The human body is made up of about 1.8 metres of skin, 600 muscles, about 206 bones, over 2,100 joints, 90,000 km of veins, arteries and capillaries, and 13 billion nerve cells. Every living minute, 4 to 6 litres of blood are pumped through the heart.

Humans have about 25 trillion red blood cells with a diameter of 0.007 mm. Our bodies are controlled by a brain weighing about 1.35 kg, hidden behind our skull. The body is a highly complex, self-contained system that can only function when everything is in perfect harmony and interaction.

Sometimes I think about this and can't stop marvelling. Above all, I can't believe that it's all just a whim of nature, just a coincidence.

But this is about something else. It's about a particular body, an organism. It's about the Church of God.

I once heard a song by a Christian music group that described the church as a body. It asked why, if we are a body, we aren't using our hands to heal, our words to teach, or our feet to walk and accurately show God's love to people.

The answer to these questions is simple: because the church described in the song does not seem to have any cohesion. It does not form a unit.

But how do you achieve unity among Christians in a church?

The Bible emphasises the idea that all people are of equal value. It says that we are all baptised into one body and that it does not matter where we come from or whether we are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, male or female (Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:13). We are all equal before God. Why should it be any different? After all, we are all said to have sinned and come short of the "glory" we should have with God (Romans 3:23). So we are all in the same boat, without 1st class. We all need God's salvation.

So far, so good! You can probably agree with that. But now an honest question: don't you know a person X who annoys you and who – for whatever reason – you don't like? You avoid them and perhaps even devalue them inwardly.

Sad as it is, we humans have this tendency. Sometimes I'm ashamed of it. For example, I walk through the city and see people who I think I am better than. How can I do that? It's wrong. I have to keep telling myself that Jesus loves these people as much as He loves me and that there is no difference in value between us. He helps me to see them with different eyes.

Sadly, this idea of being something better can also occur among Christians and threaten unity. We are in church because Jesus has brought us together as believers. Our job is to tell other people that Jesus died for them. Our unity comes from our triune God who has adopted us as His children. There could hardly be a stronger sign of unity: we belong to Him and are one family. God Himself, through His Spirit, has united us in communion with Him and with our fellow human beings.

So how do we deal with the problem of disunity in the Church? The answer is relatively simple: we have a common purpose that unites us. When we focus on our mission to tell others about Jesus, we turn our focus away from ourselves and towards Jesus. That goal will bring us together.

You may sometimes feel that your church is more like the one in the song, where the body is not united and cannot achieve anything. But we must remember one thing: Jesus Himself is the head that connects all the joints, muscles and bones. You and I can make a difference. If we choose to let Jesus be our head, He will touch our hearts and make us an example in our community. So I want to encourage you that you and I can be the first to stop making distinctions between people. Let us help Jesus to promote unity and work towards our goal of telling people about Him.

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Bible texts for in-depth study:
Psalm 133:1; Matthew 28:19-20; John 17:20-23; Acts 4:23; Romans 2:11; 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 5:16-17; Galatians 3:27-29; Ephesians 2:13-16; 4:3-6, 11-16; Colossians 3:10-15