Different, but One in Christ ✝️
Here’s the message I shared at 🇵🇬Independence Lotu on Sunday 6th Sept 2026:
I would like to sincerely thank Pastors Nigel, Johnny, Bill and Aunty Liz for giving me the opportunity to share the Word of God with you today.
I don’t take this opportunity lightly, and I certainly don’t take it for granted. I truly believe that everything under the sun happens for a God-ordained purpose, and I believe it is by His grace that we are here today.
So, as I stand before you, I pray that God will use me as His vessel—not to speak my own words, but to share what He wants each of us to hear.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, May the words of my mouth, the thoughts and meditations of our hearts, and our listening ears be pleasing and acceptable to You and You alone, Lord.
Take away anything that is not of You, and let Your Word speak directly to our hearts. Open our hearts to receive, our minds to understand, and our lives to respond to what You are saying to us today.
May all that is said and done bring glory and honour to Your name.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Bible reading đź“–
1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV
[12] Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
Romans 12:12-13 NIV
[12] Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. [13] Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Reflections 🙌
Good morning, everyone.
Today I want to share a simple message, summed up in 3 words:
Unity through diversity.
Or, as the subtheme says:
We are all different, but through Christ, we are ONE in God’s family.
Our two readings today beautifully read by Ali and Lindsay, thank you —1 Corinthians 12 verse 12 and Romans 12 verses 9 to 21—give us a beautiful picture of what that looks like.
When we talk about diversity, we’re talking about the many different people, cultures, languages, traditions, gifts and experiences that make up a community, a village or a country.
And if there is one country that truly demonstrates diversity, it is our very own Papua New Guinea.
PNG is incredibly rich in culture, traditions, languages, flora, fauna and people. We have more than 800 languages and thousands of different cultural groups and communities. Our diversity is what makes us unique.
But we also know that our differences can sometimes become the things that separate us. From regions and provinces, to tribes, villages and even families—we have all seen how differences can sometimes lead to division and conflict.
So today, I want us to look at our diversity differently.
What if our diversity is not a problem to overcome, but a gift to embrace?
What if the very things that make us different can actually help make us stronger?
Paul gives us this beautiful picture in 1 Corinthians 12. He says:
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”
Think about our own bodies.
We have eyes, ears, hands, feet, a mouth and a heart, just to name a few. They are all different.
The eye cannot do what the ear does. The hand cannot do what the foot does. But they don’t compete with each other. They work together because they belong to the same body. And Paul says:
“So it is with Christ.”
That’s the picture of God’s family. We don’t all look the same. We don’t come from the same place. We don’t speak the same language. We don’t have the same culture, traditions or growing up experiences. But we belong to the same body.
Our differences don’t make one person more valuable than another. In Christ, we are one.
And this is where I want us to think about our own ancestors. Before Google. Before YouTube. Before the internet. Before textbooks and written instructions.
How did our ancestors know how to do the things they did? How did they build those large sea-voyaging canoes, like the lagatoi? How did they build houses? How did they know when to plant and when to harvest? How did they navigate the sea, the rivers and the land (eg to & from Central to Gulf provinces on the lagatois).
The answer is something very important:
They didn’t ALL know everything.
Within families and communities, there were people who had particular skills and knowledge.
There were skilled canoe builders. People who knew how to build houses. Gardeners who understood the land, soil and seasons. People who understood the sea and navigation. People who were skilled in carving, weaving, fishing and hunting. And there were storytellers, singers, dancers and elders who carried cultural knowledge.
They were specialists.
But here’s the important part:
They didn’t keep their knowledge to themselves.
They shared it.
One person’s skill became another person’s strength.
There was no YouTube “How-To” video. No internet or Google search. Much of their knowledge was passed from one generation to another through:
Observation.
Participation.
Stories.
Song.
Dance.
Art.
Teaching.
A child watched an elder. A young person worked alongside someone with experience. Skills were demonstrated, practised and passed on. And isn’t it amazing that even today, you can hear a song from your childhood or see a particular dance—and suddenly, something comes back to you?
We remember the knowledge that was stored within us. And that is one of the beautiful things about our cultures. Our ancestors understood something that we often forget today:
We don’t have to know everything ourselves. We need each other.
The canoe builder needed the person who understood the tree or timber. The navigator needed the knowledge of the sea. The community needed the gardener. The younger generation needed the elders.
And that is a wonderful picture of what Paul is teaching us about the body of Christ.
