“You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of His one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which He has the final say in everything. Each of us is now a part of His resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—His Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 MSG)
Most current World Racers, at some point on their race, get honored with the unique task of finding Unsung Heroes within the country they are staying for the month. Instead of diving into life and work with one specific organization like the rest of their squad, they go off on their own and ask The Lord where He wants them to go. Who He wants them to meet. They pray, they worship, they pray some more, and they send out lots of e-mails and make lots of phone calls, set up meetings, and travel the country visiting ministries.
“I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where He wanted it.” (1 Corinthians 12:14-18 MSG)
Racers often times get to do this just once for one month with the slim chance of doing it twice because of team changes throughout the race. But you certainly never think you’ll do it twice, two months in a row. Unless you’re me.
“But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?” (1 Corinthians 12:19-24 MSG)
I had just finished up a great month of finding unsung heroes throughout the Philippines when I landed myself at the end of our squad debrief standing in a circle with my new team, hearing I’d be going at it again for a round 2 in Thailand. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. The news knocked me over. Literally. I fell dramatically and laid, shocked, on the floor for a moment as my new team stared down at me. (What can I say? Some moments are just better dramatized). My mind flooded with thoughts of unmet ministry expectations I didn’t even know I’d set. I wasn’t disappointed out of dissatisfaction with the job of finding Unsung Heroes in Thailand. I’d had an incredible time doing it in the Philippines and I was certain Thailand would be no different. But wasn’t I supposed to be saving sex trafficked victims? Or playing with orphans? Or building relationships in the slums? It took me about a week, but I finally let go of all my “but wait..” thoughts and comments, diving into what we WERE doing for the month.
“The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.” (1 Corinthians 12:25-26 MSG)
So now at the end of 2 months of prayer, research, travel, and meetings I want to share with you the greatest thing I’ve gotten to experience. The body of Christ. When we needed a place to stay, homes were opened to us. When we were hungry, we had food. When we needed directions, someone pointed us on our way. When we needed a ride, we got picked up. But best of all, I got to see and experience the many different ways God’s Kingdom is being built throughout these 2 countries. No 2 ministries I went to visit did the same thing, and no 2 missionaries I met had the same life. But every single one of them was lead to where they are by The Lord and every single one of them continues in the work they’ve been called to by His strength.
“You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
THANK YOU to everyone we’ve met along the way. Thank you for letting us into your homes and your lives. Thank you for taking time to meet with us, talk with us, share your passions with us. You’ve been an incredible blessing and encouragement and we’re so excited to partner with you!
