I can remember learning about the body of Christ in youth group and finding it very intriguing. Paul does a fantastic  job of showing that everyone has a place and a role to play as a Christian. In a time where worship bands were, and still are to some degree, idolized and put above others, it was a comfort to know that I was still a valued part of the greater body. I always wanted to see the body of Christ actually function.

You know, 1 Corinthians 12:12, “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ.” Paul goes on to describe how believers should work together and not be divided. The body is a system that best works together. We all know how much an inner ear infection or even stubbing your pinky toe can affect the rest of your body.

Each of us has a role to play as a Christian in the body of Christ. Not one of us can say that we don’t have something to offer or that we don’t fit in. The gifts that God has given you of hospitality, understanding finances, vision casting, or service can all be used and are of no less value than flashy gifts. Remember what Paul says starting in verse 21, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that we weaker are indispensable.”

Have you ever wanted to see a hand, arm, torso, hip, leg, and foot work together? Have you thought about what that might look like on a large scale? I know I have, and God allowed me to get a glimpse of this because of a message from Labrador. Our director, Steve Bray, received a message from a lady in Labrador asking if we had any contact in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her friend had cancer and was in real need of some comforting and even discipling.

Seems like a real shot in the dark, except that we actually did have a contact in Las Vegas. This past November I was down in Atlanta for our Send Network orientation. I walked out of the NAMB (North American Missions Board) building intending to go for a walk in the 20 degree Celsius weather. I didn’t get to take that walk because I entered into a conversation about where I was planting with a man who was attending. Damian was the new head of the Nevada Baptist Association.

I had started to form a friendship with him, so I sent my brother in Christ a message to ask if he knew of anyone who could help. After we got some more information he was able to get some ladies in contact with her, and they’re even trying to help her find some work. I’m still in awe that God had connected believers from Labrador to Las Vegas without a hitch. A friendship I had started to form in November was able to help a lady in Labrador find help for her friend in Nevada.

Let’s not miss the beauty found in believers coming together in service for others of the faith. We really are brothers and sisters in faith. Our faith is not an individual one, but a corporate one that is best seen as the body works together. Remember verse 26, “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

Those ladies might not think much about what they’re doing, but they’re acting as the body of Christ in unison with believers on the far east coast of Canada. To those ladies and to Damian I say, thank-you. Thank you for being willing to serve and coming to the aid of another sister in Christ. Our faith really is a corporate one and not meant to be walked alone. We can’t all be those really cool worship leaders, and that’s just fine.

 ^“18 But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. ¹⁹ And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”

1 Corinthians 12:18-20