April 11

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…”

— 1 CORINTHIANS 12:21-22

There is a fable about an impoverished old street guy who hadn’t eaten in two days. He wandered into the town bakery, asked for a loaf of bread and said he had nothing to pay for it. The baker reached for a fresh loaf and gave it to him. The old guy thanked him, but the baker said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour.” So, the old man went to the miller and thanked him, but the miller said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who made the wheat. Nobody ever thanks him.”

The old man made his way to the farmer and heartily thanked him, but the farmer said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave the sunshine and rain and fertility to the soil and that’s why you have bread to eat.” The old man pondered a minute, looked up to the sky and said with a smile, “Well, thankya, Lord. Next time You’ll be first on my list, cause it sure all do begin with you, don’t it?”

The point of this story is, of course, thanking God but it also has something else to say. The source of everything good comes from God, and our special skills and gifts, regardless of how insignificant we think them to be, play an important and integrate role in God’s grand design to produce an end result that satisfies.

This could not be truer than in the Church of Jesus Christ. We are mutually inter-dependent on one another. The danger is we tend to think of a pecking order in which there are certain gifts that are more important, more prominent. I think one day we’ll get a big surprise when we discover the seemingly unimportant things that Paul calls ‘the weaker parts that are indispensable’ are treated with special honour. Paul says the parts of the body we treat with lesser honour are given greater dignity. I think that’s true.

The truth is we are all involved in the work of God together. Christ is Head of the body, His indwelling Holy Spirit is its life, and we are the members through whom the Holy Spirit works. We must exercise our gifts not only in dependence on God, but in dependence on the complementary gifts of others that enable the whole body to work in unison. Our gifts are God-given and like the workers in the story, we need to appreciate the gifts we don’t have, as much as the ones we do.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for your blessings upon every community of believers working together to serve You. It is gratifying to be a part of your team, and I thank You, Lord, for the privilege and opportunity.

TO REFLECT UPON: How has working together with other Christians enriched my life and my walk with God?