What If I'm Not a Christian Superstar?

Many churches are famous for recognizing and platforming the super-gifted and talented members of the body. Those talented musicians, singers, or artists who can bring immediate benefit to the ministry of the local church seem to receive an inordinate amount of attention and respect by church leaders compared to the average, everyday faithful member of the church. This might help fill the immediate hole in the worship team talent pool, but it does not promote the release of the gifts in the body. The gifts have their highest degree of expression through an atmosphere of mutual love, respect, and value of all members of the body.Paul deals with this enemy of member-comparison in First Corinthians chapter 12:

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?” (1 Corinthians 12:15-16).

Why would the foot want to be the hand and the ear covet to be the eye in the body? What is the primary difference in the relative value of each member of the body? Is the hand more significant than the foot or the eye more important than the ear? Each member is significant. What is the primary distinction between the hand and foot and the eye and ear besides their specific function? It is visibility. You see a person’s eye first and most more than the ear. And you see someone’s hand more than you notice the foot.

Everyone wants to be noticed in order to feel valued. But the body of Christ doesn’t function that way, and the gifts of the Spirit don’t flow best that way.

That is the primary challenge in the Lord’s spiritual body today. Everyone wants to be noticed in order to feel valued. Therefore, people will fight to sing in the worship team because they are on the platform, but most children’s ministries have to beg people to help them in their ministry. Everyone wants to be the quarterback or running back on the football team. But the body of Christ doesn’t function that way, and the gifts of the Spirit don’t flow best that way. We can’t all be quarterbacks and platform people. Find your place in the body and function there with humility and thankfulness.

God sets each one of us in the body where it pleases Him (1 Corinthians 12:18). It should please us to function in the body where it pleases Him.

God sets each one of us in the body where it pleases Him (1 Corinthians 12:18). It should please us to function in the body where it pleases Him. Ask God where you fit, follow your desires, and ask yourself, Where do I sense God’s pleasure when I serve and where are people blessed most when I serve?

And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21).

Who is the head of the body? Jesus! As the head, Jesus cannot even say to the lowest part of the body, the feet, “I have no need of you!” There are no insignificant, second-class, or unneeded members in the body. It is incumbent upon leaders in the church to be intentional about noticing, valuing, and publicly praising members who are not as visible as others.

I did this intentionally in my church. Once or twice per month I would recognize members who were ministering life and the Word to others behind the scenes. I would either call them on stage or have them stand up and then read or tell the testimony of someone who had received the benefit of their ministry. Whatever you praise publicly, you will release and reap in the body behind the scenes. As we show love and value in tangible ways to the less visible members of the body, it will encourage other members to step out in ministry to others.

There are no insignificant, second-class, or unneeded members in the body. It is incumbent upon leaders in the church to be intentional about noticing, valuing, and publicly praising members who are not as visible as others.

I speak a word of grace—divine enablement—over you as you apply these principles to create a healthy environment of the supernatural and the release of the gifts of the Spirit in your small group, church, and ministry.