The Body
By Elizabeth Cole
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body…But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
I Corinthians 12:14-15, 18-19
There’s a scene toward the end of the kids’ movie Sky High in which the dastardly villain is trying to overtake the superhero high school, and ultimately, the world. The only hope for mankind lies with a group of high school students deemed the “sidekicks.” They didn’t pass the “superhero” test, and therefore were relegated to their current roles of helpers/assistants. With time of the essence (when isn’t it at this point in the movie?!), this ragtag group of sidekicks devises a plan. A plan that will only work if every single one of them contributes his or her unique superpower at a given point in the process. The guinea pig girl does her transformation and is small enough to travel through the ducts of the school; the turn-into-a-tree girl becomes a forest of vines that blocks a window exit….you get the picture. As a result, the villain is conquered, the turn-everyone-into-a-baby machine is captured, the protagonist discovers his hidden superpower and all’s well with the world. By the way, this movie was never nominated for an Academy Award…By Elizabeth Cole
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body…But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
I Corinthians 12:14-15, 18-19
I wonder how often we decide, on our own, that we’re just the sidekicks. I wonder how often that becomes a reason to sit it out…to watch those with “greater” gifts from the sidelines.
I wonder what would happen if we fully believed, in the deepest parts of our souls, that God really is God. That He knew exactly what He was doing when He made each one of us. That His intention was truly to make each of us an integral part of His body of believers. And even more, that it’s rather presumptuous on our part to judge God’s work and His plan. We smile at the thought of the I Corinthian 12 foot wishing she were a hand, or the idea of the whole body being one big ear (talk about a weird visual…). Yet, to quote (a little loosely) the prophet Nathan in the Old Testament, “Dear ones, we are those women…”
Here’s the point: “If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” The body needs every one of its parts. In fact, it is lacking in function without each one. Will you take God at His Word and trust that He made you the way He did for a reason? Will you not only value, but contribute, who you are to His cause?
GOING DEEPER:
1. Which of your skills, abilities or spiritual gifts have you been devaluing?
2. What might the Holy Spirit be prompting you to do about that?
FURTHER READING:
Psalm 139:13-16
Elizabeth is a wife, mother to three teen-aged daughters, and Director of Women’s Ministries at Oakwood Church.
