Go Team! Most teams have players that are not team players. It is common to have exceptional players and yet still experiencing limited success. The reverse can be true as well that an organization can have no exceptional talent yet be incredibly effective and successful. I believe this is true of all teams regardless of purpose, whether sports, business, political, organizational, familial, and even church.
Does the Body of Christ functioning well really require teamwork? I believe the answer is a resounding yes, yet perhaps the implications for many are still unclear. By definition teamwork is each member doing its part, and all subjecting themselves to the good of the group. In 1Cor 12 the Apostle Paul answers the above question as he identifies the church as the Body of Christ. It is a powerful picture of people like us being members of a whole identified as Christ’s Body, and includes fundamental instruction regarding attitude, substance, and function.
In the early part of the chapter we are told each believer is a diverse expression of gifts from God. There are gifts of how God works differently in our hearts, calls us to serve in different capacities and placements, and then anoints us in varied ways. The ramifications of all of this are huge, and none of us are excluded! In 1Cor 12:15-17 we have body parts instructed to avoid the pitfall of expressing (believing) they don’t measure up because they aren’t like some other part. A few verses later in 1Cor 12:21-22 we have other parts told to not think or say some in the body are lesser because they aren’t like them. In practice the first is shame and the latter is pride. I heard it said many years ago “there are two ditches along life’s road, and the devil doesn’t care which one you fall into.”
The answer is revealed in this chapter as well as in the one that follows. Verse 12 clarifies we are one body with many members and “… so also is Christ.” “… those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” (22). God clearly wants to express Himself to the world around us through us all. It isn’t in great sermons or programs that we best share Christ together, or that best reveal Christ to those that don’t know Him. It is in loving one another, and together loving them. Can we be a “team”, a church body that works together for Jesus, and for people? I believe so! Let’s all ask God to help us be the part we truly are, connect to the other parts authentically to serve Him and others in Jefferson County.
The 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman said “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” Go Team!
– Pastor Paul