Romans 12:4-5 (NIV): Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
The imagery that best illustrates the relationship of Christians with each other is the body. Just as God has put all of the various parts of the body together, each with its own abilities and functions, so the Church is composed of all kinds of people, each with their own abilities and skillsets. And, just as each part of the body is essential, each kind of person that I have put in the Church is essential as well. (Yes, there are parts of your physical body that you can survive without, even arms and legs. But removing those parts, make the other parts of the body have to adjust, and, even though you can survive, things don’t work quite as well as when all of the parts are present and healthy.) Since every part is essential, each must value the others for the part that they play. And we must realize that, since the body rises or falls as a unit, each part of the Body of Christ belongs to all of the rest, and are accountable to the whole body for their spiritual health, as well as for the job that they are called to do.
Just as the human body, as it was originally designed, had one overarching job to do, one primary calling on it (to reproduce offspring to ensure humanities survival – Genesis 1:28), so the body of Christ has one overarching job to do: to spiritually reproduce, making Christ-like disciples, to ensure the survival of God’s people. And every part of the Body of Christ must contribute to that purpose for the Body as a whole to be effective. If only 20% of the Body was involved in reproducing disciples (actually high for most congregations), and the other 80% was focused on some other goal, the reproduction effort would be hampered, fall behind the rate of population growth, and ultimately fail, leaving only a remnant of God’s people struggling to survive in a largely pagan environment. And the Church in America, due to a lack of focus on its primary mission for the last several decades, is headed to that point very quickly.
We, as God’s people, need to understand that we have a very specific calling to fulfill, a very specific mission to accomplish, a very specific commandment to obey: to make disciples of all nations. All else needs to be done in that context, and activities that take time, resources, and focus off that primary mission must be avoided at all costs.
God has provided the whole Body with all that it needs to thrive, and multiply, and grow. Every congregation has all that it needs to at least get started, and will gain more needed resources as the people obey and the congregation grows. We must work together and focus on the main thing in order to bring in the harvest, to multiply, to do all that He has commanded us to do.
Father, thank You for providing all that we need to succeed. Forgive us for letting ourselves get distracted, for focusing on things that do not contribute to Your real agenda for us. Help all of Your people to hear You voice loud and clear, calling us back to our real calling in life: making disciples. Amen.