No "I" in TEAM!

As a big college football fan, I must admit that I love this time of year. Now that college football has begun, there is always a reporter talking about some key player(s) for a team and how those players are the "impact" players for their team. And yet, I have never watched a game when only those 2-3 players were the only ones on the field. To be a great college football team requires all 11 players on the field being committed to their role and doing their best each and every play. We all know that many games are won, not because of 10-15 great plays but because of 1-2 plays where either someone DID their job tremendously or 1-2 players did NOT do their job.

The same is true in the church. In many churches there are a few people who are constantly being seen. However, 1 Corinthians 12 is extremely clear about the importance of the whole "body." As you read these words, do not be focused on whether or not you are the "impact" player. Be more concerned that you are a "PLAYER!"

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 "Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [15] If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [16] 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 cease to be part of the body. [17] 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? [18] But in fact GOD has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as HE wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, but one body." (Bold mine)

A great football team is successful not because everybody is the quarterback or the middle linebacker. A successful church will be such because everybody knows their role AND fulfills their role! So the question is: Do you know your role? Do you know your spiritual gift? If not, find out. If you do, then use it! And remember these words: "Only one life twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last!"