One of Janice’s favorite passages of Scripture is I Corinthians the 12th chapter where Paul compares the church to the human body. He describes community – where each cell understands the value of all the other cells.
Philip Yancey wrote, “Our culture is shot through with rating systems beginning in school when children receive marks defining relative performance. That, combined with factors such as physical appearance, popularity, and athletic prowess, may well determine how valuable people perceive themselves to be. Living in such a society my vision gets clouded. I begin viewing people according to status. When that happens, I must turn back to the lesson from the body. The body’s division of labor is not based on status; status is, in fact, immaterial to the task being performed.”
In Christ’s community a teacher of three-year-olds has the same value as a bishop. A widow’s dollar can equal a millionaire’s annuity. Shyness, beauty, eloquence, race, sophistication – none of these matter – only the depth of our relationship to Christ and to each other. Matthew 22:37-39