“One Body, Many Parts”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Just as a body, though
one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."
1 Corinthians 12:12
~~~~~~~~~
For most of
my childhood, days spent at my great-grandparent’s home were a rustic mixture
of playing in tobacco fields, wondering around old workshops, or rambling
throughout their turn-of-the-century house.
Sometimes in solitude. Occasionally with a relative. Rarely with the entire family around.
Forever
etched into my memory, though, are those sweet, rare, whole family
occasions. I cherished those times when
a holiday, a birthday, a wedding, or even a death brought the entire family
home to the farm.
My
great-grandparents raised seven children through difficult times that included
two world wars and the Great Depression.
Though all seven offspring shared the same DNA, same values, same
upbringing, and many of the same early memories, each child grew into a
distinctly different person. Each was endowed
with different natural talents and with the development of different skill
sets. After leaving the family nest,
many saw the world in the military, built homes in faraway lands, and
capitalized on their strengths.
As a child I
had inexhaustible energy and a hunger to experience everything. Being in the midst of so many aunts, uncles,
and cousins was a buffet-table of potential sources of game players, huggers, storytellers,
listening ears, and snack providers.
In my Aunt
Polly, I had a person that would give me her full, undivided attention. I could babble on for hours, and she’d listen
as if I were the 6:00 News. She had
incredible patience with me and a wonderful listening ear.
With Uncle
Charles, I had a tour guide that would buy me a poke-sack full of candy and
drive me around town. He delighted in being around children and doted on them. Because he knew how to relate to little ones,
any time I spent with him was fun and filled with genuine love.
Aunt Mary seemed to be the one that always noticed
if I was sad or lonely, and would speak to me of Heaven or of by-gone days. She was honorable in word and deed. Never did she shy from hard work. From the daughter of a farmer, to the wife of
a farmer, her life was filled with challenges, yet she stayed strong in her
faith. She was a wonderful example to me
of how a Christian woman should conduct herself.
Uncle Mack was often quiet when I was
around. He was a smart businessman and a
wonderful craftsman. He made long
lasting friendships and was especially devoted to his sister Mary. There is no question that his relationship
and regular phone calls to her saw her through many tough challenges in her
life.
The second
from the youngest of the siblings was Ray.
Uncle Ray ALWAYS smiled. Always.
He knew all the latest jokes, and loved hearing new ones when he
came to town. He was often the center of
any conversation…and yet, he always took the time to play a game with me. At first we mastered Pick-Up-Sticks. In later
years, I honed my Backgammon skills with him.
I learned my greatest lesson from Uncle Ray in the way he dealt with a
cancerous brain tumor later in his life.
His optimism and love of life and family were never diminished by that
enemy.
Uncle Bobby,
the baby. He was still active in the
military when I was growing up. When he
came home, he told stories of his home in Turkey, gave me foreign coins, and
called my mother “Monk.” When
great-grandma died, he tolerated me as his shadow as he stoically grieved by
doing repair work on the aging house. He
was a solid shoulder to lean on and a grounding presence in times of
uncertainty.
One big
family, very different siblings.
Together they shared parents, a surname, a love, and a devotion to one
another. Individually each brought
something to the family that would have been missing without them, be that a
skill, a smile, or characteristic. The
family was one body, but each member made up the ears, the eyes, the hands, and
feet…each part that was needed for the body to be whole.
How
different would those precious family times have been had these sisters and
brothers not been unique? Had each had
the same gift? Same experiences? Same characteristics? What if each had decided not to do what they
did best and instead tried to be more like another of their siblings?
My
experiences with my Aunts and Uncles helped to mold me. Helped to guide me. Helped to comfort and support me. Would my love of storytelling be different
today if my patient Aunt Polly had concentrated on home repair instead of
hearing my tales? What if Uncle Ray had
tried to do a so-so job of cutting paper dolls instead of the perfect job he
did playing games with me? And Charles,
what if instead of showing me around Lee County’s fine citizens, he had instead
stayed home to attempt to cook me lunch?
I’d say my memories would have been quite the opposite of what they are
as a result.
As an adult,
I often ask myself if I am I concentrating on what it is that I do well. Am I sharing my gifts and what I have learned
from experience with my family? With my
church family? Or am I instead, trying
to be “just OK” in too many areas, diluting my impact on those the Lord sends
into my path?
What about
you? Do you know your strengths? What gifting has God given you? Are you using it regularly and with joy? Are you sharing your gifts with your family,
at home and at church?
Or are you trying to be all things to all
people? If so, how is that working out
for you so far?
Please open
your Bible and read 1 Corinthians 12 to see how Paul addresses this very topic when
speaking to the Christian brethren in Corinth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Have you confessed that the Lord
Jesus Christ is your Saviour? ____________________________________________________
2. Are you aware of what your
spiritual gift is? ____________________________________________________
* If not, please take a spiritual
gifts test.
3. Do you make a regular habit of
using your spiritual gift as a part of your service to the Lord and your church
family? __________________________________________________________________
4. Do you find yourself energized and
joyful when using your spiritual gifts? _____________________________________________________________
5.
