One, but not the same
I enjoy playing and listening to music! The instrument I fell in love with as a child, was the drums. Long before I had a kit, I would create my own.
I used to go round our house and collect all the wastepaper bins and line them up. Most of them were metal so sounded great! I then grabbed some wooden spoons, put on a record and played along to such tracks as, ‘Remember You’re a Womble’!
I loved to tap different surfaces to hear how they sounded. One Saturday morning, I worked my way round our kitchen percussively striking all the pots, pans and jars in a rhythmic groove.
I was lost in the beat until I was interrupted by my dad, who thumped on the floor of the bedroom above me, indicating for me to stop! He was still in bed, trying to sleep.
As a teenager I discovered the music of U2, who quickly became my favourite band. I bought all their albums and saw them on tours on numerous occasions – they were great!
In the early 1990’s they produced an album called ‘Achtung Baby’, and the standout track for me was ‘One’. I later found out that this song was written out of a time when the band were in a difficult spot and almost broke up.
This song brought them together and contains the line, ‘we're one, but we're not the same’. It’s a profound line which encapsulated where U2 were at. It also points to something spiritual too.
In his letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote…
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.”
Paul used the illustration of a body to describe Jesus and His church. It’s brilliant as we all get it! Our body is one, but is made up of many different parts – visible and invisible.
Each part is unique and has purpose and function. It is needed and valued for what it is and does.
It’s the same with the church. It’s a group (or body) of people who are unique and different but are all part of the same church.
As a Pastor, I long to see each person play their part, and not to compare or wish they were somebody else. It’s vital to recognise and celebrate the difference and uniqueness in others too!
Let me encourage you to know who you are, what motivates you, what you are good at, and what God has called you to do…
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader