Many of us are familiar with the passage in 1 Corinthians that talks about the different parts of the "body of Christ". Let's take another look at a portion of this section.
18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corinthians 12:18-26)
There are a couple of interesting things we can learn about roles in this section...
God's work is achieved when each part understands it's role and when all parts understand that each person has a different and beautifully unique role. We don't see a lot of descriptions in here of feet working their way towards a different job, but rather the role of the foot or hand is described as being something beautiful in it's uniqueness. It is a part of that body part's identity to know it's role. When we approach ministry like a career fair of different ministry opportunities, we are a hand trying to figure out what body part we want to be. Perhaps the hand would be better off trying to figure out that it is, in fact, a hand and learning how to best serve the body in that way.
Each "part" is strengthened towards the goal of honoring God when it knows where it excels. The foot may want to be an eye. The foot may be convinced that it would be an AWESOME eye. The foot may have even studied to become an eye or had others tell them they would be a great eye. Does that mean they are entitled to be an eye? What about if years and years have gone by with the foot watching other eyes serve as eyes and they are convinced they are "owed" the position of eye. Does that mean they should be an eye? No, they are a foot because God has blessed them with certain roles and responsibilities to be a foot.
In a world that says "you can do anything", it can be hard to hear that sometimes we are better suited for certain roles than others. Some are better teachers. Others are better speakers and motivators. Some are better counsellors and mentors. Others are better workers. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and those diversifying factors make us all unique individuals... body parts... capable of achieving great things together.
But what if I don't want to be a hand? What if I want to be an eye. After all, I can do ANYTHING I put my mind to! Well, not so fast. Let me be honest with you... I'm 5'6" on a good day and I am fairly certain I will never be a power forward in the NBA. This is where a touch of humility and a whole lot of faith come into play. If God is who we say he is, then we know that he has a special role for us in his master plan. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves. How, then, do we think we will not be fulfilled if we serve the role he has ordained for us?
If you are having a hard time finding your place in the bigger picture of ministry, maybe take a pause from "looking for where you belong" and instead ask yourself "what type of person has God created me to be". By seeing who we are through God's eyes, the role we are destined to play may become just a tad more obvious and we might even find a more fulfilling and content life at the end of our journey.
Comments