Did you know?
The longest game of Twister lasted for 24 hours. It was achieved by a group of students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1987. This event also set the record for the most participants in a single game of Twister, with 4,160 players involved. There were 21,390 people enrolled at the time with 17,251 undergrads and 4,139 graduate students. So, this means that roughly 1/5 of the student body participated.
Could you imagine all those people trying to put right hand on blue or left foot on green? How about all the work that it takes to get that many people to try to do something on such a grand scale? This is no different than what it takes to function as the body of Christ. There are so many moving parts. There are so many people with so many gifts. There is so much going on at any one moment in the kingdom of God that it is unfathomable how it all works. But somehow it does.
This week we are going to look at what it means to try to make all of those moving parts function together. In preparation for this week, please read 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. As you read it, reflect on the following questions:
- In verses 12-13, Why is it important that there be such a focus on things being “one?”
- In verses 14-16, What do you think is meant by the foot declaring that it does not belong because it is not a hand? Have you ever felt that way about yourself with respect to other members of the body of Christ?
- In verses 17-19, Why do you think that God has gone so far as to arrange the many members of the body such that they are interdependent upon one another?
- In verses 20-25, Can you come up with a more concise summary of these verses or are there any other ways in which this can be explained?
- In verses 26-27, What does it mean that if one member suffers, we all suffer and subsequently if one is honored that all rejoice? Give an example where you feel that you have seen this happen either way in your experience.
Finally, pray that God might give you the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the hands and feet to act on some of the opportunities that you have this week to exercise you being a part of the body of Christ.
By Dan Bender