The hand is not the eye. The eye is not the foot. The ear is not the mouth. Each part has a different function. It’s not a weakness, rather that’s the original design by God 🙏
Imagine if every part of the body was a hand. We wouldn’t be able to see. Or if everything was an eye. We wouldn’t walk. The strength of the body comes from its different parts working together.
And the same applies to us.
You have gifts that I don’t have.
I have gifts that you don’t have.
Someone can sing.
Someone can preach.
Someone can teach.
Someone can organise.
Someone can build.
Someone can encourage.
Someone can pray.
Someone can serve quietly behind the scenes.
Different gifts—but one body. Our diversity doesn’t make us less. It gives us something to contribute.
And Romans 12 takes this one step further. Paul doesn’t simply tell us that we are one. He tells us how to live as one. He says:
Love must be sincere.
Honour one another.
Be faithful in prayer.
Be patient in difficulty.
Rejoice with those who rejoice.
Mourn with those who mourn.
And then Paul gives us a very challenging instruction: Don’t repay evil with evil. Instead:
“Overcome evil with good.”
That’s what unity looks like in practice. It isn’t pretending we have no differences. Unity isn’t saying we must all become the same.
Unity is choosing to love one another even when we are different. It is choosing respect over resentment. Relationship over division. Understanding over judgement. Grace over revenge.
So let me ask a question. Why did God make us different? Why one person is Papuan? Another Highlander? Another Momase Another from the New Guinea Islands? Why so many languages, cultures, traditions etc? Did God make a mistake?
I don’t believe so, God doesn’t make mistakes. Our diversity is part of His original design.
Look at creation.
There are thousands of different flowers, birds, fish, trees. God could have made everything the same—but He didn’t.
God is creative.
So the question isn’t:
“Why are we so different?”
Rather, the better question is:
“How can we let God use our differences to serve one another?”
The choice is ours: we can let our differences become walls. Or we can become bridges, inspite of the differences. We can choose:
Respect over resentment.
Relationship over division.
Understanding over judgement.
Grace over revenge.
We don’t have to become the same to become one. Think again about the canoe builders. The different specialists didn’t need to become experts in everything. They brought what they knew. Someone contributed one skill. Someone else contributed another. And together, they created something greater than what any one person could accomplish alone.
That’s unity through diversity. And that’s what the body of Christ should look like.
This brings us to our responsibility. What was entrusted to us should not end with us.
If you know your language—
teach it.
If you know the stories—
share them.
If you know the songs and dances—
pass them on.
If you have a skill—
teach someone else.
If our elders carry knowledge—
let us listen to them.
And if we are the younger generation—
let us be willing to learn.
We are a bridge between generations. And this is important because preserving culture is not simply about looking backwards.
It is about giving the next generation something to carry forward.
What we preserve today can strengthen tomorrow.
Therefore, wherever we find ourselves—PNG, Australia, New Zealand, across the pond in America, even on the moon!
—we remain connected by our heritage.
Our location may change.
Our cultures may differ.
Our languages may vary.
But there is something greater that unites us.
Jesus Christ.
Different cultures. Different gifts.
Different stories. But: One body! One family! One Lord!
Our diversity can either divide us—or it can become the glue that brings us together.
The choice is ours.
So I want to leave you with one question this morning:
What if the very thing that makes us different is also the thing God wants to use to bring us together?
Think about that.
Your language is a gift.
Your culture is a gift.
Your experience is a gift.
The skill you carry is a gift.
The knowledge passed down to you is a gift.
And God didn’t give those gifts to us simply for ourselves. He gave them so that we could share them with one another. Just as our ancestors shared their skills to build canoes, houses and communities — we are called to share what God has given us to build our village, community or country 🇵🇬 and also His Kingdom.
God bless Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬
Prayer 🙏
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for creating us wonderfully and uniquely.
Thank You for our different cultures, languages, traditions, experiences and gifts.
Help us to see our differences through Your eyes—not as reasons for division, but as opportunities to learn, serve and bless one another.
Give us humility to learn from those who came before us.
Give us generosity to share what You have entrusted to us.
Help us preserve what is valuable and pass it faithfully to the next generation.
Where there is division, help us build bridges.
Where there is conflict, help us pursue peace.
Where there is hurt, help us choose grace.
And remind us that although we are many different parts, we are one body in Christ.
May our diversity become our strength, our unity become our testimony, and our lives bring glory to You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
To God be the glory always 🙏
Idau Hahine 