Rainbows of Color

A favorite Christian idiom, is the idea that as Christians we are to be molded into the image of Christ. Until recently I thought this meant that as each individual became more spiritually mature, we would look ever more like Christ, and thus like each other.

However, we are told as young children that we are physically unique. Different than any other man, woman, or child on earth. That there is no single cell of us that is the same as any single cell of another. But perhaps the same is true of us in a spiritual sense. It seems that a God who designed us to be so completely unique in our physical bodies, would in the same way mold our spiritual nature as well. Making us, in our entirety, uniquely unique. Not simply different, but COMPLETELY different than anyone else.

This uniqueness would cause each individual to view the world, and God from a different perspective. If this is the case, when we strive to be molded into the image of His son, because of our unique spiritual nature we will not all look the same. We may all be 'like' Christ, but this Christ-likeness will take a different shape in each individual. It will be like seeing light through a prism; the colors of the rainbow. Jesus in every shape, size, and color. No two the same, and yet all perfectly as God desires them to be.

How true this idea rings with Christianity. That we are all members of One body, but that we all function as different parts. Gifted with unique abilities, personalities, and understandings of God - giving us something that only we can bring to the body of Christ. To the point that even in heaven we will add something to the kingdom that ONLY we have to add. An element that was given only to us.

The implications of this are far-reaching, because if it's true that when I look like Christ, and you look like Christ, it looks a little different. Why would I allow myself to get frustrated with those who don't hold the exact same theology as I do. That is the equivalent of saying, 'I wish all the colors of the rainbow were red.' When in fact, God is not simply okay with people viewing Him differently, He CREATED them that way. He desires each person's unique perspective and lifestyle.

God truly is great to receive glory from such a vast array of colors.