When The Church Plays In Tune

My wife and I got married 22 years ago, and our wedding was unforgettable—for all the wrong reasons. The one big request I had for the ceremony was simple: I wanted a string quartet. No piano. No organ. I wanted something elegant, classy, and just a little different.

We booked a great quartet… or so we thought. On the big day, because of a scheduling mix-up, they sent only half their regular players and filled the rest with last-minute substitutes.

As the guests arrived, the music began. The first notes were… shaky. We figured they just needed to warm up. But instead of improving, each piece grew steadily more painful. By the time the wedding march started, the sound coming from that quartet could only be described as a chorus of dying cats. People were stifling laughs—except my mother-in-law, who was on the front row and absolutely loving it. My father-in-law, on the other hand, was crying—not because of the music, but because he was watching his daughter walk down the aisle to marry me.

It was memorable, yes—but not in the way we had hoped.

And sadly, that is often how people outside the church remember us. Not for our love and unity, but for our dissonance and division.

Why was that quartet so bad? They had talent. They had instruments. But they weren’t tuned to the same source. In an orchestra, every instrument must be tuned to the same standard pitch. If each musician tunes to their own preference, chaos follows.

The church is like that. If we tune ourselves to personal preferences, political alignments, or cultural habits, we will inevitably be out of tune with one another. The only way to produce the beautiful harmony God designed is for every member to tune to the same source: Jesus Christ, our cornerstone.

The Cornerstone That Tunes the Whole House

In Ephesians 2:17–22, Paul shows us that Christ is the one who brings perfect unity:“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone…”This is not a unity we manufacture through effort or personality compatibility. It is unity that Christ has already accomplished through His death and resurrection. He has taken Jew and Gentile—two groups with centuries of hostility—and made them one new man in Himself.The key to real unity is not finding middle ground with one another, but finding common ground in Him.

From Enemies to Family

Paul’s imagery shifts from the body (earlier in Ephesians) to the “household of God.” This picture drives home the truth that our relationship with God is not just restored—it is transformed.In Eden, Adam walked with God, but sin expelled him from that place of communion. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s presence dwelt in specific places—the tabernacle in the wilderness, the temple in Jerusalem—always pointing forward to something greater.Then Jesus came, telling the Samaritan woman at the well that worship would no longer be confined to a mountain or a city, but would be in spirit and truth. Through Him, we are no longer strangers and outsiders. We are sons and daughters in the Father’s own household. We have gone from exiled sinners to beloved heirs.

Blueprints and Bedrock

This household, Paul says, is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” They were the first builders of the church, laying down the gospel truth under the Spirit’s inspiration.But the most critical part of the foundation is Christ Himself, the cornerstone. In ancient building practice, the cornerstone set the alignment for the entire structure. Every other stone took its position from it. If the cornerstone was removed, the building would collapse.When Paul calls Christ our cornerstone, he means that everything in the church must be aligned with Him—our teaching, our relationships, our priorities, and our mission. If we align ourselves with anything else, the whole structure will fall into disorder.

Living Stones in a Holy Temple

Paul blends the household and temple imagery: we are a family, but we are also a structure—a “holy temple in the Lord” and “a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”This is not just about individual spirituality. Yes, the Spirit dwells in each believer, but Paul’s focus here is on the corporate temple—the gathered people of God. Each of us is a living stone, joined to Christ and to one another, forming a dwelling place for the living God.That means our unity is not optional. It is essential to who we are. A temple with its stones scattered on the ground is no temple at all.

Taking Care How We Build

Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 3:10–11:“Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”Every action, every word, every relationship in the church is part of the building process. We are either adding stones of unity and holiness or stacking stones of division and disorder.The call is clear: align with the cornerstone. Tune your life to Him. Only then can the church be the symphony God intends—a people so unified in Christ that the world hears the music and knows we are His disciples.

Final Note

The tuning key for the church is Christ. The foundation is Christ. The cornerstone is Christ.If we want unity, we must look to Him.If we want to stop causing division, we must look to Him.If we want the world to hear a beautiful melody instead of a clashing noise, we must tune every heart and life to Him.The God who has made us His household will complete His work. The Spirit will continue shaping us into a holy temple. And one day, the music will be perfect.Until then, let us keep our eyes on the cornerstone and our ears tuned to His pitch.