THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR PARTNERSHIP

There are several Scriptures referring to partnership, for example: Ephesians 4:1 - 6, 11 - 16; 1 Corinthians 12 & 14, etc. In John 17:20 - 23, Jesus prays twice in four verses that His followers may be one, in order that the world may believe and know that God the Father has sent Jesus. Except for the Great Commission itself in Matt. 28, this is one of the strongest statements Jesus made on missions. He hinged the credibility of our message on our oneness in Him. A key passage for us as we investigate how the Bible speaks about unity is 1 Corinthians 12:12 - 27, especially verse 25: "There should be no division in the Body, but its parts should have equal concern for one another." We all know that there is division in the Body, and that different parts often don't have much concern for one another. Yet God tells us that there should be no division! We are the Body of Christ - and we actually need each other if the Body is to work as effectively and efficiently as it should. Sometimes we have a tendency to pull others down - to criticize them. God's desire though is that we should "transform our thinking". That means that rather than pulling others down, we should be building them up! We are members of the same Body - of the same family. And we need to relate to one another in a positive and encouraging way.