You’re no goat’s toe!” Have you ever heard that one? It is an idiom intended to commend you for your vast intelligence … or at least acknowledge you can’t be fooled too easily. And it’s true – you aren’t a goat’s toe. Nor are you a human’s toe or a human’s eye or a human’s ear. Scripture does call the Church the body of Christ and compares it to a human body (in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Ephesians), but the idea is not for you to find a precise body part that corresponds to your service. It is simply an analogy – and a very good one. “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ,” and we have “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Rom 12:4-6).[1] There should be unity in a local church, but that doesn’t require uniformity. We are different from one another, and we have different roles. Do you know how God wants you to serve in the local church?
The past three articles looked at the acronym ABBA as a tool for helping you to find your ministry. What Abilities do you have, and how can they be used for God’s people? Is there a Burden you feel to help out in a particular way – a particular need that you have identified, the Lord having laid it on your heart? When you attempt to serve in the church, is there Blessing, and are the Lord’s people encouraging you in that work? Are you practically Attached to a local church? It will be hard to identify your role in the body apart from being involved in the life of the body.
While these principles will hopefully be a practical help to you, don’t overlook another spiritual exercise that is always key when wanting to know God’s will. ABBA makes us think of the Bible word “Abba,” and that “Abba” brings us to our Father in Heaven in prayer: “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom 8:15).
“Abba” not only reminds us that God is our Father, but it encourages us to draw near to Him; He wants you to come close and bring your requests to Him. If an earthly father wants to help his children know their path in life, how much more our Father in heaven wants to guide us into the sphere of service that is most fitting for us and the most useful for the building up of the body of Christ. Make the question of your role in the church a matter of prayer. And in the meantime, don’t be shy about being involved wherever you can: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us USE them” (Rom 12:6).
[1] All Scripture quotations in this article are from the ESV.
