Steve Martin
“But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." (1 Corinthians 12:20-22, NKJV)
A few years ago, probably in the fall of 2006, while I was the USA Director for Vision For Israel (Barry & Batya Segal’s ministry from Jerusalem, Israel), we held our first conference in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. It was a joyous occasion, particularly for me, having been a three Lifetime Membership Partner of Heritage before its downfall and seeing this place restored, plus having the VFI ministry be the first one to use the former Heritage USA/PTL Grand Hotel Ballroom since the days of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in 1987.
Rick Joyner’s team at Morningstar, the new owners from just two years earlier, had just completed renovation of the Grand Ballroom, as they had worked their way to the end of the massive hotel complex. In fact, the night before the conference start (with Barry & Batya, Rick Joyner, Dr. Michael Brown and Scott Volk as the speakers) the installation crew had just laid down the new replacement hallway carpet. Then the next crew of two, Timmy Bryant and me, had to wait for the carpet glue to dry before we could start walking on it. It got to be late into the night before we could begin unloading the ministry’s old U-Haul truck, carrying the conference operation supplies. The conference was starting in the morning at 9:00 am if I remember correctly. Yeah!!! (We had fun doing it. Of course we did!)
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| Michael the Archangel |
After the Israel-focused conference had finished its three-day meeting schedule, about a week or so later, Timmy and I wanted to present a gift to the Morningstar Conference Director, Trevor Thiessen (great guy!), who had helped us a lot in the organization. I had prior purchased some ceramics of Michael the Archangel (Guardian of Israel!), keeping them for such occasions, and now enjoyed presenting one to him.
When he pulled it out from the cardboard box and held it up, he proclaimed without hesitation, “I want to thank the little people!” (Truly this was an Oscar moment, which, by the way, I decided not to watch this year for the first time, knowing the political rant it has become.)
His proclamation has stood with me all these 13 or more years since, as I am very aware of “all the little people” who make it happen. The ones working very loyally, diligently, courageously behind the scenes in our companies, churches, synagogues, and all of life in general – the so-called “little people”, the worker bees, the ones whom the visionaries, the leaders of the big and small organizations that abound all over the nations, wouldn’t get it done if not for those who are committed to doing the best job they can, while getting little notice, little fanfare here on earth, yet all the while storing up treasures in heaven, which I believe they are doing.
In The Message version of 1 Cor 12:12-31, Paul tells it like it is, in a rather descriptive and eloquent manner. He includes everyone when acknowledging what is going on, all that we see out front, and all that is happening behind the scenes, far too much of which we rarely see, or honor.
So even though this following quote from Scripture is long, it must be given in full. For we all make up the full Body - not just the ones who most often get the majority of the praise and honor, but even those we rarely give attention to but are just as important.
“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. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) 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.
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.
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.
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| Yeshua (Jesus) - we are His Body. The Body of Christ (Messiah) |
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?
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.
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. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles, prophets, teachers miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.”
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| Cheers! Have a cup on me!!! |
I want to give honor, thanks, acknowledgment, and a big hand clap to the many, many, many servants of the Most High God, for that is who you are, you who day in, day out, week after week, month after month, year after year give of yourselves to serve others. Most often it goes unnoticed, without many thanks, and usually means doing some of the not-so-glorious jobs that the headliners hopefully once did, but now have risen to the top.
Again, as Paul so beautifully wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we each have been gifted to do our part. May we each do it to the best of the ability we have, in our Lord’s strength and provision which He has given, and continues to give us, and to see the unified, completed results that He will bring as a result of our team work together.
So cheers to the hospitality teams, the ushers, the administrators, the “gophers” of course! Cheers!
Cheers to the planners, the cleaners, the production teams behind the cameras and the sound booth. Cheers!
Cheers to the prayer warriors, the childcare workers, the custodians. Cheers!
And finally, cheers once again to all the little people!!!
Your reward in heaven is great.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
If these messages have ministered to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $10-$120 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families in Israel whom we consistently help monthly through our humanitarian work. Your tax-deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.
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Now Think On This #392 - in the year of our Lord 02.26.19 – “The Little People” – Tuesday, 4:50 am
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