Does Everyone Have a Place?

I’ve been thinking about your place and my place and everybody’s place this week. Where do you “fit”? What about me? How about Aunt Betty? Seriously, is there a place?

There is a biblical answer to those questions, actually. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 12:12

"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 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV)

Then give that entire section (vs. 12-27) a read. It gives us an answer quickly and succinctly. There is a place for everyone!

For some, the Apostle Paul’s answer is comforting. It provides a home—a place to belong. For others, the answer isn’t quite so positive. This text confronts the fact that the social misfits many of us would like to avoid—are unavoidable. Not only are they a part of our community—Paul reminds us they are an integral part! They may not look like us, think like us, live like us, or even vote like us. Yet they are us!

We’ve formed and launched 46 new small groups at the church where I serve within the last year. We’ve launched empty nester groups, newly married groups, and just about everything in between. The common denominator of all these newly formed small group communities is diversity—each group is filled with a mix of very different people.

Fact is, in God’s community there is a place for everyone. The problem for some of us is that place is not where we want or expect it to be. Our place just might be filled with a group of people who are not nearly as spiritually mature as we are. That place might be a group that has radically different theological positions than we do. That place might be a group that are far more liberal in their lifestyle than we are. That place might be a group of people who don’t “fit” anywhere else.

So a better question just might be; can I handle the place God has for me?