direction from the head, producing unbalanced disproportionate work that unsettles minds, brings confusion, leaves many portions of the vineyard unworked, and places men where they will scoff at Bible truth. Beginning about 1893 and increasing afterward, ambition and selfishness treated the medical work as the body itself instead of the hands and arms united to the body, drawing means into it and making it a great barrier and the greatest peril to the cause, though it began as a benevolent work connected with gospel ministry to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. The medical arm must not be exalted above the church's other work or eclipse the proclamation of Christ's soon coming and the third angel's message, but health reform as the right arm is to be joined to that message to work effectively for defense of the body of truth, keeping every important part strengthened in balance. When the hand and arm take the place of the whole body until the ministry finds no standing room, the work consumes means needed in other lines, consumes but does not produce, and saps all life and force from the ministry instead of proving the entering wedge for truth. That arm must stay connected to the body and ministry, not stand apart, not speak to the discredit of ministers, and not grasp all means to itself while other parts are left without support, so no one line is dropped and no one line absorbs everything and makes the work disproportionate.
Mutual care continues practically when all tithes go to one treasury rather than tithes of medical workers being separated to support sanitarium religious and benevolent work or to go to the Medical Association, and when the conference is liberal in sending ministers to work in connection with the medical work. Medical work as arm and hand is to go hand in hand with pitching the tent, preaching, and establishing churches, creating confidence and interest both ways, with health work and cooking schools helping leave something solid behind, and afterward the new church pays tithe into the conference to send ministers elsewhere. Every minister of the gospel must be prepared to do practical medical missionary work, and in large cities this united work opens doors for truth, while reluctance toward health reform from unwillingness to deny self breaks unity. The ministry gives prominence and stability to medical work, and medical work demonstrates the practical working of the gospel, so the worldwide message must go forward symmetrically in every line and many places, not by one man or a few men in one or two lines, that truth reaches all parts of the vineyard and every part bears fruit. Fault for division does not lie altogether on one side, for disrespect toward health reform including the light against tea, coffee, and flesh meats creates disunion displeasing to God, while feeling injured and bearing down on ministers as a body in return is unjustifiable and felt too strongly, and only the true converting power circulating like healthful blood can bring great changes.
The same care forbids any branch standing as a kingdom of itself, with no kingly centralized power perpetuated, and no one connected with one branch regarding it as vastly more important than others, but every part showing equal concern for every other part. Publishing work, sanitarium work, school work, canvassing, health reform, conferences, and workers in one field must protect, build up, and strengthen one another rather than concentrate resources selfishly or let self displace Christ, and shared concern for interests in other fields prevents jealousy and resentment. Gospel ministry, medical missionary work, and publications containing present truth are members of one body that must work together with the same care, one not superseding another, all made effectual by faith as the Holy Spirit impresses hearts that earnestly desire to know what is right.
Wider Church Applications
The verse means the entire church is to act as one, blending in perfect union as a living, active missionary agency moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit, with every man, woman, and child having work to do in the moral vineyard according to ability as burden-bearers and stewards standing in lot and place. Every addition to the church is to become one more agency for carrying on the great plan of redemption, with the same devotion seen in Christ, with subjection of every social claim and earthly affection, with God's claims made paramount, and with unceasing effort for the good of others, for truth not lived and not imparted loses its life-giving power and healing virtue. Different lines of work are committed to different people according to their several ability, but all work done for the Master is connected with the great whole, all are to work together in concert each controlled by divine power to draw those around them to Christ, with hearts blending and moving like well-adjusted machinery, each part dependent on the other yet standing distinct in action, each member having a duty whose influence can strengthen the others and acting not for narrow selfish interests. Leaders are to plan so everyone can contribute and have a part to act, talents and means are to be used for the whole, and leaving members idle wastes their talents and can make the church fruitless. In the perils of the last days every mental and physical power and every God-given talent of mind must be cultivated as the Lord's garden and used in right relation to each other so as to make the church a perfect whole building that represents the wisdom and character of God and forms character after the divine similitude.
