Object lesson from a chopped hand

For those of you who don't know, or more correctly, who actually care- over Labor Day weekend, I went home and there waiting for me was Cali (ie Caliente). :) She is a beauty of car with a good chunk of character. She and I are getting to know each other and I must say, I'm pretty fond of her. So there's for a late update on that crazy part of life.

About 2 weeks ago, I was making guac and in the process of getting the nut out of the avocado, I stabbed my hand. Awesome, right? It was my left hand, which just happens to be my dominant hand. Even cooler. Add on top of that that the cut was really deep, but not long, and you've got one stitch on the palm that had to be all bandaged up so that everything would heal correctly. How pathetic is that? Real pathetic. But the worst part of the whole thing was how humbling the experience was and I was reminded of my dependence upon God. Have a gimp hand for a week and it teaches you patience and humility and makes you deeply appreciate the blessings and health that God has given you.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. See the same day as when I stabbed my hand, there had been 2 instances of talk about 1 Corinthians 12, in which Paul uses the image of the body to describe the church and its spiritual gifts. Literally all week, I read and hear 1 Corinthians 12 either in class, chapel, or mentioned by a friend. The greatest time hit me when my good ol' professor Bob emailed me about my hand and what it was teaching me about the body of Christ. It hit me like a brick wall. Do I really appreciate the body of Christ in the sense of allowing others to really excel and being OK with that? Am I using the gifts and talents that God has given my fellow classmates, friends, family, church members and co-workers? The answer was "no." My eyes are now tuned to it and I am realizing that probably one of the reasons Paul talks so much about unity is because unity is the biggest problem in the Church. It's the deadliest threat and the first thing to break in any difficult or good situation. My desire and hope, especially as I will soon hopefully enter into full time ministry soon, is to be a person willing to delegate, listen, respect, and above all be humble enough to be OK with others ideas, debates, and talents. I never want to be doing ministry fully on my own. It's no fun that way and it's not the way of Christ.