#4. You can’t choose your body parts.
I have some body parts that seem to cooperate better than others. My arms and legs still work pretty well. They are even getting stronger as I work on them. My eyes are starting to give out a little. I need a stronger eyeglass prescription each year. If I had my choice I would choose a quicker metabolism and a body that was a little more proportionate (my wife makes fun of my chicken legs). We can’t choose our body parts, but we do our best with what God has given us.
I am convinced that God brings people to us at The Well. We don’t do a lot of marketing. We have this blog and a web site that needs a lot of work. Almost everyone who has ever come to one of our churches has come because of a personal invitation.
When they come they have the option to become relationally invested or they can just visit and never return. There are some who have “visited” for months and then decided they didn’t want to invest.
One of the lessons that I have learned over the years is that whoever comes and decides to stay becomes part of the body. For better or worse they are now part of us. Sometimes they are a blessing and come ready to contribute, invest and work. Sometimes they are the work. But they are part of us, so we do our best to love them.
One of the advantages of house church is that it is a constant exercise in sacrifice. We don’t have affinity groups or group people by demographics. We just welcome whoever comes. We make it clear that they are one of us we wont let them just wander away. In fact we wont let them go without a fight. We wont force anyone to stay part of a group if they are feeling like God is leading them elsewhere or if they just want to leave. But being a body part is a big responsibility. If one is hurt or not functioning well, it is the rest of the body’s job to nurse it back to health.
So, become a part of a house church at your own risk. You have been warned. It is a wonderful thing to be part of a body. But don’t think you can change or control the rest of the body parts. Jesus is the head, not any one person. Delight in the body parts that God has given you. He has blessed you with them. Treat them well.
Thank you for this post. It is exactly what is my experience after 3 years of doing church in a different way. It encouraged me to read that other people have the same experience.
By: Rineke on September 2, 2010
at 11:38 PM
I know that this post was mostly about all the people (body parts) in the church body. But that first paragraph (and especially the title) also struck me personally. I’ve often wished I was this body part or that body part (and churches I’ve attended have also sometimes wished the same thing, and tried to “force” me into doing what I really am not meant to be…). LOL, sometimes I wish I was pretty much all the body parts… wouldn’t that just be easier? (Yes, that question is sarcasm, directed at myself…).
Anyway, thanks! I’m encouraged by your article to accept my own “body parts” …
By: norma j hill on September 3, 2010
at 9:37 AM
No we can not choose our body parts, and that includes big church, home church, your co-workers at your job, well it pretty much covers quite a few areas in our lives.
I love the body parts in our home church. Each one of them is unique, and they all come with different gifts, problems, and experiences that just add more character in our meetings. Because of our differences, we are able to see things in a different light. Each person that shares has a different thought, and this just adds to our understanding of the Word, and what God is trying to tell us.
Embrace the difference in your groups. Accept that home church isn’t for everybody. Yes, it’s sad when people you really enjoyed leave, but maybe that’s why God directed them there in the first place. They contributed something to the meetings that was needed, and then they may need to leave and go to another place to do the same. We need to enjoy who is there when they are there, and wish them well when they leave. Look forward to who will come next. That’s just how it works!
By: Kathie Fierro on September 3, 2010
at 10:29 PM