The topic of ‘identity’ is alive in our culture: “Who am I ?”; “What am I ?” are questions that we’re being encouraged to ask. Some of the uncertainty seems to be new, but actually the Bible dealt with these questions from the beginning, removing any ambiguity in the first three chapters of Genesis.
From that starting point we are left with the clear need for a Saviour who came in the person of the Lord Jesus who died on a cross to take the punishment for our rebellion against our creator and to bring us back to know Him as our loving Heavenly Father.
Yet even as those who trust Him, we Christians can still live with uncertainty of where we ‘fit’ in the scheme of things.
Last Sunday morning we again looked at the topic of ‘The Church’, this time from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 12 he likens the church (meaning the gathering of God’s people) to a body with many different parts: some of them public and obvious, other parts less visible and often specially covered, but all of them vital! His point is very clear:
- No matter what gift or ability the Holy Spirit has given us, our inclusion in His church is His idea…
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Cor 12:27)
When asked what part of the body they were, a frail elderly member responded that they were ‘a little toenail’! Yet the little toenail helps to protect the foot from stumbling and keeps the whole body in balance!
No gift is more important: all of us have a part to play in worshipping the Lord as He deserves!
Spencer Shaw