Every Part
“God has arranged the parts in the body,
every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
1 Corinthians 12:18 (NIV)
Last week I had the great privilege of being interviewed by two young moms for their “Every Part” podcast. The main question these young women asked was, “How did you get started teaching women’s Bible studies?”
I was 25 years old when my husband and I moved to a small rural Alabama town with 12000 residents. Bruce had just accepted the head coaching job at the local high school. We were new parents with a 5-week-old baby and no other family in town. I was suddenly a full time stay at home mom with a lot of extra time on my hands. Bruce and I began visiting local churches and finally settled on a small church plant that, while short on resources, was big on discipleship and evangelism.
Several women from our new church were interested in trying to begin a women’s discipleship ministry. We contacted Briarwood Presbyterian Church who put us in contact with two women whose passion was to teach and train other women how to study God’s Word. One of the women (Pat) wrote the Bible studies; the other one (Annette) invited us to her home to teach us a new lesson. For 6 weeks, five women from our small town made the hour drive to Birmingham, studied the Bible with Annette, and enjoyed a delicious lunch at her house. At the end of each session, Annette handed us our newly completed Bible study lesson and said, “Here’s your lesson. Go home and teach someone what you’ve been taught. When you’ve done that, come back and we’ll do another lesson!”
Annette’s words didn’t just encourage us; they challenged us. We knew we couldn’t come back unless we taught someone what we had just learned.
Looking back, I realize that Annette did so much more than feed our bodies; she fed our souls and fueled my passion for teaching God’s Word. I’ve been teaching women ever since. Annette, now well into her eighties, is still teaching too!
But teaching is just one of the many spiritual gifts that God has given to the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul gives us a partial list of spiritual gifts with his words found in Romans 12:6-8. These gifts include:
serving;
encouraging;
giving;
leading;
showing mercy
administration
Paul also provides two other spiritual gift lists in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and Ephesians 4:11-13. Perhaps more important than listing spiritual gifts, however, is Paul’s insistence that the Body of Christ is:
one Body with many parts
every part is important
God has arranged the parts just as he wanted them to be.
I’ve seen the diversity of God’s spiritual gifts in action over the last two weeks. Our Women’s Ministry team hosted a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party to jump start our new school year with a fun time of food and fellowship. Dozens of women from all ages and stages of life were involved in planning, decorating, hosting, serving, and helping other women feel welcome, wanted and worth the trouble. That’s the essence of biblical hospitality.
Our Flower Guild volunteers demonstrate creativity and stewardship as they create weekly flower arrangements that benefit our entire congregation.
The gifts of generosity and encouragement were on full display with the installation of our local high school’s new Jumbotron. The giant video board was generously donated by local businesses and private citizens. No school funds were used, but our entire community benefits from the donors’ generosity.
The spiritual gifts of service and helps are used every two weeks as members of the Big Oak Ranch Auxiliary organize and stock shelves in The Shed. Volunteers ensure that the donated food supplies are organized and accessible for the Big Oak Ranch House parents who are feeding and caring for some 170 children at the Ranch.
Spiritual gifts are God-delivered and God-designed ministry resources that are to be used for God’s glory and others’ good. Author Tim Challies writes, “Each of us will have to give an account to God, not for the gifts he has given others, but for the gifts he has given us. And so it becomes our responsibility, our calling, our joy, to accept them, to pursue them, and to deploy them for his glory.”
What spiritual gift or gifts has God given you? How are you using your gift? What can you do better serve the Body of Christ and glorify God?
God’s Divine Design it that “every part” is doing its part so that the Body of Christ is built up! (Ephesians 4:12)