A Branch Church of Christ, Scientist, should be the most harmonious group on earth, for its membership is comprised of those who acknowledge the Principle of the universe to be divine Love. In Christ, the divine idea of sonship, all men are seen to have the same Father, all are knit together in one harmonious expression of Love. The mission of the church is to bring this spiritual fact to light. Paul used the human body as an illustration of the church, the different parts of the body representing the individual members. He said (I Cor. 12: 12), "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." And in the same chapter he said (verse 27), "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
Any church member who is spiritually awake to the profound mission of the Church of Christ, Scientist, is steadfast in his rejection of error's sometimes urgent claim that the church is not bringing the harmonious relationship of God and man to light. Such a member knows the subtlety of evil, and he refuses to be drawn into personal intensities, which, if they were not avoided, would make a church membership appear to be less than a brotherhood. He knows that emotional intensity evidences nothing more than spiritual immaturity, and he maintains his vision of harmony and the universal family of God.
Spiritual maturity in a church always comes from the membership's understanding of the allness and goodness of God. The subsequent realization that whatever is not good is an intrusive suggestion— something to be disbelieved, denied, rejected—is inevitable. In the train of such maturity comes the ability of the main body of members to remain patient and loving while the less developed member learns to grow up in his understanding of both God and man. Spiritual maturity is always the greatest need of a church as it presses toward perfection.
