Interdependence

page detail from 1 Corinthians, 1611 KJV Bible (Replica Edition) photo by jch

Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 67, Selections from 1 Corinthians 12

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27

Businesses and organizations of many kinds come and go. But the Church – with a capital “C” – has survived and even thrived for 2,000 years. So it’s not uncommon for organizational experts to look to the Bible for lessons that can be applied to other organizations. Today’s texts are among those examined.

The events recorded in the tenth chapter of Luke remind us that even Jesus couldn’t do everything alone. At a certain point, he decided to expand the organization of his ministry. He appointed seventy workers who would go ahead of him to prepare the way.

As far as we know, there wasn’t much distinction made between these workers.  Perhaps it was something like what happens with the volunteers who co-lead our annual pledge campaign. Maybe they were allowed to pick some people or places they were familiar with. But we imagine the 70 people in 35 teams had roughly the same job to do and the same script to speak.

Paul approached things in a little more nuanced way. Paul had trouble convincing people to work together for a common cause. Perhaps his difficulty had something to do with the conflict in the Corinthian church, and the need to be a little more sensitive and nurturing.

Paul says there are “varieties of gifts,” something we now are trained to recognize in one another. While some of us may feel we don’t have much to offer to benefit our church or community, one of the points of this text is that every person is important to God, and each gift has value to the health and fruitfulness of the church. At a training event early in my ministry, I heard a fable told by Bruce Bugbee that expressed this truth in a way I found compelling.[1] It was about school for animals. The curriculum was uniform, and performance relatively easy to monitor. The problem was it made no allowances for individual differences. The duck was excellent at swimming, but poor in climbing and running. The rabbit was tops in running, but poor in swimming. The squirrel was a peak performer in climbing, but poor in flying. The eagle could get to any goal placed before her, but always cheated by going directly in her own way. Though God created each animal with a unique design, all the students ended up with an average GPA, and no one was happy. The point, said Bugbee, is that God has created each person with strengths, areas in which God has intended each to excel, and to make a meaningful contribution. 

Now, as compelling and memorable as this story is to me, it can’t stand alone as a story representing what Paul was teaching. Each individual in the fable might have decided he or she was so uniquely talented, so exquisitely gifted, that life together in community really was unnecessary. But in Paul’s teaching, each individual, no matter how talented and gifted, cannot survive without life together in community. The life of the one and the life of the many are interdependent.

The interdependence that Paul stresses is captured a bit better by Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute? a perennial bestseller on finding your vocation, who tells this story:

“When I supervised campus ministers for eight years, I once went to a university where six pastors of different denominations worked in a house built by Lutherans.  I was called in because they weren't working well together, and nobody could offer a solution.  I prayed for wisdom, as I always do before I enter a new situation, and sat down with the dozen or so staff.”

“I found they had worked together for more than five years, so I asked each to write down the names of the other people, and under each name, to put down what gifts God had given this person that he or she most delighted to use.  Then they went around the circle and explained what they had written about each person.  Each missed every other person in the circle! They had worked together for five years, but hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on with the others.”[2]

The result of several guided conversations was that they re-apportioned the responsibilities among themselves.  Each began working in ways more satisfying personally, and more supportive of the work of other members of the organization. 

I’ve been thinking about Bugbee’s fable and Bolles’s writing, in part, because today we elect new officers.  The nominating committee has worked diligently, and presented a full slate. The new elders and deacons will have opportunities for training. As time goes by, they will grow into their roles of service. We are deeply grateful for those who have heard the call, and committed to serve.

But there can be no doubt that the work of the nominating committee is more challenging these days.  Recent events like the pandemic encouraged us to avoid groups, and live in our “bubbles” of personal safety. Longer-term societal trends have tended to make our lives busy with many priorities that compete with church commitment.

It's worth our while to remind ourselves that vocation – God’s call – is something each and every Christian needs to make time to listen for. Its importance goes far beyond the seemingly routine annual task of filling officer rosters.  When we struggle with questions like “Where am I going?” “What am I supposed to do next?” “Why am I on this earth?” at the very root of things, Christians are asking God for an answer about direction and purpose.  When we ask God for help in making decisions, we are trying to hear a call.

Today’s new officers have reflected upon with the call to service, and whether it is the right role and right time for them. It’s a good idea for all of us to do the same at regular intervals. For me, such reflection sometimes is prompted by someone asking whether I’d like to make a commitment to a committee, or board, or new regular activity. Every “yes” and “no” has consequences in determining the path I walk and the purpose I fulfill.  When you receive such an invitation, a good and faithful response includes some prayerful reflection.  Do you hear a distant voice, an urging that this path is the right one?  Where will you find fulfillment?  What gifts will you offer? 

One day, you will receive a phone call from a church nominating committee, or from someone responsible for filling a leadership position in a workplace or another group to which you belong.  When you receive such a call, may you have a good understanding of the way in which you’ve been gifted. May you listen for God’s call to you. 

NOTES

[1] Videocassette by Bruce L. Bugbee, Networking: Introduction and Overview, Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, 1989.

[2] Richard N. Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?”

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