No uniformity required

Psalm 133 - ¹ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! ² It is like the precious ointment poured on the head, that ran down on the beard, even the beard of Aaron [the first high priest], that came down upon the collar and skirts of his garments [consecrating the whole body]. ³ It is like the dew of [lofty] Mount Hermon and the dew that comes on the hills of Zion; for there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life forevermore [upon the high and the lowly]. (AMP, italics mine)

There is so much talk in Ministry about Unity and it's sometimes misused...in my opinion

 

Let's start by looking at the meaning of both words:

• Uniformity is the state of being the same i.e. sameness
• Unity is the state of agreement or harmony i.e. oneness

I am a visual person and like how the picture/mathematical formula on the right puts it.

If you take one "I" and the "Form" that boxes people in out of the word "Uniformity", you get "Unity."

Unity for me is about minimizing yourself (i.e. take 1 "I" out), recognizing, celebrating and utilizing our differences versus wanting to fit people into a mould. When this is done with a common purpose in mind, we always have a better outcome.

Put differently, when we focus on being the same as every other person or church, we're planting seeds of competition because in wanting to be like others, you inadvertently start seeking opportunities to be a "better version" of the same.

 

When there is a desire for unity, the focus is on how we can all be better by complementing each other so that we are a complete whole versus competing against each other.

Each one of us has unique gifts and abilities...that can make the whole better when we do our part versus try to be like another part. Paul puts it so well in 

Ephesians 4:16 -  He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (NLT, italics mine)

Can you imagine if you whole body decided to be only one part and have only one function? If this were to ever happen, the result is that that body will be ineffective and useless.

Jesus is very clear that wants His Body (the church) to be effective and useful to the world. In other words, He wants - actually demands - our unity not uniformity! 

Reference:

1 Corinthians 12: 12 - 27 - ¹² For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). ¹³ For by [means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and by baptism united together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body? ¹⁶ If the ear should say, Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where [would be the sense of] hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where [would be the sense of] smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation. ¹⁹ But if [the whole] were all a single organ, where would the body be? ²⁰ And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body. ²¹ And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. ²² But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak. ²³ And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum), ²⁴ Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance], ²⁵ So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it. ²⁷ Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function]. (AMPC, italics mine)