PURPOSE TO BE A STRIFE BUSTER!!

I hate strife, for it carries a package of uninvited guests when you welcome it into your life and/or home. It's like letting into your clean home, a flea ravaged mongrel, who is not willing to be tamed. only these fleas are deadly if they are given time to take root and infest your home/life. Nasty thought, I know, but that, dear friend in Christ, is how we must view strife in the Body of Christ. And...anytime you give thought, voice or anxiety to this strife, you feed the fleas!!

I like this article by Michael Iannucci, from the Detroit Christian Spirituality Examiner dated October 30, 2009. I think it gets across how God wants the Body of Christ to flow; without schism or division:

Homeostasis in the Body of Christ
October 30, 3:30 PM Detroit Christian Spirituality Examiner Michael Iannucci

There are comparisons in the Bible of parts of the Church to parts of the human body. Just as the human body needs all of its parts to function in harmony to maintain homeostasis, so does the church need all of its parts to function in harmony to maintain balance, the church's homeostasis. Allow me to explain what homeostasis is. Homeostasis, in laymen's terms, is a perfect state of balance within the body. The point where body temperature is at an ideal 98.6º F, pH levels are within tolerances, blood oxygen is high, and blood pressure is at an acceptable rate. God designed the body to work within specific guidelines. When the body goes outside of those guidelines, sickness or death can result. So it is within the Body of Christ.
God designed each and every one of us in a specific position within the Body of Christ. When we wander away from our position in the Body, we disrupt the balance, or homeostasis, of the Body of Christ. This is all outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. The Bible clearly states, in verse 13, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one Body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." If we are all one Body, then indeed all parts should function as the Body. All too often though, we wander off trying to be the lone hand or the lone foot. We take offense in our church, we pull up our roots and leave; or we refuse to cooperate and submit to the authority of our church leaders. This causes strife and division within the Body of Christ. Verse 18 says, "But in fact God has arranged the parts in the Body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." If He has arranged us in the Body as He wants us, who are we to choose and affect our own will into the situation. If there is strife or division or argument within the Body, it is up to us to bring peaceful resolution in a Christ-like manner. "The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." (1Corinthians 12:21-26) God is saying to the church, do not be divided, you all need each other. You are set in place by Me to glorify Me. You as a Body cannot bring glory and honor to the Lord if you are scattered and torn apart.
Saints, we need to pull together in these end times. Jesus died on the Cross that we might be forgiven our sins. And He rose from the grave to prove that death was overcome. We possess the power to overcome, to overcome division, strife, disloyalty, unforgiveness, and mistrust. We must take hold of this power, given to us by the Holy Spirit, and break the cycle of division. We must pull together as one Body, in homeostasis, with perfect balance, to glorify our Creator and win souls to His Kingdom. Until next time, God bless to all.