Day 22: Jesus Advocates Unity, Not Uniformity

For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12–24A, EMPHASIS MINE

I’M A MIDDLE-AGED, THEOLOGICALLY conservative Bible teacher, who rides a motorcycle in black leather pants. I’m also a single, Caucasian woman with chemically dependent hair whom God graciously chose to become the undeserved, adoptive mom to an extraordinary toddler from Haiti named Missy, who’s now matured into a middle-schooler with gorgeous curly hair. I’m not tied to one particular denominational stream of the Christian faith—as long as we can agree on the reality of the Trinity; the authority of Scripture; and the sole, atoning sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation and reconciliation with God, I’m happy as a clam. Which means, I don’t fit most Bible teacher stereotypes and am sometimes viewed as a square peg in some of the rounder Christian circles. That used to trouble me in my people-pleasing past, but not so much anymore. It’s taken a long time, but I finally trust that most of my uniqueness was divinely designed.

I believe our triune God wired me to love Jesus with all my heart and to love my daughter, Missy, above everyone on this planet apart from Him. He also fashioned me a chatty extrovert who thoroughly enjoys being part of authentic, perfectly imperfect communities—that is, places and spaces filled with people who really matter to each other even when they get on each other’s last nerve!

I think He knit my tongue and mind together in such a symbiotic way that I love telling stories, especially stories that come from the Bible’s metanarrative of grace and highlight His compassion. He filled me with ingredients that, when shaken and stirred, cause me to love laughing and teasing with friends and family. And He gave me a double portion of fondness for nature, adventure, and literature because I love being outside in His stunningly beautiful Creation. I prefer crickets to car horns, flip-flops to high heels and a ball cap on a ski boat to a ball gown on a yacht. I’m also an enthusiastic participant of all things gardening, biking, hiking, swimming, skiing, and reading. I really, really like to read!

While I often talk more than I listen, He also put that still, small voice called Holy Spirit in my head who constantly reminds me of how our heavenly Father gave me two ears and one mouth for a reason! I know my Redeemer understands my fear of snakes—even the “harmless” ones—in light of all the sinful brouhaha that went down in Eden because of a slithery, lying, rotten fruit salesmen kind of serpent. And I think He also understands why I stopped listening to telemarketers’ pitches (who sometimes, in some small way, remind me of the creepy crawler in that first garden) because He knows that deep down I want to be more healthy and less motivated by guilt (yet I still feel a little guilty about hanging up on them).

I can sense Him tagging along on long, meandering rides or hikes with Missy. And I can sense His sorrow over how hard it is for me to trust someone with my whole heart because of past wounds. I feel His pleasure while wiggling during musical worship. (Which has made for an awkward moment or two during visits to less-expressive churches, but when we’re singing about Jesus, I feel like I have helium balloons tied to my hands—they just have to go up!)

It’s probably not completely righteous like the anger He displayed when He flipped those trashy, mercenary, money changers’ tables outside the temple, but I can feel Jesus regulating the indignation that rises up in me when someone is unkind to my daughter or any other child, for that matter. It is a microscopic measure of His wisdom that fuels my passion for the theological principle of imago Dei, which means that every single person regardless of gender, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, mental capacity, or physical ability was made in God’s image—whether they acknowledge Jesus as their Savior or not—and is, therefore, inherently worthy of dignity and respect. I can barely stomach people who are cruel or condescending to others for any reason.

I hear His gentle rebuke in my heart when I accidentally say words that aren’t in the Bible when I think I’m about to run into another car or they’re about to ram into me. And I notice His gentle “thumbs-up” when I’m being honest about my many frailties and insecurities. More than that, I sense His super strong “thumbs-up”—or perhaps I should call it outright delight!—when I surrender those insecurities and choose to use both all my wiring and all the gifts He’s given me for the edification of His church.

Why do I share all of this? To offer a monologue on all the things you could have gone without knowing about me? To shout to the world that clearly my role in the body of Christ is to be the belly? Or maybe the mouth? No sirree! While I very well might be the belly or the mouth (and I’m down with both!), I shared all this to model what it looks like to know who exactly you are and how God made you, not just in this great big world, but in the body of Christ! And moreover, to stop apologizing for it and to start using it for His glory!

Jesus didn’t just save me. He also equipped me to be part of a whole so that others might lean more fully into Him or even launch themselves into His unconditionally loving embrace for the first time. And the same goes for you. So what part of the body are you? How are you made? What parts of yourself have you been hiding from or apologizing for, when you could use them instead for the good of your neighbors and your fellow Christians? Don’t rob others of the gifts Jesus has given you—He made you a certain way for a reason! (And if you’ve never tried, follow today’s devotional as a guide. Try writing five or six paragraphs about who you really are and when you most feel God’s pleasure, conviction, or power.)

• WHAT PART OF the symbolic body of faith Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12 do you most identify with and why?
• WHAT RELATIVELY UNIQUE and—best you can tell—God-given characteristics do you have that tend to increase the compassion and efficacy in a community of Christ-followers? Explain what and how.
• ARE THERE ANY specific gifts Jesus has given you that you aren’t currently using? Why? How might you take a step toward sharing your gifts this week?