In these post-election days, it seems to me that, especially with the polarization in our country even among those calling on the name of the Lord, we need to be reminded of the fact that, as Christians, we all have just one Lord. 

Some people may look to the law as their god.

Some people may focus on liberty, particularly their own personal liberty to do as they wish.

For some, their god is fame and fortune, amassing financial wealth.  For others, their family is their god.  All these gods, and many more, have been around in various personas for centuries, yea millennia.

But for the Christian, there is one God, and only One.

Paul addresses this when he writes in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6:

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth–as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”– yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

 

 

He is one Lord who is God Almighty, the triune Godhead in three persons, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul states:

There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism – one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 

For those who belong to Jesus Christ, He is the Lord of each one of us.  There is one Body of Christ, and each person naming the name of Christ as Savior is part of that same Body.  While we may have various forms of worship, of baptism, of missions, there is one Spirit dwells within each Christian, and each Christian has that same Spirit.

I don’t think unity in Christ means that we lose our individuality or that we must be clones of each other.  If we think of the body analogy that Paul often uses, the thumb is not the same as the knee, and the eyes are not the same as the ears, yet it all is one body. 

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. …  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. … If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 20, 26-27.

 

So, the Body of Christ is composed of very different persons, of various ethnicity, and divergent life experiences but we are united into the Body of Christ. 

Now, if you know anything about me, you will know that I don’t like confrontation, violence or argument (not exactly the temperament you would expect in an attorney, but the Lord facilitated that career!).  I don’t do movies with violence to people or explosions coming out of the blue, even if they are award winning productions.  I just would rather not watch that kind of thing.

But, give me talking animals, animation, or musicals, I’m all in!  For example, the movie Babe, or The Incredibles, or Shrek, or Ice Age, or Sound of Music, those are high in my repertoire.  

When we became grandparents, we wanted to have something that taught Christian values in a unique way, and we heard about VeggieTales.  So, we looked at them and before long we were VeggieTale aficionados! 

One of the songs that the creators of VeggieTales wrote for the album entitled “Oh Veggie, Where Art Thou?” in which the characters are broadcasting Grandpa Bob’s Old Time Radio Show, is a song entitled “One Lord”.  According to the story line, a missionary comes to tell the VeggieTale characters, and their radio audience, of his life on the mission field, and in so doing he sings this song.  The studio audience participates in the song as it provides an hilarious litany of Protestant Denominations in which names are combined in a mixed up form, all in an attempt to illustrate that while we are many, we really are just One in Christ.

 

I pray that you will enjoy hearing this song and that its message will encourage all of us to come together as one in the Body of Christ.  We don’t need to lose our identity, but we need to keep our focus so that the world will see One Lord in ministry to those around us.

 

Father, help each of us to be your hands and feet as we minister to others in these days of unrest and fear.  Help us to come together in unity as we serve as the Body of Christ in this world.  Help us to honor our differences and unique perspectives even as we unite in love through the one Spirit that indwells each of your children.  Bless us as we serve in your name, through the power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.