Shared Ministry Day 2

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

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 combined the members of the body and has given 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 12:12-26)

I have no idea what my spleen does. I've never seen it and to be honest I hope I never do. But thank God that I have one. I like my spleen. My body - and life itself - wouldn't be the same without it. If the Church is a body, then that means there's a place for hundreds of different types of gifts. And if this body is going to function correctly, then we need all the people who have those different gifts to be in place and working properly. You may not believe your particular function in the church is all that important; but without your participation, everyone will suffer.

God doesn't reserve ministry just for the paid church staff; all of us have a part to play. Like the spleen, you may have a role that not many other people see. But the fact that our vital organs aren't visible doesn't make them unimportant.

Do you tend to downplay your importance in the church? Why?

How can you use your gift in a way that fits with others using their gifts?