1 Corinthians 12:21-26

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. -1 Corinthians 12:21-26

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Our understanding of what it means to be part of God’s people is revealed by the way we treat our “weakest” or least popular member.  It’s easy to be friends at church or even at Harvesters with the most amiable, kind, nicest member.  But what if there is someone at your church who’s just super difficult to get along with?  What if there is someone at Harvesters who happens to be going through rough time faith-wise and perhaps even making unwise choices in his or her life?

Part of being the body means that we go out of our way to help, assist, and honor every member of our spiritual family—even the ones that are hard to honor.  I’ll be candid with you, as a Young Life leader, I’m human, too.  And just like everyone else, there are students I get along famously with and there are others that are much harder for me to connect with.  But God has called me to love everyone.  Every student, regardless of my own personal chemistry with him or her, is valuable in God’s sight and so I serve them in whatever capacity I can given my relationship with them.

I’m a sinner and I’m not perfect so there are definitely times when I fall short of this.  But God doesn’t give up on me.  Even though I’ve failed Him and failed the “body of Christ” over and over again, He still picks up and helps me to continue to seek Him.  This is what God wants us to help others to do.

Do you care about every member at church or at Harvesters OR do you only care about who is in your clique?  God calls us to do our best in loving each and every person that’s part of our faith community.