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People often ask, “Why are there so many different Christian churches?” Some believe it’s because of pride and jealousy among Christians. Of course, some of that exists, but another reason may be traced to God. God designed the church, the Body Christ, to have variety. Diversity serves to meet various needs of people who gather. The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12, explains the complex nature of the Church. Using the analogy of a human body he says, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” Needless to say, God’s wisdom in arranging churches with variety does not excuse racism or discrimination among God’s people. God has only one Church and everyone committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is a member of it. To discriminate or segregate on the basis of ethnicity, race, or class, denies the church’s unity—the very unity Christ died to create. And within this gathering, there is plenty of room for variety and differences.

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