Let me start with saying, don't judge me: I’m not a huge fan of professional sports. I can tolerate them, but it’s just not my jam. Last Friday, I was on a mommy-date with Mia and Arie, and we found ourselves at Rubi’s Pizza, watching the Pirate’s game while we waited for our food.
They started asking me about baseball, and we started unpacking the concept of team. Team is something that I can get behind. Everyone has a role of varying degrees, but they’re all working towards the common goal of winning. In order to do this, it takes everyone to be on their A-game with their specific gift. The pitcher needs to throw his heart out. The catcher needs to move quickly behind home plate to block anything from slipping by. The coach plans and encourages, while everyone else does the job they were assigned. Even the members who “ride” the bench are important: they cheer and encourage their fellow teammates on even though they aren't actually playing in the game. It’s really a beautiful thing.
As part of Christ’s church, we need to be on a team. Our goal isn’t to get people to follow a specific church, denomination, teacher, or musician. Jesus assigned the mission in Matthew 28:19 when He said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Our goal is to work together to make disciples of Jesus; to introduce people to Christ so they can follow Him – and no one else. When we do that collectively as a church, we're winning. There are two Scriptures that really hit home (no pun intended) for me in regards to this:
“For the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body – so also is Christ… So the body is not one part but many” (1 Corinthians 12:12;14).
“Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).
In the first Scripture, Paul was encouraging the Church of Corinth to work together. There was some division in the church there, but he drew forth imagery of a physical body and how each part works for the good of the body. In later verses, he even dives into the fact that “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you…” because they serve different purposes (1 Corinthians 12:21). This is such an accurate analogy. Each body part serves a different purpose, yet an equally important purpose that is crucial to the success and health of the body. In the same, we too have a purpose and must work to fulfill it. As Paul begins to close 1 Corinthians 12, he wrote, “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (26). In order to truly live out our mission, we must overlook the minor things and work together towards the major thing: Sharing Jesus.
The second Scripture is equally important because it reiterates that we have all received gifts, and not just any gifts. Gifts that we must use to serve others.
Friend, if you’re out there wondering why you’re out there, feeling like you need purpose, know that you have been assigned. God has called you to the mission. What you do with your gifts and life is imperative to the success of sharing Jesus and His love with others. It's important to the church body too. If you're still unsure, ask God to show you the gifts that He has given you and the mission He is calling you to. Ask Him to help you lean into the church and to bring others alongside you with encouragement and purpose. Whatever denomination you practice to help steady and grow your walk with Christ, know that I love you just the same, and even more so, God does. You matter to His mission. You have purpose. You've been assigned a role. Now let's practice walking worthy of our calling. As always, thanks for reading! If we’re not friends yet, let’s make that happen! Subscribe here.
Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received.”
Ephesians 4:1