back and forth

one of the coolest things about leading anything is when you have someone you led, lead you.  i am not the greatest leader by any stretch of the imagination.  i am not in any category of great leaders, but i was a leader when a kid named aaron hill was in a youth group at hopedale baptist church.  i cant really claim any of his accomplishments or anything...but it was a cool night, to say the least.

tonight he preached his first sermon...he did awesome!  i didnt think he was nervous or fidgety, he didnt stutter or say, umm, 50 times.  and he taught the word of God.  he encouraged me and challenged me.  he taught from romans 12....and the one thing that stuck with me was when he commented on the fitting together of the body of Christ.  paul writes this in verses 4-6 (the MSG) 

• In this way we are like the various parts of a human body.  Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around.  The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people.  Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body.  But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we?  So just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

aaron and i had lunch on wed.  i told him about where i was with church and ministry and all that stuff.  kind of in a place of seeking/learning/resting...but what aaron had to offer on this passage encouraged me to maybe move along a little.  i would hate to be a toe and not be functioning as a toe.  to just be cut off, not being a toe...that would suck!  and it wouldn't only suck for me...according to aaron and..well, paul...it wouldn't be good for the body to not have a toe, either.  

thanks aaron...very cool to see leadership go back and forth!