This past Sunday, one of the pastors at my church posed an important question: why are you here? There are vast, metaphysical answers to that question. I was challenged by it in a more personal and practical way.
During the meeting that morning, I had been entertaining an attitude that sometimes tempts me. It's a lethal combination of bitterness and self-pity that interrupts my otherwise healthy relationships with thoughts like, I don't belong anywhere. Everyone else has moved on. This attitude sneaks into my thought life, and plants seeds of ingratitude and indignation. How could they forget to invite me? I can become so wrapped up in nursing my wounded pride that I miss or don't appreciate opportunities right under my nose.
As I was saying, this attitude had crept in and was working behind-the-scenes all morning, distracting me from worship and tempting me to be ungracious with my friends. Thankfully, God broke in on the drive home, and reminded me of why I'm not here. I'm not at Christ's Church because everyone here is just like me. That's not why I'm committed to loving and serving and doing my best to build up this church family. Paul had some things to say about being different:
Our different organs make it possible for us to do more stuff. And just like a body with a variety of parts, the church is composed of different and distinct people. We come from a variety of backgrounds, incomes, and places in life, but when our diverse components come under the headship of Christ, each part's function contributes to the health of the whole group. Our differences glorify God and build up one another. Instead of thinking of myself as the part that doesn't fit, I want to think of myself as uniquely positioned to serve. And then, I want to do just that.
During the meeting that morning, I had been entertaining an attitude that sometimes tempts me. It's a lethal combination of bitterness and self-pity that interrupts my otherwise healthy relationships with thoughts like, I don't belong anywhere. Everyone else has moved on. This attitude sneaks into my thought life, and plants seeds of ingratitude and indignation. How could they forget to invite me? I can become so wrapped up in nursing my wounded pride that I miss or don't appreciate opportunities right under my nose.
As I was saying, this attitude had crept in and was working behind-the-scenes all morning, distracting me from worship and tempting me to be ungracious with my friends. Thankfully, God broke in on the drive home, and reminded me of why I'm not here. I'm not at Christ's Church because everyone here is just like me. That's not why I'm committed to loving and serving and doing my best to build up this church family. Paul had some things to say about being different:
If I could paraphrase these verses, I might say, "The church does not consist of one type of person, but many. If the single person should say, 'I'm not married, I guess I don't belong to the church," that would not make her any less a part of the church. If the whole church were married, where would the children's ministry volunteers come from?" (Don't know about your church, but a lot of singles who fill these spots in mine.) "But as it is, God brought together the members of the church, each one of them, as he chose."For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.... If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (1 Corinthians 12:14-15,17-18, ESV)
Our different organs make it possible for us to do more stuff. And just like a body with a variety of parts, the church is composed of different and distinct people. We come from a variety of backgrounds, incomes, and places in life, but when our diverse components come under the headship of Christ, each part's function contributes to the health of the whole group. Our differences glorify God and build up one another. Instead of thinking of myself as the part that doesn't fit, I want to think of myself as uniquely positioned to serve. And then, I want to do just that.
