The Body Of Christ
I have to confess that I am historically bad at not asking for help or delegating and trying to do things myself. For fear of inconveniencing others, or maybe insecurities about getting things done “right,” I have always tried to just do things myself. I’ve tended to lean towards the old adage the bad guy from Fifth Element said, “If you want something done, do it yourself” (actually I think Napoleon Bonaparte said it first, but I heard it first from a space movie).
I think that does a disservice, however, to how the church should function. In fact, that type of thinking goes against how Scripture discusses the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul makes it clear that the body of Christ should function as that… a body. One part cannot hide what it’s doing from the other, nor can it function without the other body parts. Everything has to work together for the body to function. This is true of the church. Paul presses the point that God is the one that has put the body together, therefore there should be no division on the body, and all parts should have equal concern for the other.
We do a disservice to what God has ordained as the body of Christ when we are only concerned with the little parts that we are responsible for. Certainly, we should all do our part with diligence, grace, and hard work; however, it is done for the purpose so that the entire part is honored.
I look back at the busy summer our children and youth ministries had. I can’t help but think how much time and effort it took from so many volunteers/workers to organize and put together our Youth Camp in June and our VBS in July. Through our hard work and efforts, we saw over 20 young lives surrender themselves to Christ this summer. The misconception would be that this is somehow “my” victory, but that would be incredibly pious and a severe disservice to how the body of Christ worked together to pull off these initiatives. I am but one piece to the puzzle. It took an entire body working together to achieve this victory. Drivers to Orange Beach, cooks that organized meals, folks praying during service and at home, donations to camp, those that bought VBS supplies, VBS group leaders, VBS rotation leaders, those that prepared snacks, our VBS director… - this victory belongs to all of us; it belongs to the body of Christ.
All of us have strengths and weaknesses, and I that’s done on purpose. Our strengths, and the gifts God has given us, are there to help us build up the body of Christ and further advance the purpose of the church. Our weaknesses, and the gifts we lack, teach us a lesson that is just as valuable. Our weaknesses remind us to rely on other parts of the body. They remind us to be humble and vulnerable. To allow others to pick up where we cannot take the body of Christ alone. That is the beauty of the church; to remind us that we all have a part to play and a responsibility to rely on one another.
That’s something that can be hard for someone like me to swallow. That means I have to get out of my comfort zone and ask for help when I need it. It means I must remember that any ministry that wants to be “successful” in God’s eyes has to be done in the context of Christ’s body, not by some “super minister” that does so many wonderful things. If I all into that trap, then I would end up being the one that is glorified, not God.
I pray that all of us take these words of Paul’s to heart and remember,
“…there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:25-26