In August of 1971, sitting side by side on a brown couch in Jerry Bottom of Huddy, KY, my sister, Teri, and I gave our hearts to Jesus. We were baptized together, went to Sunday School together and Training Union on Sunday nights. (Extra points if you know what that is.) We were in youth group together, and youth choir. During VBS, we drank Kool-Aid and ate cheap cookies together. (It was the ‘70s - before good cookies and snacks.)
Our voices sound the same and we often say the same things. (Our kids think it’s creepy.) We laugh at the same things. We grew up through the same hard things and held on to each other often.
My sister and I have been married to our husbands for 43 years. We each have one son and one daughter. We both love studying the Bible and try to be encouragers - like our mom. We are a lot alike.
We were together a few weeks ago, and since we are both over 60, our conversation turned to health. It just happened that both of us had bloodwork done recently. Pulling out our CBC data, we compared our numbers: cholesterol, white blood count, triglycerides, etc. Many of them were almost identical. It was uncanny. We have the same mother and father, so it’s not surprising, but it was surprising nonetheless. We couldn’t wait to tell our husbands and kids.
As we scanned our health info, we realized we have different blood types. That was interesting. Though we are similar in many things, we are still different. But better together.
Some say my sister and I look alike but she is blonde and I am a brunette with lots of gray. We both have hearts for serving the Lord, but serve in different ways. Her passion is children’s music ministry while mine is jail ministry. She is a fashionista, dressing cool and hip; I wear camo and Crocs.
I am so thankful to have my sister who is so much like me but different. She’s not only my sister, she is my friend. I love spending time with her, laughing, reminiscing, eating.
The same is true with my brothers and sisters in Christ. When we become a part of the family of God, we will find that we are similar to others in our new clan. We will also find that we are not at all similar to some. And that’s OK. Different yes, but better together.
In 1 Corinthians 12, after dramatic verses about body parts arguing over their purposes, the apostle Paul wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it,” (vs 27). Each member of the body of Christ and the church is important. Crucial. We work together for a common goal: making our heavenly Father known.
Being a part of a church family is a good thing. We learned during COVID how spiritually dehydrating it was not being able to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Fellowship is a vital part of a believer’s life, along with worship and singing. In a body of believers, there is discipleship. Like iron sharpening iron, together you learn more about God and following Him. There is ministry - where you use your gifts to encourage and help others. Plus, at church there’s always food. That’s a part of fellowship.
“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,” (1 Cor. 12:12). Since every part of the body is important, if you are not connected to a body of believers, you are missing out. YOU are a part that is missing!
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Dawn Reed is a pastor's wife and newspaper columnist. Reach her at preacherswife7@yahoo.com.
