One of my favourite analogies is in this
chapter. I can remember being 11/12 and really grappling with this scripture
deeply. I was starting to get a sense from God of calling on my life, but
struggled that perhaps it wasn't the same as all my friends. I was blessed to
start serving in church really young, but one of the problems I faced was that
I found myself judging myself against my peers. I was shaped differently
because God had a different purpose for me.
Paul describes the
church like a body, made up of lots of different parts that do different jobs.
The analogy has so much to offer; perhaps what you need to hear today is that
it is ok that how you serve God looks different to the person next to you or
maybe it is a day when you need to be reminded that even a lofty eye needs a
sturdy body under it to support you. Even an eye that has seen the wonders of
the world is fairly useless if it has been removed from the body and can now
only see the mud it lies on. Or perhaps this is a day when you just need to
stand back view the body of Christ in all its splendour and be thankful that
other parts of it look so different to you.
(lay member of staff)