The moment that we measure ourselves to someone else, we lose sight of the goodness of God. Comparison distracts us from truth and robs us of joy. This sounds eerily familiar to what John tells us when he says “the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (10:10). Satan uses comparison in our lives so that he can steal our joy, kill of faith in the goodness of God, and destroy our fellowship with Christ. It is an easy trap to fall into, but comparison needs to be eradicated from our lives. We see in Scripture that “just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5). Paul instructs us about the diversity the body so that we will be aware of the importance of variation. Each believer has a different role to play that will ultimately collaborate with the rest to build up the church. This past week, I took some time to go through an activity that helped me to discover my specific role on my team and in the body. This tool helped me to put away comparison and rejoice in the gifting that God has given me.
There are four main roles that play into the development of any plan, project, or task: visionary, strategist, builder, and operator. A person may step into any of these roles but generally have a strength in one specifically. The visionary is a creative person the sees the big picture of what needs to happen. Similarly, the strategist is able to take any abstract ideas that the visionary has and put them into a realistic and concrete plan. On the next rung is the builder, who gets instructions and then finds way to get them accomplished. Last but not least is the operator. This person performs the specific task assigned to them. Each of these roles are no more or less significant than the others, but everyone of them is needed to complete the process.
I have found that I resonate most with the role of the builder. For the most part, it is what I am the best at doing. I generally don’t think big picture, and I rarely come up with solid plans from crazy ideas. However, I am good at working with and collaborating with people to get stuff done. The biggest revelation that God has given me through this is that he finds equal value in each role. As David says in Psalm 84, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (84:10). In the Kingdom of God there is no lowly positions. Each member of the body of Christ performs a function that will increase the church to glorify the Father. So, as we go throughout our lives let us not live in comparison but rather rest in the truth of God.
