We are all working towards the same goal.
When you are on a production line, everyone has a part to play. Roman was responsible for inserting the jacket, Monique inserted the Shoppers flyer, Barb inserted the Kent Flyer, Linda was responsible for Superstore, Brenda inserted Canadian Tire, Brad inserted Jean Couto, and so on, but you get my point. Each of us had our own part to play, but we were all obtaining the same goal, which was to get the finished product (flyer packs) off the line in bundles and sent upstairs. In a greater way, the Church is made up of believers in Christ, who each have a part to play as we all strive towards the goal.
No one in the Church is called to spectate, we are all called to participate. God has given each of us gifts and talents to benefit the rest of the church so that we can all reach the goal together. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul uses the image of the human body to illustrate each of our roles and the gifts we have been given to build up the church and strive towards the goal together: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body” (vrs 14-20). Some of us are called to preach, some of us are called to help, some of us will teach, some of us will serve, some of us are called to encourage, others will heal, and some will be gifted with tongues, but these gifts are given to be a blessing to the church so we can all pursue the same goal.
What is that goal? Christ. Each of us has been brought in as God’s children and have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus. We have been saved by Jesus for Jesus so that we would glorify him, be a witness to him in this world, and pursue him until the very end. We are all in a race, but we are in this race together, we all have the same prize waiting for us at the end of the race; to obtain the imperishable Crown, Christ himself. One day we will receive resurrected bodies like him. In the meantime, our mission on earth is to make much of Jesus and proclaim Jesus so that we can bring with us as many Sons of glory as possible. However, the good news is God is at working saving people and he will make sure that they all finish the race.
We need to be a people of grace
Working on the line can be stressful, overwhelming and tiresome because we had goals to accomplish, budgets to keep, and deadlines to meet. So, you can imagine the amount of pressure this puts on the supervisor, the machine operators, the line operators, and the production workers. Sadly this leaves very little room for mistakes and it lacked grace. Our Supervisor didn’t like it when the line stopped, he would often come out and try to get the line back up or growl at us if it was down for too long. It may seem like he was a jerk or at least acting like a jerk (love you Nick), but you can only imagine the pressure he himself was under from management. While there, I had the opportunity to show grace to my co-workers, be gracious with my supervisor, and encourage our machine operators. In no way was I always perfect at this, and sadly I wish I showed the same level of grace to my family and myself, as I did with those I worked with. However, because of the amazing and endless grace that God has shown me, I tried to bring some of that grace with me to work.
If our workplaces operate in a way that lacks grace, how much more do we as a church need to be marked and defined by God’s grace, especially in our weekly gatherings. So many of our people work in environments that lack grace, where they have demands placed on them, and they bring some of that stress home with them and on Sunday mornings. As they sit in our gatherings they may have the events of Friday still on their mind, and fear what awaits them went they return to work on Monday. The last thing they need is for the church to be the same type of environment they spend 5 days a week at. Our messages and teachings need to be filled with God’s truth, but marked by his grace. The culture in our church should be marked by grace, not legalism or morality so that when mistakes are made or someone gives into sin, we respond with grace and help pick them back up. We need to interact with each other with grace so that when we wrong one another, we will be quick to seek forgiveness and quick to give it. When there are conflicts within the church or dispute over cultural issues and doctrine, how different would the results be if we were guided by God’s grace while remaining faithful to the Truth? Oh, how different would we be as a people if we truly allowed the grace that saved us to define every area about us as a church and every facet of our individual lives? What impact would this have on gatherings, our communities, our homes, and when we return to work on Monday morning? Thankfully we have a God who has given us his Spirit to help us be gracious, may we follow his leading. May we be a people marked by God’s grace: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
A people who care about each other and share each others’ burdens
One of the things I noticed while working on a production line was that not everyone cared for each other. Some people were there just for the paycheck and didn’t care about those around them, they were simply working for themselves and not for others. However, the reality is because we were all on the line together, working towards the same goal; we all needed to care for each other, share the burdened, and help each other out. If someone was struggling with their flyer it wasn’t just their problem, it was our problem too because it affected us from doing what we needed to do, it would stop the line, and keep us all at work longer. You could either complain about the worker who is struggling or you can pitch in to help them out. It was a beautiful thing to see when some of us would help each other with our burdens and work together to help get flyers ready or help the person who was struggling with keeping up with putting flyers in their machine.
If we need to be willing to share each others’ burden on a production line, how much more does the Church need to be willing to share each others’ burdens? In fact, scripture commands us to share each other's burdens. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Or what about John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” The church is not about any one individual, but sadly many churches have become about one individual or family. Many of us as pastors can testify about this. The church is meant to be about the body of Christ who is made up of Christ as the head, and you and me as the body. When you hurt, I hurt. When someone is struggling in their walk, we all are struggling. If someone grieves, we are to grieve with them. If one of us sins, it affects us. We need to care about each other because we have a God who cares deeply for as a whole and as individuals, and often God ministers to us through other believers. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:24-26, “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.” God has entrusted us to each other, we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord, none of us are more important than the other, and we are all members of the body, so may we care for each other in a way that gives honour to him. When we care for each other and keep Christ the focus, we have everything in common and none of us lacks anything (Acts 2).
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