Many years ago, as a teen, I earned income babysitting for local families. One of those families had a young son and daughter about age 6 and 7. While I don’t remember the kid’s names, there are a couple things I hope to remember forever. The first is how much they drove me crazy- and you’re not going to believe why! These two always got along and were so polite, tidy, and well behaved it drove me nuts, so nuts I used to beg them to argue or not share or make a mess or anything that would make the evening seem more normal. They used to just giggle at me…
The other thing I want to remember is how we used to enjoy our favorite snack together. While my mom made all our cookies or bought really cheap brands that tasted like cardboard, the kids had name brand cookies, and so it would be quite a treat for me. Our favorite kind was Oreo cookies. We would sit there with a pile of cookies in the middle of us and start our disassembly line. One by one the cookies would be twisted and the sweet white centers separated from the chocolate cookie part.
It was a match made in heaven for them and me. They loved the chocolate cookie part best, and I loved the gooey white centers, and so we would all end up with what we considered the best part of the cookie. Truly, I thought they were a little crazy for liking the cookie part as I found it dry, dull, and certainly not sweet enough. They thought I was a little crazy to like ‘that sticky stuff’ that was way too sweet. Go figure…
We are all different from each other and that is good. Life would be boring if we were all the same and obviously if everyone was like me, we would starve, live in a disaster zone, and never find our stuff because we’d put it somewhere safe! Just as the kids and I each played a particular part in eating/ enjoying the cookies, each one of us (in Christ’s body) serves a purpose that we are uniquely suited to; each one of us is important to the body.
Let us check out 1 Cor. 12:
7- Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given… to another… (various gifts) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
14- Now the body is not made up of one part but many.
18- But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
27- Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. NIV
Each one of you in the body of Christ is important to me. Without you, I am incomplete. Without you… who would eat the chocolate cookie part?