There is a Place for You
One of the questions almost everyone asks at some point in life is, “Where do I fit?” Children feel it when they walk into a new classroom and search for a familiar face. Teenagers feel it when they are trying to figure out where they belong among friends. College students experience it when they arrive at a new campus, surrounded by unfamiliar people and places. Adults are not immune to it either. A new job, a move, a change in circumstances, or simply a new season of life can leave any of us wondering where we belong.
Sometimes we even ask that question in the church. We look around and see people who seem more talented, more knowledgeable, more outgoing, or more capable than we are. We notice the person who teaches, the one who leads, the one who always seems to know exactly what to say, and we begin comparing their abilities with our own. Before long, comparison convinces us that perhaps the church really does not need us.
Paul paints a very different picture. He describes the church as a body made up of many different members, each with a different function, yet every one of them belonging to the same body. Then he writes, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (1 Corinthians 12:18). Notice who does the placing. God does. The foot does not need to become a hand in order to matter, and the ear does not need to become an eye in order to be useful. In the same way, you do not need someone else’s personality, abilities, or opportunities in order to have a meaningful place in the Lord’s church.
In fact, Paul says that some of the members who may appear less important are actually “necessary” (1 Corinthians 12:22). Some of the most important work in a congregation happens quietly. Someone notices the visitor standing alone. Someone encourages a struggling teenager. Someone prepares a meal, checks on a widow, teaches a child, sends a message to a discouraged friend, or quietly prays for someone who is hurting. There may never be applause for any of it, but God sees it. Visibility has never been the measure of value in the kingdom of God.
Yet there is something even greater in Paul’s picture of the body. God has not given us a place merely so that we can feel as though we belong. He has given us a place so that we can help someone else belong. Paul says that the members should “have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). Perhaps, then, we have been asking the wrong question. Instead of walking into the room wondering, “Will anyone notice me?” maybe we should walk in asking, “Who can I notice?” Instead of wondering, “Does anyone here need me?” perhaps we should ask, “Who needs something God has equipped me to give?”
Young or old, outgoing or quiet, a new Christian or one who has walked with Christ for decades, there is a place for you. There is someone you can encourage, someone you can serve, and something you can do. Somewhere in the body of Christ, someone needs you to faithfully fill the place God has given you.
~ Casey Clement
>PS. This week, find your place in personally encouraging someone. Tell someone that you love them. Let someone know that you appreciate them. Write a letter, send a card, make a couple of calls, send a few texts or emails with no other motive than to brighten someone’s day.