The other day I came home exhausted! I had had a day full of physically demanding tasks. All I wanted to do was rest. I got home late at night and made sure that I locked the door because there were recent reports of break-ins in my neighbourhood. My husband was out of town and I was home all alone. At around 3 am, I was awoken from my sleep by noises! People talking! Inside my house! I went into panic mode, scared for my life. The voices got louder and I immediately knew I was in trouble. I hid under the bed and braced for the worst. But I noticed something strange! The voices were not coming from without, but from within me. Confused, I listened intently and realized that my organs were arguing! Arguing about who did the most work that day. The hands claimed they did the most. The legs countered saying they transported everyone. The eyes chimed in that if they hadn’t lit everyone’s way, no work could have been done. And on and on each organ tried to one-up the other. At that point, the brain, having heard enough, piped up and said “if anyone did anyone any favours today, and every day for that matter, it is me! I call the shots and I direct all of you. Without me, none of you can accomplish anything. And just to prove my point and power, I am shutting all of you down right this instance!” And so it did and I immediately fell back asleep – right there under the bed where I had cowered away.

Well, obviously this did not happen. Organs don’t “talk” per se – and even if they did, that is not a conversation they would ever have. Why? Because theirs is an existence of accord, not discord.

In June of this year, I became one of the founding members of a new church. As you can imagine, A LOT of work goes into establishing a church – and I am responsible for quite a few admin, IT and design-related tasks on a “volunteer” capacity. Because work has also been busy, I often find myself working into the wee hours of the morning trying to ensure that everything gets done. One particular night, 4 am found me seated on the couch, still working on some church tasks. I went to bed that night exhausted but pretty pleased with myself. Truth be told, I mentally tapped myself on the shoulder for being such a committed volunteer. The last thought I had as I drifted off to sleep was this: “Pastors Sabrina and Brian are so blessed to have so many dedicated people helping them out as they establish their new church.” The following morning, on my way to work, God interrupted my thoughts. He dropped a little nugget of truth into my spirit. Something so simple yet so very profound: “The church does not belong to Pastors Sabrina and Brian. It belongs to Me. Moreover, My bride, the born-again believers, are the church.”

You see this whole time, as I did my tasks for the church, deep down inside, there was the attitude that I was doing the pastors a favour. Yes, I always do it gladly and joyfully, but until that point, I viewed it as not being my responsibility – but theirs – which they then delegate to us – and we “help them out”. But that short conversation with God that morning flung my eyes wide open! The church belongs to all of us – and we all have a responsibility towards it.

The problem with having a “helping out” mentality versus an “it’s my responsibility” mentality, is the fact that the former gives us an out; gives us the option to participate or not – “I can help out today but I can’t do it next week”. But if it’s a responsibility, the choice to be involved or not kind of goes away, doesn’t it? You will never hear a mother saying about their new born “I really don’t have the time and don’t feel like feeding or changing the baby today – I’ll do it 2 days from now when I am more rested and don’t have so many competing priorities”. If something is our responsibility, we will move heaven and earth to accomplish it; but if we are doing someone a favour or helping out, chances are our commitment level is not the same.

Have you noticed that the Bible does not say we are the brides (plural) of Christ, but rather the bride (singular) of Christ? Have you also noticed that dad, mom and kids are called a “family”, not “families”? Or that husband and wife are a “couple”, not “couples”? The terms are singular for a reason – because those units are supposed to operate as one body. God created us for community. He created us for unity. Even He Himself exists as a Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) – but yet He is called the One God, not Gods – there is that singular term again. He made us in His image. So we too are to be ONE body. Each playing their unique role for the betterment of the whole.

I have always been fascinated by the human body. God truly did create us beautifully and wonderfully. The body pretty much runs itself with very little involvement from us. Each organ knows its precise role and dutifully does it without complaint, without vacation, and without seeking compensation or kudos. And when one organ is unwell, all the others rally around it and rearrange their priorities to help it recover more quickly. The stomach says “I use up a lot of energy and resources to digest food, I want to redirect that to organ xyz so it can be made well” – and so our appetite is decreased and we sleep a lot until we recover. If one leg is broken, the other, though designed to only carry half the body’s weight, bears the whole so that its counterpart can recover.

So why do we struggle? If we are supposed to be members of ONE body, why do we fail to emulate the cooperativeness and oneness of our physical bodies? Why do we feel like we are doing each other favours? Why do we get disgruntled or tired or make excuses when asked to be involved in another person’s life or “stuff”? Maybe you are the only person in your family that is always called upon to “help out” or “rescue” the other members and it gets to you. You probably wonder “why must I always be the only one to contribute and carry the weight of this family?” Or maybe you struggle with being a dedicated “volunteer” at the church or whichever organization, and you say to yourself “well, the staff and pastors are getting paid, I am not. So I don’t have to put in as much effort. I have my own ‘day job’ to worry about”.

These are all valid reasons. But let me offer this point of view… When it comes to the physical body, only the mouth eats and the teeth chew – but the energy and nutrition derived from the food benefits the whole body and keeps it alive. If the foot insists on being the one to eat, the whole body would starve and wither away. Not all get to eat – only the designated members of the body do so; but yet all get to benefit. So in a church setting, yes, only the pastors and some staff draw a salary, but there is a need to have someone put in full-time work for the church to survive. Same with a family setting…those with the ability have a responsibility to support those with limited means so that the whole may survive.

I would be remiss however if I did not clarify what I am not saying. I am not saying that we go around taking each other for granted, or being ungrateful, or not pulling our weight, or taking advantage of one another. Absolutely not! Nothing brings the churning wheels of action to a grinding halt faster than “users” or ungrateful and entitled recipients. Here’s something else I’m not saying… I am not saying that we kill ourselves “volunteering” or “helping” either. It is good to maintain a work-life balance, and to know our limits and operate within them. Given that God created us, I would imagine that every single cell in our physical bodies has a purpose. There is nothing redundant about any part. There are no spectators. They all have a role to play and they play it dutifully and faithfully. In the same way, if all members of our family/organization unit played their part, there would be nothing like “volunteer/helper fatigue” because the work and responsibilities would be well distributed. In this me-first, selfie society we live in today, it is easy to forget that it truly does take a village to do life well.

We all have unique giftings, talents, resources or abilities that were pre-designed and pre-destined by God to be our contribution to, and responsibility in the various body units we find ourselves in.

So let’s stop doing each other favors. Let’s stop ‘helping each other out’. But rather let’s all faithfully play our unique role in whichever “body unit” we find ourselves in. Let’s take our responsibilities seriously.

Let me leave you with this truth from 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 that aptly sums up – and gives spiritual legs – to everything I have said:

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
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