{"id":25535,"date":"2020-07-22T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mintools.com\/blog\/?p=25535"},"modified":"2025-11-19T09:23:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T14:23:02","slug":"cookie-cutter-approaches-minimize-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mintools.com\/blog\/cookie-cutter-approaches-minimize-unity.htm","title":{"rendered":"Cookie Cutter Approaches Minimize Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Diversity<\/p>\n

When baking cookies we may want them to all look similar, of the same size and shape, and so we use a cookie cutter.<\/p>\n

But, when it comes to people, churches, and ministries, they aren’t all the same, nor should we expect everyone to conform.<\/p>\n

Why Cookie Cutter Approaches Tend to Minimize Unity Rather than Maximize It<\/h2>\n

God created people in His image, our commonality, but from the beginning, made them different from one another. God instituted the Church with two groups so different from one another<\/a> that there was a “wall of hostility” between them (Eph. 2:14-22).<\/span> Yet, in Christ they became one.<\/p>\n

These commonalities are what
\nmakes unity out of diversity possible.<\/p>\n

When we expect everyone to conform and look the same, using a cookie-cutter approach, we diminish the value our differences can bring to the Body. We begin to fight against God’s design. Any time we step outside of God’s intent, we lessen our potential for arriving at all the good He intends for us.<\/p>\n

In allowing for diversity, rather than trying to put everyone into the same mold, we are not minimizing our unity but rather maximizing it. Just as all the varying parts of our human body are needed in order to best function as a unit, so in Christ, we become better and grow when we embrace and benefit from our differences.<\/p>\n

From him (Christ) the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:16)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice how this verse teaches that the Body grows as each part does “its” work. The verse doesn’t say “the” work. We can be unified in the Lord without using a cookie-cutter approach when we all come under the umbrella of HIS purposes, design, and mission<\/a>. But, within those parameters, we have much room for individuality of people, unique ministries, and churches that look different from one another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When baking cookies we may want them to all look similar, of the same size and shape, and so we use a cookie cutter. But, when it comes to people, churches, and ministries, they aren\u2019t all the same, nor should we expect everyone to conform.<\/p>\n

Why Cookie Cutter Approaches Tend to Minimize Unity Rather than Maximize It . . . Continue reading Cookie Cutter Approaches Minimize Unity<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc-church-life"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t