Lessons from the ant - 2

1 Corinthians 12:12-20 - Finding unity in diversity

The ants displayed a number of characteristics worthy of any scholarship on leadership or goal-setting considerations. But there seems to be one overarching principle that runs seamlessly through all these diverse characteristics – Unity in Diversity.

Isn’t this what the church is supposed to be doing I guess we can learn from the ants as well.

Any student of Entomology will tell you that within the ant’s colony there is a social structure tied very much to the functions within the community. [1]An ant colony is like a factory. Nest mates work together to convert resources (food) into products (more ants). This process is made more efficient through division of labour, where different individuals specialise on different jobs. The queen has the very specific role of laying eggs, which she spends most of her life doing. Worker ants perform other duties, often depending on their age. Younger ants work inside the nest, taking care of the queen and her brood. Older workers go outside to gather food and defend the nest against enemies. Despite her size and royal title, the queen doesn’t boss the workers around. Instead, workers decide which tasks to perform based on personal preferences, interactions with nest mates, and cues from the environment.

In fact Solomon tells us that they have " no commander, no overseer or ruler" to direct or lead them. Yet they work intuitively together, in spite of the different roles and functions. There seems to be a strange sense of unity that thrusts every ant in the colony to work together as a single organism, as one team, as “One Ant Colony”, despite of their differences.

Paul tells in Romans 12:4-5 - For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

God has equipped each individual member with gifts and talents for the building up of the body. The church and its members are one in Christ.
As members of the church, we are called to serve Christ, each other, and the world around us.
The problem in our churches is that everyone wants to be an "Indian Chief". Everyone wants to be a leader. We find it hard to complement one another and we fail to see the ultimate purpose of the church.
When Paul was writing his letter to this church at Corinth, there was a lot of friction, there was a lot of difference and, sadly, they were not handling it very well at all. So Paul wrote to them to try to get them to understand that embracing difference would be the gateway to spiritual life and strength and growth.

Members need to understand:

  1. What is the calling of the church and who are we serving? God or man.
  2. Members need to acknowledge the differences in gifting and talents and learn to complement one another. 
  3. Learn to treat and respect everyone equally
  4. Motive should be love for God and for man and not self-glory
  5. Depend on the Holy Spirit to give us a Spirit of unity
  6. Don't become an instrument of the devil to bring disunity in the church. 


[1] https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/secrets-superorganism

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