The Body

This morning, pastor Bill dug into the issue of the different parts of the body working together for the good of the entire body. As we were doing the drama and being interviewed, it occurred to me how much of my past willingness to serve was related to my own sense of self-worth. I do not want to serve when I am not feeling good about myself or I'm lacking confidence. But as I thought more about this I realized how closely this is tied to having our identity in Christ. The more I am assured in my identity as an adopted child of God, the more I am willing to put myself out there. Like any relationship, starting to serve is sort of like going on a first date: what if they don't like me? what if they think I'm weird? what if I don't like them? how could I end it if I know its not working?

Any time we step out into something new, it is a risk. But as each one of us are transformed, we start to understand that growth comes from risk. Risk to serve in an area with no expertise. Risk to ask a question about God that no one else dares ask. Risk to say we don't have it all together. Risk or being transparent. Risk of seeing the transparency of others.

But we are the body. We are brothers and sisters. Perhaps there exists a truly functional family and, in that hypothetical family, I think there is transparency and trust. Conversely, it seems one of the traits of the "most" dysfunctional families is there lacks the ability to be real. I strongly desire the family of New Hope to be healthy; we may not be fully functional (although that's the goal), but we must be healthy. This means we share what is on our mind, including the truth in love. It means we need to accept hearing the truth in love. It means we are patient with each other and realize each person is uniquely wired by God.

It's exciting to be part of a larger body. I'm so honored to be part of the family of God and even more specifically of the family of New Hope. Like brothers and sisters, we'll walk through disagreements and conflict, but at the end of the day, like Sister Sledge sang, "We are family!"