Today’s Reading is 1 Corinthians 12:21-26
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
I find it very interesting to see how corporate America always has double speak when it comes to how they want you to act in your job. One minute they’re telling you to work like a team, then they want to put you in competition with your teammate when it comes to reviewing and determining your increase in pay. So naturally the employees run around tripping each other trying to move up the corporate ladder. Meanwhile, the employer is trying to figure out why the job that they’re trying to accomplish isn’t getting done. I remember working on a huge project years ago with 150 other people. I witnessed people undercutting each other to “make their mark” at the company. One day a person actually sent out an email to everyone on the project letting them know that he’d created some software that would make their jobs easier. Instead of people thanking him, they all sat around throwing insults and recommendations how they would have done it better. All the while the management was copied on these emails. I was totally appalled that people could be so mean and trivial, they looked like a bunch of 2 year olds.
Now imagine these people stopping at the grocery store for a few items, they get in the express checkout line so they can get out quickly. Then as they’re looking around they realize that the person in front of them has 15 items and not the allowed 10 items. Do you think these people are going to be very forgiving if they just left a very competitive environment? Do you think they’ll be ready to toss out a couple of comments to these people, thus tripping them? Every person is valued by God, not just the ones that are good looking or are have lots of money. Each part of the body is as important as the other parts, no part is greater than the whole. We are called to be a team and to love our teammates, not knock them down to make ourselves feel more important than the others. The next time you see someone tripped, step in and help that person up, dust them off and let them know that they’re loved by you and our Lord.
Dave P.