Sunday, September 12, 2010

One Body, Many Parts

So, have you ever read this passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2012&version=NIV
This is something I have heard many times growing up in church. It's one of those ideas I thought I understood. We all have different gifts, talents, callings, etc. Just because someone is a minister doesn't make him better or more important than someone who cleans toilets. Just because someone has a gift of prophecy doesn't make them better than someone whose gift is hospitality. The examples could go on and on, but you get my point. I've heard this, I believe it, we are all called to different things for a different purpose, and the sum of all of our various gifts helps us all grow as a whole. Yep, makes sense.

I have to admit, often times when I think I 'get' a particular passage and what it means, I am tempted to gloss over it. It's like my mind is thinking 'yeah, I already have that one figured out, let's get on to something new.' In doing so, it is easy to miss different truths that can come from the same passage. Recently, I read this passage in a whole new light.

Rejection is something I have struggled with throughout my life. You may know this, you may have talked to me about it. I don't exactly know where it stems from, but I have to work to not take things personally, to not seek out rejection in various interactions with friends, family, etc. So, when I read this passage recently, that's where it struck home. In the same way that just because someone is gifted in healing doesn't make them better than someone whose gift is administration, just because a friend chooses to spend time with another friend instead of me doesn't make me less important. That is HUGE for me. Let me say it again: just because a friend chooses to spend time with another friend instead of me doesn't make me less important. It doesn't mean they don't like me. It doesn't mean they don't value my opinions and what I have to say. It doesn't mean God hasn't blessed me with those friendships, or that He won't use me to bless those people. He may have called me to something different. He may have called me to be their friend in a different way, or with a different level of interaction. This may be for a season, and in the next season things might be different. Regardless, it is ok. The way God made me, the interactions He gives me, the relationships and growth, are what is right for me.

And that doesn't make me any more than or less than anyone else...