It’s easy to get lost in feeling you aren’t an important part of a congregation, that’s even more true for kids who often don’t have numerous hands-on skills they can offer. Paul’s passage on the body of believers is a great way of reminding everyone that not all jobs are glamorous and that each part, whether it’s a leading or supporting or a needing support role, is an essential part.
This retold version of the Bible passage is supplied for inspiration, feel free to omit or embellish to give it your personal voice.
Main Passage :1 Corinthians 12
Paul stared at the passage of writing. The letter to the Corinthians was getting long, but it was all important stuff they needed to hear. He had just finished the bit about how God gives us different gifts, and now he had to find a way of explaining how those gifts worked together.
Paul looked around for something he could use as a symbol. The curtains needed the window. The lamp needed the oil. The plants needed the rain and sun and soil… nothing was quite working. He tried again. His pen needed ink and a hand to hold it and an arm to move it and eyes to see… wait this could work! He put the pen down and looked at his reflection in the basin. Then, he rushed to the table to start writing…
The body has many parts, but it’s still one body, just like the Church has many members but is still one church.
Imagine if a foot said it didn’t belong to the body because it wasn’t a hand! Doesn’t that sound silly? How would we walk without feet?
Imagine if an ear said it wasn’t part of the body because it wasn’t an eye! How would we hear?
If the whole body was nothing but ears, how would we smell? If the whole body was eyes, how would we hear? The body needs many different parts.
God has arranged the body so that we can all work together. The eyes can’t say they don’t need the ears. The hands can’t say to the feet that they don’t need them. Our churches are not places for being exclusive and only gathering people who are the same, but inclusive where we love the differences that others bring. We need each other to be the whole body.
When we work together, it changes how we treat each other too. If one person suffers, we all suffer. It’s the same when we get hurt. If you cut your foot, then the body is hurt even if your arm is fine. If you win an award for your drawing, your whole body is honoured and rejoices, not just your hands.
God has put the body together so that there would be no division in the body and that the members would all value each other. We all have different roles to play. Some roles are more important than others, but that doesn’t mean that the smaller roles aren’t important too. Without them, the body, as God designed it to be, would be incomplete.
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