Twins

From: Ben Kelley
Subject: Twins

There was a comedy movie several years ago, starring Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwartzenegger, which depicted these two very disparate people as twins. The way they were portrayed, they couldn't have been more "un-alike," instead of having the normal commonalties you would expect with two people who were created side by side in their mother's womb. It made a funny movie. Through this movie, we were reminded that intimately related people may not necessarily look, act, or think like each other. I thought of this as I read the following verse again. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all." (1 Corinthians 12:3-6 (NKJV)

We, as believers, often act as if we think all Christians should be just alike. If someone prays differently from us, we think they must not be saved. If someone enters our church dressed differently, we feel as if we have been invaded by pagans. If a person's vocabulary sounds cruder than what we're used to, why, we just know they must be lost. I'm not saying you can never tell a person's spiritual condition by what you see and hear, but I am saying we rely on those senses far too often. Just because a person is different from us does not mean they are not our brother or sister in the family of God. Think about what our verse from 1 Corinthians tells us; God displays Himself through Christians by differing gifts, ministries, and activities; and yet HE remains the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our particular method of presenting the Gospel may be quiet and gentle, but someone else may present the same message loudly and forcefully. Therefore, we repeat that God spoke through the "still, small voice," because that surely proves our method is correct and theirs is wrong. We leave out the times God spoke in a loud, booming voice. We may come from a church background where ministers always had on a coat and tie, so we think that guy wearing shorts and t-shirt as he visits our loved one in the hospital has to be an impostor. I wonder how John, Peter, James, or Paul must have looked, as they witnessed to people after walking many miles under a hot sun on dry, dusty roads.

All I'm trying to get across to you is this, don't discount the spiritual birthright of those "ministries," or "ministers," that are different. Don't avoid fellowship with one who professes to be your brother or sister, just because they don't look and act just like you. Look deeper and listen more closely for the presence of God, for that strange looking and sounding individual just may be your twin. God makes us all different, to fulfill His plan and purpose.