I have friends who don’t mind laughing at one another brutally once they have a reason to. In fact, even without a reason, friends like Tony, Jay, and Bah will create multiple reasons and then laugh at you. Friends who have been around long enough, know the one trick to survive these attacks is to also laugh at yourself and never get mad – getting mad just makes it worse for you. 

If there was ever a reason for them to laugh at me, it was definitely the car I had before my current Kia Sportage – “Rotteni” they called it. Even the ones who I picked up and gave a lift – made fun of the car whilst they were in it. Crazy.

I remember dropping off some friends with “rotteni” and getting stuck on a muddy road. Only very few things are more annoying than an old car stressing you. We spent hours trying to get out of the mud. Somehow, we all tried to do what was in our heads rather than work around one idea collectively. We each pushed from different angles; one at the back, one at the side, one just yelling instructions. The car didn’t budge. Interestingly, the moment we united around one idea, lined up behind one side of the car and pushed together, that stubborn car rolled forward – out of the mud. We were dirty. We wasted time. And the truth is, all of this could be avoided.

In hindsight, that car is just like the Body of Christ. And too often, we’ve been doing exactly what my friends and I did at first; working solo, shouting from our corners, and pulling in different directions. Some of us push in prayer. Others push through missions. Some just push opinions. Meanwhile, the Church remains stuck.

Not because the gospel isn’t powerful, but because we’re trying to function as a Body while amputating our own parts.

We live in a world already fractured by race, tribe, politics, and personal interests. And sadly, the Church isn’t exempt. We’ve become too comfortable dividing ourselves over worship styles, theology, routines, or tradition. Episcopal. Pentecostal. Baptist. Catholic. Methodist. Apostolic. Non-denominational. All claiming Jesus, yet walking like strangers. And the tragedy? We do it in the name of “truth,” not realizing that truth without love becomes a weapon, and a body can’t survive if it keeps attacking itself.

But Jesus saw this coming. That’s why before the cross, He prayed, not for miracles, not for fame, but for unity.

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”
- John 17:20 21 (NIV)

His desire wasn’t uniformity, He wasn’t asking us to all preach the same, pray the same or dress the same. He was asking for oneness of heart, mission, and Spirit. That’s what the early Church had. Different people, different cultures, different languages, but one Spirit. And when they came together in Acts 2, in one place and one accord, power fell.

So maybe the real reason we’re not seeing that power today is because we’re too busy amputating anyone who doesn’t look like our version of “Church.” Truth is, you can’t be the hand and cut off the eye. You can’t be the foot and ignore the heart. If we keep dividing ourselves, we won’t just be ineffective, we’ll be spiritually paralyzed.

The enemy’s strategy has always been to divide and conquer. But God’s design was always a Body, many parts, one purpose.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts… so it is with Christ.”
– 1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV)

As you read this, think about how you treat others who love Jesus or worship differently than you.  Let’s do some spiritual surgery, not to remove each other, but to reconnect.

Let’s stop cutting off parts of the Body over ego, fear, or pride. Let’s choose Jesus over style. Unity over opinions. Family over factions. Jesus Christ over Everything.

Because when the Body stops amputating itself, and starts moving together, hell can’t stop what happens next.