“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

It is written in Eph 2:10 that each one of us is God’s handiwork. Its Chinese translation is “God’s masterpiece”, which has a powerful artistic significance. Since we are His artistic creation, each one of us is one of a kind in the world. In other words, God not only creates each of us according to His image, He also endows each of us with distinctive attributes which makes the world both exciting and fun.

Similar distinctiveness can be found in God’s churches in the world. So what makes Chinese Grace (CG) Bible Church unique? I would argue that we as a church are ‘uniquely diversified’: with three congregations sharing the same history yet each congregation has her own experience in various ministries. This brings us to a term mentioned regularly in CG: unity. The pursuit of unity is a beautiful thing and a command. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Eph 4:3) Yet this is a term mentioned all too often and even misunderstood.  Surely we may strive for unity by having all three congregations doing the same thing at the same time, but does this mean unity? The Bible has a beautiful description of a true Biblical unity in Acts 13:1-3.

“Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. ”  (Acts 13:1-3)

In the past when I read this passage, I thought it is simply a passage talking about Paul and Barnabas sent by the church at Antioch for their first mission trip.  However, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and made me realize this passage is also talking about the unity in the Holy Spirit. There were five characters (or church leaders) mentioned in this passage: Barnabas was a Jew born in Cyprus; Simeon was a Jew with dark skin and from North Africa; Lucius is a Greek from a place in current Libya; Manaen had some royal ties and background; and Paul was a Jewish fundamentalist – a Pharisee. These five people cannot be more different in their background, yet they all submit themselves to the Holy Spirit and respect each other’s distinctiveness. This is what true Biblical unity is all about.

In CG, we often consider language as an obstacle in the pursuit of unity. Hence we accommodate all-church meetings with translation hoping that this leads to unity. Accommodating for people’s need is a must in the pursuit of unity, but language is merely one of many facets characterizing the road to unity. Other facets include culture, upbringing, or our education background. These different facets deeply affect how we think, respond, and handle things. I teach Economics at UC Davis and I often ask students one question: “Do you consider peanut butter and jelly as complements (things you eat together) or substitutes (you only eat one at a time, never together)?” As it turns out, most American students answered complements and most international students answered substitutes. The question is straightforward enough so the language does not pose as a barrier to comprehension, but the students’ background and upbringing make them choose differently.

We need to consider the cultural distinctiveness when we engage ourselves in various ministries. For instances, how we plan adult Sunday school, brothers’ ministry, or raise fund for short term missions. Perfect unity may be a goal that we will always strive for yet constantly fall short, but being humble, willing to listen, and submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit are things we all need to learn. With the help of the Lord, may CG be transformed to a church like the Church of Antioch, filled with godly, humble, understanding brothers and sisters, and filled with God’s glorious and creative uniqueness.