Everyone knows that your hand is important—a vital part of your physical body. Did you know that every part of your body is important? Even the littlest toe on your foot has a vital function to perform! The purpose of the little toe is to provide balance and propulsion. Of course, the little toe does not do this job alone. It works in concert with the other toes, the rest of the foot, and the entire body to get us going. Just as all of the individual parts of the human body are important, the individual members in the Body of Christ are also important.
God placed every member in the Body of Christ as it pleased Him (I Corinthians 12:18). Each member contributes in a unique way to the effectual working of the Body. Since every member is called to give what is uniquely his or hers to give, every member is vital and necessary. Therefore, we can be confident that we each have an important part to play in the Body of Christ as we do the good works that God has called us to do. We can boldly be ourselves for God!
Romans 12:5:
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
I Corinthians 12:27:
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Like the human body, the Body of Christ is a functioning together of many members. This is God’s design, and that’s what makes it work so beautifully and powerfully. Each believer is unique, with individual abilities, characteristics, and experiences. Each is needed in the Body of Christ. There is never a reason for us to think that one member’s function is any more or less important than another’s. That would be like the foot saying it is less important because it is not the hand.
I Corinthians 12:14,15:
For the body is not one member, but many.
If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
The foot’s job is not the same as the hand’s, but that does not make the foot any less important than the hand. The foot and the hand both have specific and necessary functions to perform in the body. The same applies for believers serving in the Body of Christ. We function in different ways, but we are each important and necessary. I cannot be you and you cannot be me. Only you can do your part and only I can do mine. As we grow in confidence about our ability to serve as members in particular, together we contribute to the functioning of the one Body.
God wants us to grow in our ability as individual members of the Body, but He also designed for the members to work together; therefore, we mutually rely on one another for support. As we appreciate and embrace one another’s differences, we help meet one another’s needs in dynamic ways. We recognize that each of us is necessary, having a function to perform that nobody else can. As a member in the Body of Christ, each believer has a function, a way to serve, that is uniquely his or hers. The uniqueness of the members allows the Body to function and flourish the way God intended. Two believers may be as different from each other as the hand is from the foot. Yet as they each carry out their functions and allow each other to be unique, needs are met in the Body of Christ.
Some believers in the Body are especially adept at witnessing. Others excel in undershepherding. What if everyone witnessed and no one undershepherded? Who would take care of the new believers? How thankful we are for each other’s differences! As the individual believers serve together in their unique ways, and as we have the same care one for another, all needs are met!
I Corinthians 12:21,25:
And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
In the Body of Christ we learn to understand each other’s movements and move smoothly together as one. Rather than being divided by our differences, we appreciate one another and enjoy great fellowship in the Body of Christ. We can give one another room to be who we are in living the Word. We recognize that each of us plays an important role in the functioning of the Body of Christ, having a specific function to perform that only that member of the Body can fulfill.
God wants you to be yourself for Him. There is only one of you. Only you can do what God called you to do. This is true for every believer in the Body. Each of us plays an important part in the functioning of the one Body, and we need one another for it to work the way God designed it. Let’s have great confidence to be ourselves, functioning together as important members in the Body of Christ!