Deacon Reflection: No Weak Links

By The Rev. Dan Laird

When I was a young boy growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania, I was extremely thin, awkward and uncoordinated. Try as I might, I was not very successful at most sports. I was not a member of the cool crowd. You might say I was the typical 98-pound weakling and felt like a weak link at school. I eventually outgrew that phase in high school, but I learned to look at this from a much different angle.

Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 that God deliberately seeks out the weak things because it is in working through them that He can receive the greatest glory; then, everyone will know that only God could have done it. And in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, He says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me ... for when I am weak, then I am strong." If you feel weak, limited or just plain ordinary, I believe you are exactly the kind of person through whom God can work.

Some of the most entertaining and popular shows on TV right now are shows that invite the contestants to vote off or somehow eliminate the weakest links such as Survivor and Big Brother. What these shows have in common is that what they value is the antithesis of teamwork. At times contestants appear to function as a team. Alliances are built. Friendships develop. But if you want to WIN the game, you can't hold on to those friendships too dearly. You just might have to stab someone in the back.

I believe that Jesus called the Church to something much different. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, "Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it." Rather than seeking to discredit other people or destroy them, we are called to care for one another and to recognize our need for one another. Being a part of the body of Christ means that we are one. We find unity in the spirit, linking people together into the beloved community.

Unity can sometimes be difficult, because the church is made up of people with different backgrounds, experiences, socio-economic levels, gifts and abilities. Being a part of the body of Christ means unity but it also means valuing diversity. God has given everyone gifts to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, there are no "weakest links." Each link is essential. No one is excluded. 

I consider it a blessing to be linking people together as a deacon, unified by a common mission that collectively we value one another's gifts so highly. Reaching out to serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, the lonely and the developmentally disabled. What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to use those gifts productively, knowing that with God's help, "when I am weak, then I am strong."  Recognizing that each link has an important place in the chain, and the chain grows only by adding all the links. I cannot imagine a better way to spend my life more fully than serving my fellow brothers and sisters as deacon, serving to link together the human chain, which is the body of Christ and ultimately, all for the greater glory of God!