The verse means there is to be no schism in the body but harmonious united action with the same care one for another, part working in harmony with part in love and unity and Christian fellowship, as branches of the living vine, brothers and sisters of one family, members of one body, branches of one root. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, so spiritual peace and harmony under the Holy Spirit's influence bring health to the church just as harmonious action of all parts promotes physical health, with efficiency to stewardship and sacred duties for the strengthening and establishment of the church. That oneness in Christ through belief of the truth, kept only by those united by truth in Jesus Christ, gives a convincing testimony to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners and exhibits God's miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. This unity is preserved by pure love not as impulse or spasmodic feeling but as a divine principle and permanent power drawn fresh from the love flowing from the heart of God, by which hearts quickened and sustained by the Holy Spirit are bound heart to heart to love God supremely and one another truly, sincerely, unaffectedly and fervently with pure hearts, with friendship true and untainted without partiality and without hypocrisy, with mutual responsibility and natural obligations, with sanctified talents exercised for benefit rather than perverted to hurt, and with truthful speech because all are members one of another. With the Lord as center every part contributes without selfishness or rivalry though different in individuality and disposition, and their actions produce harmony.
God ordained simple organization and church order for the unity and perfection of the church, so that no church, conference, or individual is to separate from conference organization to display supposed efficiency, because every church and every conference is under His plan of reciprocal dependence. The sacred chain of dependence that binds men together is not slavery, and to treat it as such and break it lets the enemy bring discord and separation that robs families of happiness and the church of usefulness and hinders reformation, while the verse forbids any confederacy that binds about the work or places all means and all power in one man's hands, for that plan is of man and not of God. A man holding office is to stand as leader, adviser, counselor and helper in carrying burdens and leader in thanksgiving, not to control and rule fellow laborers nor to order and command the Lord's workers, but to treat those laboring with him with the same consideration he would wish as a helper, with no kingly authority from position and learning meekness from Christ, for all are brethren and the Lord is over His heritage. Members have the same care for one another by building one another up in the most holy faith and seeking the Holy Spirit so light shines in clear rays, with different lines of missionary work combining to make a great whole, soldiers on earth standing united with the army of heaven, those blessed with advantages supplying those in destitute regions, and strength added by talent of means, speech, and genius used to advance the work as a whole, while evil thinking and evil speaking that cause disunion violate the verse. A member connected to the body only in name without drawing life from Christ is like a paralyzed member whose fitful movements are not lasting activity or spiritual growth, for a living member must receive life from Christ and show enduring growth and fruit. The church itself is the main body and the Institute is an arm or branch of that body, so that when the church stands in the counsel of God in holiness and enjoys His favor and the light of His countenance it sends a vitalizing healthful current to that arm and diffuses light and controls its errors, but when the church is sickly and in moral darkness and spiritual blindness leading away from God it circulates a sickly deathly influence through the living body until disease is apparent everywhere and its own darkness creates moral darkness and spiritual death in the Institute. Workers throughout the printing office are members of one body in which the Spirit of Christ must circulate as blood circulates, requiring true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and crucifixion of self, and when this takes place the day of Pentecost fully comes to them in true repentance and conversion with Christ and heavenly angels cooperating in daily labors.
If one errs and disagreement arises it must be settled at once between those involved by praying and conversing together instead of recrimination, breaking down barriers until heart is cemented to heart and self-will and selfishness die, with all in church capacity sharing the ministry of reconciliation beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God, each acting the part God appointed at his post, and with no counter-influence in the church. There is to be no schism, no party strife, no shade of strife among believers, and especially among Seventh-day Adventists, with Christ as the great Center uniting all in one, who died that men might be made one with Him and with each other. Through the uplifted Saviour believers are made necessary to one another and to God, as individual parts of a mighty whole of the human family bound to God by love and laid under obligation to work for fellow men, where no soul can be made independent, the well-being of each is the happiness of the whole, and no partition walls are to be built between man and man. In Christ believers are pledged to shun any course causing schism, questions at issue in the world are not to be the theme of conversation, and Christ trains His subjects to imitate His meekness and lowliness, goodness, patience, and love, consecrating heart and hand to His service as channels of God's love to bless others, which youth especially are to understand in meekness and love. Each part must work in harmony with the other parts and all parts must be in accord with the whole.
Ministers must stand shoulder to shoulder and step by step keep rank and file in perfect order, serving God with power and purpose by dwelling on the large treasures of subjects in God's storehouse and feeding the flock with the simplest and most essential truths. They are forbidden to regard matters in an intense light, gathering up little points of seeming difference and staking the soul upon their verity, placing differences in the strongest light by extravagant ideas and fruitful imagination, leading minds to miscalculate and carry things too strongly, confusing minds and burying essential truth by strong expressions, so that labor does more harm than good and becomes a failure. Inexperienced medical students reflect the verse by working humbly with experienced physicians, accepting their guidance and correction rather than acting separately and divided.