I was blessed yesterday when I read a comment form one of our young ladies about her being blessed by reading 1 Co. 12. That is an important chapter. It likens the church to a body and shows how the members should function. The sad thing is that a lot of folks just don’t get it. As you know, in any church there are those who stay on the periphery. They are in sight but not involved. They are enlisted, but not engaged. Their name is on the roll, but they play no role in the church. They are nice, but not near. they attend, but they keep their distance and hold others at arms-length. They don’t want to feel left out, but they don’t want to get all in. For whatever reason they just don’t want to get close to people or involved with the program.
Sadly these folks miss a great many blessings as a result. They deprive themselves of the blessing that comes from taking part in the Lord’s work. They also miss being a blessing. They might feel that they don’t need others, but the fact is others need them–and they’re not there for them. Paul is very clear in this chapter that every member is needful to the other members and the body as a whole.
I realize that that we live in a hurry-up world with a lot of responsibilities, and that people are busy. Naturally we can’t be everywhere and do everything, but when we join a church we are committing ourselves to it–it least we should be. Church membership involves more than just a place to worship, it also involves work. Members are to be ministers. Maybe you’ve never thought about yourself as being a minister, but you should–you are, whether faithful or unfaithful. You have a responsibility to support the church in every way. Maybe it would be good for you to read and study this great chapter of the Bible–remembering that it is speaking of a local, visible church just like this one. There are many members doing nothing, but there are no members with nothing to do. There are no unimportant members of the church. Find your place and fulfill your duty–you and everyone else will be blessed as a result. Remember, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful”.(1 Cor. 4:2). Are you?
