And truly, I do not expect you to agree with me 100%. God did not create "cookie cutter" Christians.
To me, He is much like the master artist making a living masterpiece to reveal Himself to us. Our differences add beauty, depth, contrast. What could He say if He mixed all the colors into one on His palette?
I believe this was the message underscoring Christ selecting twelve very different apostles. Peter was not like John who was not like Thomas and so on. It is also the message in Revelation 2 and 3, the churches were different, the assemblies of believers faced different problems, had different strengths, different weaknesses, different goals.
Altogether, it is beautiful and speaks to me in ways I cannot express in words alone!
I 110% agree with your whole post and am again humbled and blessed by your wisdom and kind words.
LUB
So, we have to work toward unity (i.e. removing division), but in a way that retains the beauty of our individuality and uniqueness.
And I don't think we can achieve unity without agreeing about authority. The key to unity is the issue of authority. As long as we are divided on authority, we cannot be "perfected in unity" as Christ prays in John 17. St. Paul also says this in 1 Cor 1:10-13, when he rebukes the Corinthians for not being in agreement concerning Church leadership. Some were saying, "I follow Paul', and others, "I follow Apollo", and others, "I follow Cephas", I others, "I follow Christ". Paul sees this disagreement concerning Church leadership, and responds by saying "Is Christ divided?" So Paul sees disagreement about leadership as an unacceptable division in the body of Christ.
-A8