“You will
be preaching in Africa.” This statement was from Casey Wells at
training camp in August. I’ve heard and
read enough about the World Race to have expected this. And I do a lot of speaking in public at home,
so I wasn’t too concerned about that aspect. But knowing I am expected to do something, and actually preparing for it
and doing it are very different things. My theological ‘training’ is pretty much what I remember from high
school Theology class with Chip Bristol. Sure I’ve studied the Bible to some extent, and I’ve read lots of
Christian books… but still… preaching?
My biggest
obstacle in this case was fear. Fear of
saying the wrong thing in front of my teammates. I am sure that the Kenyans who can understand
me will tell me I did great, but my teammates know far more about the Bible and
the history of it than I do; some of them have degrees in Bible, or have taught
in Christian schools. Couple that with
the fact that I tend to have more liberal interpretations of some things, and
my fear becomes akin to terror. My fear
of preaching was that I would say something that was either flat out
theologically wrong, or that I would offend someone on my team.
We had been
in Mbita for a week, and we were headed to our second church. It was my turn to preach. When I sat down to pray about the message I
should give, I got a whole lot of nothing. I didn’t know if I was supposed to preach on Grace, Faith, Love,
Forgiveness… I had no clue. I also knew
nothing about my audience. I am used to
giving speeches that are carefully planned out in a way so my audience can
relate to it. But this time… I had
nothing. And as I flipped though my
Bible, it opened to a passage that I’ve spent a lot of time reading this last
year.
It is a passage that I heard every
Spring in Chapel at Holderness
School, specifically the
Leadership chapel. My high school had an
amazing system for choosing class President, Vice President, all the house and
floor leaders, the leaders of the work crews, etc. If you are unfamiliar with this concept,
think of the Prefects and Head Boy and such from Harry Potter. In any case, each spring, during Chapel, this
passage was read, and a message was taught, in hopes that everyone would
recognize that whether or not you were awarded a position in leadership, each
person was a necessary part of the school.
The passage is 1st Corinthians 12:12-26
For as the body is one, and has many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so
also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been
all made to drink into one Spirit.
14For the body is not one member, but many. 15If the
foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body; it would not
for that reason cease to be a part of the body. 16And if
the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body; it would not
for that reason cease to be a part of the body. 17If the
whole body werean eye,
where would the sense of hearing
be? If the whole body werean
ear, where wouldthe
sense of smell be? 18But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every
one of them, just as he wanted them. And
if they were all one part, where wouldthe body be? 20As it is, there are many parts but only one body. And the
eye cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you: nor can the head say to the feet,
I have no need of you. On the contrary,
those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts
we think less honorable, we must treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are
treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special
treatment. But God has combined the
members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so
that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have
equal concern for each other. If one
part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part
rejoices with it. Now you are the body
of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
This was essentially the message I
preached, weaving in parts about how there were moments I didn’t feel like I
fit in with my team, or with the squad, until I noticed that other people were
feeling this too. For many of us, it is
that we have certain roles at home, and suddenly we are meeting other people
who are more gifted in those ways. This
passage reminds me on a regular basis that I have a place with this World Race
family. That as a member of the body of
Christ, God has given me gifts and talents that contribute good things toward
the whole body. After I had preached
this message, the Pastor followed up with his congregation, saying that I was
the deliverer of God’s word, and that since he had preached a similar message
last week, God used me to confirm that this is a message this church needed to
hear again.
By using that passage, the one I heard
repeatedly each spring, I finally got it. Nearly 14 years after hearing those words for the first time, they
clicked with me. I am beginning to
understand how God is using me, and that I am an important part of the body of
Christ. Thank you Holderness School Leadership Chapel, for the lessons that keep going, long after graduation.
