No Small Parts

by Laura Courtney
 
There are many technical components, programs and wires that make our “regular” (as in now it’s a regular thing but wasn’t before Covid) livestreaming services possible each week. There are the big and obvious parts like the camera, computer and soundboard, and then the equally needed-but-less-visibly-obvious-to-the-average-passerby parts like the computer programs and connecting wires to make Big And Expensive Tech Equipment #1 talk to Big And Expensive Tech Equipment #2 and #3. But even smaller and more in depth than that, there are all the specific settings and preferences within each program or machine that have to be set just right in order for it all to work. So even if all the big, fancy equipment is on, plugged in, and technically working, if one tiny, seemingly mundane setting in the program isn’t set just right… well… it just ain’t going to work.
 
The Body of Christ is just the same. There are the obvious parts: the pastors, missionaries, and Christian education teachers who are more “seen” in the Body. They are the obvious ambassadors of Christ as their job is, generally speaking, about the Church. But we all are ambassadors for Christ, no matter our job. Whether you work in the warehouse of a factory, the kitchen of a restaurant, or are a stay-at-home mom (guess which one I am?!), you are an ambassador of Christ to those around you. I heard someone say once that you are the greatest example of Christ that someone will ever know. Wow. That’s kind of a big concept (and a little bit of pressure). Even if I only am “working” with those living in my house, how I act as a Christian and how I live out my life as a follower of Christ is going to impact their lives and their decisions as additional followers of Christ.
 
I invite you to read 1 Corinthians 12 today. This is a commonly known section of scripture that describes the Body of Christ as being like the human body. There are many different parts – some big, some small and some that are seemingly unseen – but each plays a vital role in the body and no part is unneeded (except maybe that darn appendix). And much like my tech equipment illustration above, if one seemingly small part isn’t connected right, then the more obvious parts are not going to work right somewhere down the road.
 
So if you have days when you feel like you are just a “small” part in the Body, I assure you that it doesn’t mean your job and connection isn’t just as important to the health of the Body as a whole. I may not be the big and noticeable HD camera that is filming His message, but I sure am one of the parts that helps get the live feed through the TV.
 
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
(I Corinthians 12:18-19, 27)

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