Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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The five members of the Hutchcraft family have the same last name, of course, you know except for our married daughter, but that's pretty much where the sameness ends. And I think it's good we're different.
When we needed an emotional lift, for example, well we've always had our oldest son there with his sense of humor. If we needed a physical lift, he was there with his very well developed physical strength. When we needed a job done or something fixed, oh, go to our youngest son. He has sort of had the helping hands and the figure-it-out mind in the family. And when it comes to greeting people or talking with people, or giving guidance, well our daughter was always there with her great people gifts. And, Mom was always there with her common sense. Thank the Lord for my sake! We need that, and she's got this great "drop everything for you" attitude.
I guess every family's like that. You have the same name, but you've got different styles; you make different contributions. That includes God's family. And some of the family who are the most different from you, guess what? They're the ones you need the most.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You're Not All There."
Our word for today from the Word of God is from 1 Corinthians 12. I'll be reading from verses 12, 21, 25 and 27. Basically it tells you that you're not all there. Yeah. Listen to this: "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts. And though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you.' And the hand cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you.'"
Then verse 25 says, "So there should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other. Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." You know what God is saying here is that basically He has made all of us incomplete. None of us has all of Him. But you put us all together and we've got it all. Or to put it another way, you're not all there. There is no family member in God's family that you don't need.
You say, "Well, wait a minute! What about those folks who..." You need them! "Yeah, but I know a group of people who are very different from us. They don't have as much (you know, whatever)..." You need them. See, we're not all there. We need those people who are different from us. We tend to get into our little clusters and we appreciate only Christians who see it our way, say it our way, do it our way, express it our way. But you're not all there; I'm not all there; we're incomplete!
If you're a feeling-oriented Christian, you need the stabilizing influence of some believers who are more content-oriented. But if you're real fact-oriented, content-oriented, guess what? You could use some of the warmth and spontaneity of the more feeling-oriented Christians. Or maybe you're a free-wheeling believer, well you need some Christians who are more structured, who stress boundaries in the Christian life. You need that. But if you're real structured, you need some of those more spontaneous people. You could use their openness.
See, some of God's children will teach you how to really worship, because they're really good at that; they're experienced in that. Others will stimulate your vision for a lost world. Some will teach you to give; other Christians may teach you how to really pray. There are others who will teach you to go to reach the lost. Others will show you how to love unconditionally. And then there will be others who will teach you to dig into the Bible as your source of authority. I'll just say of my life I feel like I'm a river that has been created by many tributaries and I've been so enriched by the variety of the body of Christ. I've needed them all.
See, if you will open up to the rest of the family, you're going to be really rich! Let different Christians challenge you, and balance you, complete you. There is no family member in God's family that you don't need and who doesn't need you, because we're just not all there.