1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

This is a vitally important verse that puts the point on all that Paul has written about how the different parts of a human body relate to one another. Charismatics and Pentecostals generally focus on this chapter because of the discussion of spiritual gifts, but this is if anything even more important. The whole chapter talks about unity in variety. In John 17 Jesus didn’t pray for us to be gifted, but rather for us to be one in Him, just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him. That is again the focus of this verse. As Paul said in verse 12, a singular body has many disparate parts, and none are external to the body. Physically speaking, sometimes parts of the body do need external help, such as glasses for the eyes or a cane for walking, or hearing aids, or any of a number of things. Those might come to feel like “part of us,” but they never are to the degree of what we are born with. In the Body of Christ, that can be harder to grasp, because we are physically separate individuals, so that’s why Paul spends so much time talking about it. The devil always tries to tempt us to feel that WE are what is important in the Church, when that actually creates a totally unnecessary handicap, as the different parts aren’t allowed to fulfill their various functions. Conversely, many Christians feel they aren’t really necessary to the Church, and again, don’t fulfill their functions. When we get too fixated on organization, we lose sight of the reality that the Church is an organism, both on the local church level and around the world. The glorious vision of the Church as the bride of Christ, as expressed in Ephesians 5 and Revelation 19, 21, and 22, doesn’t apply to local churches, or even denominations, but to the total, world-wide Church, and we must not forget it. We are certainly small parts of it, but we are indeed parts of it, and that is glorious.

I am by personality an introvert, and have had to learn how much I need other people. I have always had the conceited notion that I could contribute to them, but I haven’t always appreciated how much they could contribute to me. Biblical humility means that we accept both that we need other people and that they need us. As a pastor, it has been a major problem that I have done too much, not allowing the believers to grow in their various spiritual, and physical, abilities. The Lord is using age to point out to me that I can’t do it all, and I should stop trying. This is a highly unusual Sunday morning, in that I am away from Omura, but every function of that part of the Body can be fulfilled by those who are there. The message title is, “Is it Hard to Listen Obediently to God?” I’m really looking forward to what the Lord is going to say on that through Sister Atsumi, and for what He will do in the lives of all who hear that message. It is as people serve that they become aware that they indeed belong, and are parts of a singular body.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for how You are growing me and the congregation. Thank You for the clear awareness that it’s Your church, and not my possession. It is my church in that I belong to it, and not the other way around! I do pray that we will continue to grow in every way that You intend, to be increasingly effective in doing Your will, on Your schedule, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!