Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. 7 A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good: 8 to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues. 11 One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Beautiful Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) – Beautiful Lent #8
Easter week is here! We are celebrating with a watercolor floral Bible art journaling entry. Easter Sunday is one of the most attended Sunday services all year long. I was thinking about all the different people who will be at our Easter services this year. I love my church family!
There are so many different personalities, backgrounds, sizes, preferences – we are all very different from one another. However, our connection to Christ connect us all to each other as well. God has designed a unique cluster of people with specific gifts and talents. We complement one another, creating a beautiful display of unity and diversity. A beautiful body of Christ.
One body, many parts
For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. 19 And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. 23 And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, 24 which our respectable parts do not need. 1 Corinthians 12:12-24a
What is weird makes us wonderful
When my daughter was younger, we started using a phrase: “what’s weird makes us wonderful.” We started valuing the quirky and unusual, in an attempt to encourage risk-taking and resistance to peer pressure. It seems like as a culture, we sometimes forget that the goal is not to all become the same. The goal is to become Christ-centered while also being the best version of who God created us to be.
We need all the “weird” people who go to church with us. They may not look like us or have the same opinions about things, but we need the gifts that God wants to give us through them. I don’t know about you, but I am bothered by how polarized our country has become, but I am even more disturbed by how much division I see in the church.
Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, 25 so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. 26 So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 1 Corinthians 12:24b-26
Beautiful body
We need all kinds of people in the body of Christ to make it beautiful. Some of those people might drive us crazy because they like things that we detest. Some might talk too much or too little. Some see the glass as half empty and some half full. And yet, God expects us to live in unity with all believers. The same God that saved me saved them. He values each and every one of us as His beautiful creation.
#beautifullent has been about finding the beauty in the Lenten season. As we move on into Easter and beyond, let’s see the beauty in the beautiful body of Christ that God has put together through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and the power of His resurrection. We are more beautiful together than apart.
Action Step:
Right now, in this moment, think of someone at your church that either drives you nuts or makes you uncomfortable. (If you can’t think of anyone at your church, think of anyone in the world who claims to be a believer.) Maybe it is someone who says things that you completely disagree with or that make your skin crawl. Now, I am going to ask you to do something that won’t feel fun at first. Be assured that I am asking it of myself too. 😉
Thank God for that person. I’m serious. Thank God for them. Pray for God’s best for them. Ask God what He would like to teach you through them and what gifts He has for you that will only be given through them.
God can soften our hearts toward other believers and draw us into unity with them. It takes our submission to God and obedience to live in unity with the believers He has placed in our lives.
Prayer:
Dear God, help me to look past disagreements and differences to the beauty that you designed in the diversity of the body of Christ. Enable me to see others as your unique and wonderful creations, maybe weird but also wonderful. Open my eyes and soften my heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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