I have had people ask what we mean by " strengthen and unify the body of Christ. " This is a great question. Not everyone has the same definition of strength, unity, or the body of Christ. This is an idea of what I mean by strength.

Strength can be considered as the pressure one can exert or withstand. Where we are exerting pressure and what pressure is withstood is important. I would contend that the Church having the ability to move/influence (exert pressure) on a society's spheres of influence, such as government, education, business, and media, is good. I would hope we, as the body of Christ, are very influential in these areas. Still, even with great influence in these areas, we can be incredibly weak in what matters most. In fact, in order to have power or align ourselves with power in government, education, business, and entertainment, we can be tempted to weaken the one area that is a true measure of the Church's strength: Our ability to make disciples of Jesus. Even in arenas where the church has virtually no influence in government, education, media, and other areas, it can thrive. Oddly enough, historically, the church thrives where it exerts little pressure on the government but is being persecuted (withstanding pressure). Unfortunately, in America, we will align ourselves with members of the government that make Christianity more comfortable. While it is not bad to have comfort or political freedoms, they should never come at the expense of our ability to make disciples. If the idea of Paul saying, "To Democrats, I became a Democrat, and to Republicans, I became Republican," makes you cringe and want to ream me, then you know how people would have felt about Paul saying he became a Jew to Jews and a gentile to gentiles (1 Cor 9:20 - 23). You, like those people who would have wanted Paul killed, are very unlikely to lovingly minister to half the US population as equals, much less as someone you count "more significant than yourselves" (Phil 2:3).

In the end, we must reflect on what matters most. What is the true measure of success and strength of the body? Again, if we are strongest in all things except going and making disciples in the image of Christ, we fail horribly. On the other hand, if we are counted: last, sentenced to death, a spectacle, fools, weak, in disrepute, hungry, thirsty, poor, homeless, reviled, persecuted, slandered, the scum of the world, and the refuse of all things ( 1 Cor 4:11-13), but we are making better disciples (not just more professing Christians), then we win. Then, we are a strong church. Our strength is measured by how well we disciple people into Christ's image.