Happy Fall Y’all!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a part of the body of Christ. Theologically, it’s a really beautiful idea – this notion that we have each been given different talents, skills, and passions and we are called to use those gifts in conjunction with one another, in ways that compliment and support one another, each of us playing to our strengths and using our God-given talents for the sake of making the world a better place and sharing the grace and love of Jesus with all people. It’s a beautiful vision of what a world of cooperation and mutual support could look like, and it gives us a pretty good idea of what the Kingdom of God is actually like.
It’s also a rather counter-cultural message, at least, it is counter to many of the values of our very individualistic American culture. We live in a society that fiercely values independence, something that has been true since even before we declared our independence from England. And don’t get me wrong, there is great value in being independent. It is admirable when people try to learn and master new skills. The only way we grow as people is by pushing our limits and challenging ourselves. But I often wonder if we’ve taken this desire to be self-sufficient to an unhealthy extreme. Are we holding ourselves to too high of a standard? Is it too much to expect that we be not only competent, but that we excel in so many different areas of life? I’ve noticed this since becoming a homeowner. Suddenly it feels like I need to be an expert in HVAC units, garage door maintenance, landscaping, drywall repair, property taxes, insurance, paint matching, bug/insect remediation, electrical matters, and so much more. Now, to be fair, I was the one putting most of that pressure on myself (in addition to our family pocket book because hiring experts for every single one of those tasks would be financially unfeasible). But there came a point, actually a few different points, where try as I might, I realized that I just couldn’t do it by myself; I needed help. And luckily, we have some incredibly kind, generous, and knowledgeable people in our congregation, people who know far more than me about these kinds of things, and who have been blessed me by being willing share their wisdom.
As human beings, we were created to be relational, to live in community, to offer and receive help, and in many ways, we have moved away from that way of being. We have silo-ed ourselves, decided that it’s okay to offer other people help, but that being on the receiving end of the same kind of help makes us weak, or inept, or a charity case. But that’s not the kind of existence that God wants for us. God gave us different gifts and talents so that we would have to rely on others who have the skills that we don’t, because we are stronger together than we are apart. We are better, more resilient, more adaptable when we approach life as a team sport. The church is a wonderful place to put that into practice. It is a place where we are called to bring that which makes us special, that thing that we are awesome at doing, and we pool those resources for the well-being of not only ourselves and our community, but for the sake of the wider world as well. Thank you for being an integral part of our own expression of the body of Christ here at Bethlehem.
Proud to be a part of the same body of Christ with you, Pastor Sam