Are you spending time more concerned with what you can’t do well rather
than with what you can do well? _________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1
Corinthians 12, Paul is addressing the Christian church in Corinth. He explains that the Holy Spirit distributes
spiritual gifts from God to His people. He helps these new Christians to
further understand the concept of our ONE God being the same, despite the wide
variety of gifts and the different ways His people serve.
Paul makes
the important assertion that gifts received from the Holy Spirit, though given
to each individual, are intended to be used for the good of the Church.
He lists the
spiritual gifts as:
*Wisdom
*Knowledge
*Faith
*Healing
*Miraculous
Powers
*Prophecy
*Discernment
of spirits
*Speaking in
tongues
*Interpretation
of tongues
Paul gives us the visual of our own
bodies. Though we only have one mortal body,
that body has many parts such as eyes, ears, arms, legs--many parts, one
earthly body. As Christians, we become a
part of Christ’s body though baptism.
The parts of Christ’s body may be from different ethnicities, races, or
economic situations, but they all come together to form Christ’s body in unity.
Each part of
Christ’s body has been given a specially chosen Spiritual Gift through the Holy
Spirit. Paul recognizes that man can, at times, become disappointed with the
gift he/she has received. He helps his
fellow believers to see the value of each gift with the example that a foot
should not bewail the fact it isn’t a hand, nor an ear because it isn’t an eye because
all are still part of the same body.
Paul asks us to consider how we would hear if our body consisted only of
an eye or how we would be able to smell if we were made only with an ear. He gently reminds us that it is God that
determines the parts as He would have them according to His will….God-chosen
parts of the singular body.
While each
part should not mourn its role, we are reminded that as well, each part should
not declare that another part is not needed.
The example that Paul gives is that the eye should not say it does not
need the hand, nor should the head determine it does not need the feet. Instead,
we must realize that what we might like to dispense of as weak, may actually
give us strength.
Paul
explains that God carefully designed the body such that there should be unity
and equal concern and honor given to all.
If one part suffers, all partake in the suffering. If one part is honored, all are honored.
He reminds
us that together we ARE the body of Christ; individually each of us are a part
of that body. God has created the church
body of all of these gifted parts. Each
individual, gifted person fulfilling important roles such as that of counselor,
healer, teacher and more. Just as
important is the realization that God didn’t create each part to take on all
roles within the church body. We each
have our very own valuable position to fill in the context of the family as a
whole.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please
complete the following:
1. God intends for us to use our
spiritual gifts for _______________________________________________________.
2. Gifts that we may consider inferior
may actually be a source of
_______________________________________________________.
3. If one part of the Church body
suffers, then all parts of the body partake of the
__________________________________________________.
4. If one part of the Church body is honored,
then all parts of the body partake of the
_________________________________________.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I find it
interesting that just as the Lord places a wide variety of gifts to benefit larger
Church body, even on the small scale of one family “body” he carefully places
different gifts. In the intimate setting
of just one family, one can see how the unique gifts of each member benefits
the family as a whole. He permits us to
see in the micro what He is doing in the macro.
Growing up, I
recognized the particular traits and talents that made each Aunt and Uncle
special without being cognizant of the reasons why. I knew exactly who to go to for whatever need
or want I had at the time. Rarely did I
ask the others to act upon as strength they did not possess. I would not, for example, have expected Uncle
Bobby to tease my curls to help me look fancy.
Aunt Polly, though she might have tried, wouldn’t have delivered the
funniest punch-lines. And Uncle
Charles….well, he liked to talk as much as I did….Great for hugs, and love, and
sugar, but I saved my constant babble for others.
What if,
instead of operating, fellowshipping, and relating in their strengths, they had
abandoned them to concentrate only on the areas where they were not as gifted?
No one gift
in my family was more valuable than another.
In times of confusion, we needed the comfort of an Aunt with the gift of
wisdom. When sickness arrived, an Uncle
with a healing touch was called upon.
Each gift came into play in times of need, and was a blessing and a
benefit all. As these gifts blessed and
comforted the family through life’s trials, each individual brother or sister
was able to fill a role in a way no other sibling could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. What member of my family or church
family has a gift that largely goes unnoticed?
________________________________________________
In what way can I help that sister or brother to use his or
her gift in service to each other and the Lord? _____________________________________________________________
2. How can I begin to share my gifts more
frequently with my family or church family? ____________________________________________________________
3. Where in my greater community can I
share my gift, so that I may serve as a witness and servant of the Lord?
_____________________________________________________________
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Lord,
Thank You for choosing the perfect spiritual gifts for each
of us. We are honored that You would
allow us to be a participants in the expansion of Your glorious kingdom. Please help us to not only recognize our
spiritual gifts, but to also put them to the fullest use in serving our
brothers and sisters in the church body.
It is in Jesus’ Holy Name we pray. AMEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one
body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one
Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up
of one part but of many.
1 Corinthians 12: 13-14
