One Body

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.  Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”  Acts 6: 2-4

I couldn't say how many times I've heard or read this particular passage.  Whatever the number, I can't say I ever paid much attention.

A cursory glance might read this to mean the Twelve (the men who followed Jesus during His ministry) had better things to do than serve food to people.

Members of the new church gathered in Jerusalem were complaining that as newcomers their people weren't being treated like the locals.  The Apostles, the twelve, listened and heard the concerns.  

They didn't say it wasn't important.  In fact, they proposed a solution and chose 7 of the best people for the job because they decided it was vital for the group.

Fast forward to present day and we might conclude the servers in the restaurant aren't as crucial as the chef in the kitchen.  The chef must be higher on the food chain than the busboy and dishwasher, right?

Well, no.  

In a restaurant, no is gets to eat and health licenses could be lost if things aren't kept clean. All the parts must each do their job for the entire mechanism to work.

A car with three wheels might make it a mile or two, but eventually the imbalance will create trouble for even a perfectly tuned engine.

In our workplace; in our family; in our community we each have a role to play.  Sometimes we might feel out of place - perhaps there is a better place for us to be and someone else asked to perform their part.

Our houses of worship; the body of Christ - we aren't the preacher, usher, organist, and teacher.  The body is best in its role and in our role there is no unimportant task or position. 

A good thing to keep in mind when we begin to think we are the sun around which the earth revolves. 

 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 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?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
I Corinthians 12:12 - 20

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