Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Who gets noticed in your church?

I have observed that those who get noticed in my church are usually pastors & elders, leaders, theologians, foreign speakers, MU football fans, married (or dating) couples, the visibly gifted, intellectuals, successful white-collar professionals and quite recently singles below 40.

Others get noticed for the wrong reasons or don't seem to get noticed at all.

The way I have been feeling recently made me go back to the Bible to see what it says of how we should treat our brothers & sisters in the faith. In I Corinth 13, Paul talks about the community of believers as a human body...made up of many parts - each having a specific function that contributes to the health of the whole body.
The New Living Translation puts it this way....
One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Could it be that many 'significant' people in our church are being given the respect and honour that rightly belongs to those we consider weaker and lesser ? If we are to take Paul's explanation seriously, then the people we ought to proudly honour and fiercely protect are the

Coffee servers
Ushers
Church workers
Janitors
Blue-collar employees
Unemployed
Single mothers
Singles
Divorced
Barren
Clerks and typists
Financially disadvantaged
Disabled
Dysfunctional
Minority group pastors
Elderly
Etc
When we do notice them, what do we do? Offer an obligatory (once-a-year) gesture of appreciation that fits neatly into an 'ang pow' packet? Treat them like a charity case? Perform random acts of kindness when we feel like it?
Honestly, how many of us take time to befriend them? Lavish our love and affection on them the way we do for the more high profile people of our church community? Defend them and protect them from the harsh realities of life? Ask them if they feel safe and loved in our fellowship? And worry if they don't?
Why? There are many reasons.
Because they deserve nothing less. Because it is just and fair. Because God commands it. Because without them the church will become self-indulgent, obese and riddled with disease. Because we are called to mirror the Christ who chose the stable, revealed himself to poor shepherds, dined with miserly tax-collectors, touched the lepers and died for sinners.

This Christmas, pick someone who is 'invisible' or rarely gets noticed. Pick someone who is 'undeserving'. Pick someone who faithfully serves without recognition. Pick a 'nobody' and then spoil them silly! I have a hunch that Jesus would like that....a lot.

He picked you, didn't He?