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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
What Role Do You Play in God's Kingdom
The San Antonio Spurs are the champions of the NBA. Their hero was a player named Bruce Bowen.
You say you never heard of him? Perhaps not, but it’s not because he was not a standout player for them. It is probably because he was not the star – Tim Duncan was the star – but what made Bowen a most valuable part of a championship team was the fact that he was willing to play a role. A role that did not make him a star, but brought the team a championship.
Every good team has what we call a “role player.” He/she does not usually get the media attention like the star, but he/she does the little things that make a difference. Bruce Bowen, though an excellent player, was willing to focus on defense, not offense. He guarded the opposing team’s best scorer, thus producing a plus in the scoring column apart from his own scoring. And he is a “hero.”
Our Body’s “Role Players”
Our physical body includes many organs that may seem to play a minor “role,” but without them the body could not function properly. There are glands that cause other organs to do their work properly. When they do not do their job, we get sick. Ever had a kidney stone? Or a bladder infection? What about gall bladder trouble? These and other even more obscure body parts have a role to play, and when they do, we are healthy and productive. Otherwise, we get “sick.”
In 1 Corinthians 12:14-17, the Holy Spirit discusses members of the body of Christ using this very metaphor:
“..the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body?.. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?” [NKJV]
Yes, the human body has many role players, and they are our heroes. The body of Christ, His church, is made up of many members, but we all are vital, heroes to one another.
God Appoints Our Role
We learn early that it is the female who brings a child into the world, not the male. We learn about those “roles” in our youth, but we must learn to fill our role when we are grown.
God has placed males in some roles, females in others. Someone had to be responsible for family leadership, and God chose fathers to fulfil that role. It is not because father always “knows best,” but that role had to go to someone, and God decided.
Though some have one role and some another, we are all equal before God. Galatians 3:27-28 tells us:
“As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
We are of equal value in God’s sight.
Our Roles Support Each Other
As Bruce Bowen bolstered the Spurs’ race for the championship, we can do the following to strengthen each other:
- “Love one another,” John 13:34.
- “Comfort one another,” 1 Thessalonians 5:11.
- “Consider one another to provoke unto love and good works,” Hebrews 10:24.
- “Love your enemies..do good to them that hate you…pray for them which despitefully use you,” Matthew 5:44.
- “Take heed to yourselves: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him,” Luke 17:3.
Someone Has To “Block”
When boys play football on the play-ground, most want to throw or catch or run with the ball. But someone has to “block” if any game is to be enjoyed.
The same can be true in a family, and even in a congregation of God’s people. Leadership in the family is placed on the father, and men are also given the leadership role in the church. This is not because men are smarter or more stable, but because God ordained these roles. Ephesians 5 and Titus 1 spell out that leadership. Both men and women are at times told to “keep silence,” 1 Corinthians 14:27-28, 34. The following words came from God, not from man:
“I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God,” 1 Corinthians 11:3.
Surely we see that God’s decree is not based on culture or merely the whims of the times. Someone has to be responsible for making the final decisions. To suggest woman is less significant than the man is so much foolishness. Women have contributed qualities to the family that men can never provide. Mothers provide the “flavor” of a home, while fathers can contribute strength and leadership.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:
“As unto the bow the cord is, so unto man is woman; Though she bends him, she obeys him, And though she draws him, yet she follows. Both useless without the other.”
Each of us has a “role” to fulfil in the Kingdom of God. I pray we will take our responsibilities seriously, working together for Him.
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“The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church...Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it,”
“Ill thrives the hapless family that shows,
A rooster that is silent and a hen that crows.
I know not which lead the most unnatural lives;
Obeying husbands or commanding wives.”
“No one was ever endowed with a right without being at the same time given a responsibility.”
“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another,”
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What Are You Looking At?
Ever heard those words before? Perhaps someone or something caught your attention and you just stared blankly in amazement or disbelief. Those words can be said angrily, sarcastically, or even curiously, depending on the circumstance. Whenever we see someone for the first time, how do we look at him or her? Do we immediately notice their looks, hairstyle, their fashion savvy (or lack thereof)? And if so, do we automatically make stereotypical judgments based solely on their appearance? Probably so. Most people usually do, and it isn’t instant condemnation if that is the case. How we generally learn more about our world, and consequently our likes and dislikes, is to make comparisons and contrasts between different things, people included. It can be an instantaneous process that most people have learned since childhood to do. When we determine what is valuable to us in life, we then begin looking for it in other people, trying to understand their value or importance to us personally. As candid as all of this may sound, most of us need to rethink and relearn what we are looking at, or should I say “for”?
I can think of no better scenario or scripture in holy writ to understand this value than that of the discovery of David in 1 Samuel 16:7-12. After the death of King Saul, a new leader was needed to lead God’s people, one who would be a better king than his predecessor. As seven of the sons of Jesse were paraded before Samuel one by one, constantly the prophet’s judgment was called into question, as he was using the wrong criteria to determine who the next king should be. Notice one of the most important lessons that we can learn about intrinsic value and perspective in the entire cannon of scripture. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:7). Israel’s greatest earthly king came to his interview from a dirty pasture, from the humble occupation of a shepherd, all because of the Lord’s pure qualification and judgment on human character. So, when it comes to how we view other Individuals and how we treat them, What Are You Looking At?
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