An illustration introduced in a class I was involved with decades ago crossed my mind again recently. It was designed to clarify a concept the presenter called “irreducible complexity” – and it began when he reached in his pocket and pulled out a simple, old-fashioned mouse trap. Then he proceeded to point out each of the little rodent exterminator’s five components. His point was that removing any one of those would render the device totally ineffective and functionally worthless. In other words, the complexity of the mousetrap’s design could not be reduced any further. It was therefore, “irreducibly complex”. Every piece had to be in its place in order for the mousetrap to work.

Not So Much about the Mousetrap ~
As you might expect, my interest in retrieving that “show-and-tell” moment from the dusty archives of my past has absolutely nothing to do with effectively eliminating household pests. What does interest me is the fact that the principle of irreducible complexity applies to things vastly more important than mousetraps. There are basic ‘core principles’ that enable the Church of Jesus Christ to function effectively – and removing any one of those vital components can disable the entire mechanism. One that comes to mind in particular is being pulled away from us in our country today in more ways than we can count, but there is a way that God has given us to counteract the impact . . .  

The issue I’m referring to is the concept of unity. There are few things of greater importance in God’s plan for us and the world He created than the capacity to function in mutual harmony. God’s vision was, and is, for us to live and work together in cohesive, interactive, interdependent, productive, self-sustaining, and mutually beneficial communities held together by a common bond. The adhesive that God designed to make that bond possible was a shared relationship with Him through faith in His Son. Jesus made that divine objective clear just prior to His betrayal and crucifixion when He said to the Father: 

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (John 17:20–21 NKJV)

Laying the Groundwork ~
Jesus was born into a world divided against itself in more ways than we can imagine – and in that divided, oppositional world, He spent a lifetime gathering people together. He called, prepared, ordained, and commissioned followers from all kinds of backgrounds. Then He molded His diverse assembly into a unified body and launched them into that same violent and divisive world to continue His work. Jesus called them His Church (Matthew 16:18), His ekklēsía – His “called out assembly,” and they later came to be referred to as His Body (I Corinthians 12:12-14). 

This collective Body that Jesus sent to represent Him in the world was expected to function as a ‘body’ – i.e., many different parts blended together into a unified whole with a single identity. For the Church, unity was not just a nice social or relational ideal to talk about. Unity was as important to the Body of Christ as it is to the functioning of a normal human body. Consider just a couple of comments about unity that God sent to the Church through Paul in its earliest years: 

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10 NKJV)

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1–3 NKJV)

The Adversary’s Plan Unveiled ~
The advantages that unity brings have been obvious since the beginning. Solomon expressed it with profound simplicity when he said that “two are better than one,” and noted that three woven together are even stronger (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). It’s not surprising that God’s plan for the world and its people depended on interactive and interconnected  relationships. But as we know all too well, God’s design, and the unity it demanded, was not immune from attack. The adversary showed up intent on wreaking havoc with God’s plan – and his evil strategy was simple and disastrously effective. To disrupt the unity vital to every relationship that God ordained, Satan’s plan was to inject its polar opposite – i.e., division and separation. 

Contemplating the many ways division and separation in our basic relationships are weakening us as individuals and as a nation is tempting, but it’s not our main objective. What we want to know is how to counteract its influence. Thankfully, through his experience with the Church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul gives us a tutorial on handling division. The Corinthian assembly was made up of people whose backgrounds ranged from slaves to aristocrats, from poverty-stricken to wealthy, from educated to illiterate, and from upper class to no class at all – and that was a challenge to unity from the beginning. But Paul’s initial assessment indicates that divisions existed in other areas, as well:  

…It has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions [quarrels, divisions, arguments] among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:11–12 NKJV)

An Ecclesiastical Mess ~
Later in the epistle, Paul addresses divisiveness in their assembly associated with spiritual gifts, how they conducted the Lord’s Supper, and their approach to Christ’s resurrection. To say it simply, instead of being the unified Body of Christ they were called to be, they had become an ineffective, dysfunctional, and argumentative mess. People were drawn aside by personalities, doctrinal issues, social practices, quasi-political ideas, and what constituted appropriate decorum in worship services. And, as we might expect, the seeds of division and separation were producing its usual fruit.

One key ingredient without which unity cannot function is trust. People tend to assess the trustworthiness of others on the basis of things like similar appearances, shared practices, backgrounds, opinions, experiences, and preferences. When those qualities are seen as markedly different, trustworthiness is questioned. When they are seen as oppositional, trust disappears … and a relational transformation begins that results in division and separation. Those two, together, will eventually turn: 

• • • Love into empty pretension and self-serving manipulation
    • Faithfulness into duplicity and deception
    • Optimism and hope into uncertainty, anxiety, and depression
    • Generosity into fearful hoarding
    • Faithfulness into hypocrisy and deception

A Simple, but Effective Response ~
“Irreducible complexity” . . . That concept can apply to the Body of Christ in at least one regard. When trust disappears, suspicion, withdrawal, and isolation take its place, and the assembly becomes dysfunctional. Paul’s antidote for the division going on in Corinth was simple, and it’s something we desperately need to absorb and practice today. His strategy was simply this:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you “except” Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1–2 NKJV)

Paul refused to identify himself by his association with anything or anyone other than the Risen Christ. His unshakable belief, his primary trust, were in Jesus alone. Everything else was secondary. Absolute confidence in the crucified and Risen Christ was the single lens through which every question, group, practice, personality, taste, preference, experience, and political opinion was evaluated. Politics and preferences could never bring that contentious bunch together in Corinth – or anywhere else. Shared trust in Jesus was the one thing that could, did, and still can, unify and empower the Body of Christ. 

Every moment of every day, untold billions seek to fulfill their craving to belong simply by  clicking a button. The sad truth is that, instead, many are finding even more reasons to distrust others. What better time than now, as we approach Easter, to push back against the plague of misplaced trust and division by determining as Paul did, to subject everything to the One who has proven His trustworthiness in ways no one else could. One man’s determination did change everything in Corinth . . . And now, perhaps some amazing changes are waiting for us as well.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the quotes below.  Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .

• • • There are basic, core principles that enable the Church of Jesus Christ to function effectively. Removing any one of those vital components can disable the entire mechanism, but there’s a way God has given us to counteract the impact … @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • God’s vision is for us to live and work together in cohesive, interactive, interdependent, productive, self-sustaining and mutually beneficial communities, held together by the common bond of a shared relationship with Him through faith in His Son. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • God’s design and the unity it demands weren’t immune from attack. The adversary’s evil strategy to wreak havoc was simple, disastrously effective. To disrupt unity vital to every relationship God ordained, he planned to inject division and separation. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • Paul addressed divisiveness associated with spiritual gifts, how they conducted the Lord’s Supper, their approach to Christ’s resurrection. Instead of being the unified Body of Christ they were called to be, they became a dysfunctional, argumentative mess. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • Absolute confidence in the crucified, Risen Christ was the single lens through which every question, group, practice, preference, experience, political opinion was evaluated. Shared trust in Jesus was the one thing that could, did, and does unify and empower the Body of Christ. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)

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