The Set-Up
My high school band director always told us, “We’re only as strong as our weakest link.” He loved sports, but he often pointed out that sports teams have the option of benching a player who isn’t performing well. He also pointed out that even in their best games, athletes don’t have perfect performances. Joe Montana is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks, and throughout his career, he completed 63% of his passes. Tom Brady has completed 64% of passes. Both of these highly decorated athletes have missed just under half of their passes. When performing music, those stats are unacceptable. Could you imagine what it would sound like if the lead trumpet in a concert band missed half of their notes while playing the Star Spangled Banner? It’d be horrific.
In music, it is absolutely vital that every person know their part inside and out. They have to play every performance with 100% accuracy. Even the smallest parts need to be polished to perfection. If they aren’t, the whole band suffers.
This is what it means to be the body of Christ, to be part of the universal Church. We don’t have to be perfect, but we must confidently live out the parts God has called us to play. We don’t have the option of sitting on the bench when we’re having an off day. Like they say in show biz, “The show must go on.”
Today is the last day of our United study of 1 Corinthians, and throughout the summer, we’ve learned that Christians must be unified. Just like great orchestral pieces, we all have God-given parts to play. We are individuals, but each of our parts fit together as a whole in order to glorify God and share His love with the broken world around us. Sometimes the most effective way for us to do that is to give up some of our individual rights so others can better play their parts or so others can better hear God’s love rather than ourselves. In the words of Paul, the only way this is possible is by doing “everything with love.”
Passage to Read
Reflection Questions
What has stuck out to you the most throughout Journey’s United series? What is something from this series that you can apply to your own life?
How can we be unified but still individuals? What does it mean to live as God has called you specifically to live while still living in unity with other Christians?
There are so many examples of parts working together to make something happen – a car, a TV, your commute to work. How do you fit into the body of Christ? How do your skills and talents work with other Christians to promote God’s message to others?
Prayer Idea
Thank God that part of His great plan includes connecting us with other people so we don’t have to do life on our own. Thank Him for the encouragement you’ve received from others that He has placed in your life. Thank God for also using you for something far greater than yourself, for allowing you to be a part of something larger than we could ever imagine. Ask God to help you take the message of 1 Corinthians to heart so that you can do everything in love.