Even Armpits…

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I love, love, love the verse that Don used the other week from Romans, chapter 12, verses 5-8…“so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging…”
I could bore you with another wrestling analog about how wrestlers use EVERY part of their body…their knuckles, their ankles, their chin and YES…even their armpits to win matches. But today is your lucky day!  I am going to use a different analogy  :-)
When actioncorps was on our mission trip to New Jersey after Hurrican Sandy I focused on that verse from Romans a lot.  Our little group of rag-tag warriors really displayed the fact that EVERY part of a body is important…each person was VITAL….in their own special way to the success of the work that we were doing for Christ.  EVERY MEMBER of our group had a talent – and the crazy thing was – NO TWO TALENTS WERE ALIKE!!
Some were workers – who could lift and carry
Some were prayers – who focused on concern for others
Some were organizers – making sure details were taken care of
Some had specialized skills – construction, demolition or even driving all night
And in the end, we NEEDED each and every member of the actioncorps team to comple our mission.  If even one of the group would have been missing – I believe to this day – that we could not have succeeded in what we accomplished.
On a larger scale, the same is true for the body we call the church.  Actionchurch happens 52 weeks a year, 365 DAYS a year, because individuals donate their God given talents to the “crew”.  Having the advantage of being able to look “behind the scenes”‘ at our church I can tell you that some of the talents that “make church happen” seem pretty boring.  Some of the skills are just down right amazing.  And some of the knacks that people have are just off the charts crazy!  But it works.  The reason it works is because nobody on the “crew” tries to be like anybody else on the “crew’.  They are all hard working individuals who have realized that they have a special talent and they have devoted that talent to Christ.
You see, God never planned for us to be identcial.  He never wanted us to be like the guy beside us.  He created us as individuals with individualized talents (and quirks) for a reason…so we could depend on each other – to work together – to accomplish HIS good.
I often comapre a thirving church to a box of crayons.  If the only two colors you had to use in a coloring book were black and white – the pictures would eventually get pretty boring, wouldn’t they?  But when you get to use that HUGE box of 50 bazillion crayons with every shade of the rainbow, colors with names you didn’t even know and glitter crayons too!!  WOW!!!  The pictures you create are vivid and bold and beautiful and INSPIRING!  That is what happens in a church when each person brings their own special “color’ to the picture.  Beautiful and inspiring things happen!
So, as we go through the Power Down series this month….take a look at yourself very carefully.  You have a talent.  God gave you a skill.  Think about what your function might be. If you are an armpit – be the best armpit you can be!  Think outside the crayon box and shine like a glitter crayon!
We need you.
Actionchurch NEEDS you.
Christ CREATED YOU  to complete His work on earth.

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