The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that 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 12:21-26
Let’s bring the idea of honor and enjoyment into our current time. We have seen how political topics and maneuvering can divide some churches. We also know that, in spite of the negativity that these issues cast upon God’s church in general, there have been many positive times of growth. Take time to think of memorable events in church history that you may have been a part of.
The church needs feet to walk to those who will not allow their presence in God’s house. The church needs mouths to proclaim His Word once the opportunity is presented. The church needs apostles to fervently present God’s Word to those who are unsaved are truly willing to listen. You get the idea from today’s reading that nobody has all of these gifts or abilities, but many will not exercise the gifts that God has given to them.
I am sure that you have heard stories that, even with a church on every corner, the services would be filled to capacity and need many time slots to accommodate all of the people if everyone in a community were to come to Christ. We can look at John 6:37 and see that “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” We are called to witness to the spiritually dying in some way. We may not have the stamina to go door to door in a witnessing program (I sure don’t any longer). We may not have the people skills to present the “sunshine of God” to everyone we meet. We may not have the gift of music, as many have received and use. Regardless of what it is, we have a gift that can be used to further God’s kingdom. It may be teaching, still working on getting better with that one, or it may be getting the most out of our technology. We may view our current gift as “only prayer.” There can be no more important person than God’s child on his or her knees in prayer.
