Being Christ’s Team

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Today’s reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

My church makes a special effort in its mission statement to remind all members they are a “family” in Christ. “St. Luke’s United Methodist Church will be a church family that makes and nurtures disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming God’s love to all in word and deed.”

Likewise, this spirit of family is reinforced regularly during various blessed sacraments of our denomination (baptisms, uniting in membership, affirming of faith, and others): these ceremonies ask everyone in attendance to support an individual in his or her commitment to God.

Today’s reading puts our mission and the blessed practices of my denomination in glorious perspective.  It causes me to remember that I am — along with all of my friends in my church — on Christ’s team. Christ is always counting on me even more than I count on him.

I’m thinking of the unfortunate tradition in sports to blame the coach when a team plays poorly.  (And, well, many churches have been known to blame pastors when their membership declines.) Christ is my coach, my leader. If I fail to live up to his lessons,  it is he who suffers. Imagine me only adding to the suffering that Christ endured on the cross!

Christ is responsible for my good work even more than I am!

The next time I am tempted to be a rebellious “foot” and say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body” (verse 15), I pray that today’s lesson from 1 Corinthians will come roaring back into my spirit.

Discipleship in Christ’s name is my job. I must remember to delegate with caution.