BIG IDEA: The Spirit makes us better together in Christ.
The church is extraordinary, not ordinary--we belong to Christ and are as united with Him as body parts, yet we aren’t literally Jesus.
To be in Christ, then, is to live by faith. I am me and you are you, but this faith-union miraculously transforms and reconciles us to function as one new body with many parts.
Takeaway from verse 13: Body parts need connection to receive life.
Takeaway like this from verse 14: We’re never enough on our own.
Takeaway from verses 15-16: God determines our value, not us.
Takeaway from verses 17-20: Our gifts are not for going rogue.
We aim to identify and involve gifted people. We do this by building relationships and utilizing diagnostic tools like gift and personality tests to learn how we’re wired. Ultimately though, the Spirit of God decides and sometimes overrides aspects of who we are. It might take us a while, but our gifts will become evident as we hang out and sharpen one another with honest feedback so none of us are running around like “Thing” from the Adams Family!
