No "I" in Church

There is no “I” in “Church”

I love video games. When N64 just came out (you probably don’t remember this) one of the hottest games was Goldeneye. My friends and I would play it for hours... it was the most fun when you were maxed out with 4 people playing at the same time, but it wasn’t always easy to find 3 other people who knew how to play, so we’d recruit new people who weren’t any good. “Noobs” if you will.

One of our friends, Brad, was an uber-noob. He was bad. He really sucked. He got so frustrated because when we’d play, he’d be in last place every time. Poor Brad. And if that wasn’t enough, we’d tease him about how bad he was, and intentionally try to make him do terrible. Poor, poor Brad. Brad got sick of this abuse and quit playing with us.

Ever feel like you’re not needed? Like if you disappeared, nothing would change? Part of life is figuring out who you are and where you fit in, what your purpose in life is. The Bible talks about how all kinds of different people are needed in the church:

1Cor. 12:12-22

The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. Suppose a foot says, "I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, "I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body." Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.

A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest.

I’ve often wished that I was more talented. How many times did I want to be the funniest guy in class or the best looking guy in school? Even though we can change our behaviour, we can’t change who we are. God gives us gifts that we need to use to honor him. If we don’t use these gifts, we feel useless. Part of belonging is being useful, and each of us can be useful if we follow God’s way, not our own.

Be useful. Get involved! The things you’re good at? They’re not just for you to solely enjoy or hide away because you’re embarrassed, unsure, selfish, etc. God gave them to you so you can give them back to Him. Find out what your spiritual gifts are and use them to glorify God and help others.