“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” 1 Corinthians 12:26
When my husband began preparing for his ordination council, we were not aware of all the details we would have to plan. We knew there was a lot involved, but our main focus was on his ordination paper. He spent hours writing and refining his positions on various theologies, and then we both spent hours upon hours whittling the paper down so that it met the maximum page requirement. The paper alone felt like a mountainous task!
What we weren’t aware of was how many additional details we would need to coordinate. We needed to help find a certain number of men to be on the council, a scribe to take minutes, a videographer to record it, while also providing lunch for everyone present after the ordeal – er, process – was finished. We quickly came to realize this was not an event that we could just host quietly on our own, and we had to reach out to our church family to ask for help. It was humbling to ask people to do these things for us because we weren’t viewing it as a church event, but a personal one for Paul, for his growth as a pastor.
We were honored and humbled by the overflow of encouragement and service we received. The body was truly functioning as the body, coming together to rejoice with and honor my husband as his hard work culminated in this last step. People quickly stepped up to fill the positions needed, to provide food, to take our children overnight and to school the next day, and most importantly, to pray for Paul. It was not only our own church family, but also the larger church around us as men from several local churches in our district came to help as a part of the council.
In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul described the church as a body, made up of many members or parts, none more important than the other, but all working together through the unity of the Spirit. When all of the parts are working together, it is such a beautiful testimony to the Spirit as the beautiful body shows Christ at work in us.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to your body of believers and ask for help. God has given us to one another to encourage and lift up the body. We are here for each other through good and bad, ready to suffer with or rejoice with one another. How have you seen the beautiful body at work lately?
Taking It Further:
How have you been blessed by the body serving you? How can you serve someone in your church body this week?
