Really??? I was eating lunch with some members of my ministry team last week at a local "Deli Delicious" when I saw this dispenser. I read the words on the front three or four times before I believed they were really there. I will admit that, though I was already finished with my meal, I got one of these. I could hardly wait to see what improvements had been made to the plain old plastic spoon that would render it multi-purpose. When it came out, what I saw in my hand was a...(dramatic pause) ...plain old plastic spoon! It was pretty much the same as any plastic spoon I had ever seen. Made out of the same kind of plastic, shaped the same way, and - sadly - it appeared to have the exact same purpose as every other spoon. (Never mind the totally unrelated fact that I did not see anything there for which you could need a spoon of any kind!)
But come to think about it, I have seen some spoons that had different purposes. Slotted spoons, for instance, are quite useful for dipping beans from a pot. But if you want the bean "soup" over your cornbread, a slotted spoon will only prove a frustration. A ladle would be a great tool for spooning chocolate gravy over hot biscuits with butter; but to get freshly-made apple butter out of a pint mason jar, a jelly spoon would be a better choice. Who knew there really were so many spoons with so many different purposes? A Wikipedia article I just pulled up suggests over 50 different types of spoons, from an ear wax spoon to a marrow spoon for removing...well, bone marrow. Each one of these unique items is a spoon, but each has a different use, a different purpose. I suppose that you might argue that the above-pictured spoons are (technically) multi-purpose. After all, you could dip a variety of things using this spoon. And while it might not be as useful as an old-fashioned wood spoon for disciplinary purposes, you can still use it as a miniature catapult.
It seems to me that those of us in the body of Christ are a lot like spoons. You see, all of us who belong to Christ are Christians. We are all redeemed. We are all saved and set apart. But, boy, are we different in form and function! The beauty of this is that God designed us and his church this way...intentionally. Paul describes this divine arrangement to the Corinthians with these words (1 Corinthians 12)
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
He further tells the Romans that God's purposeful placement of the pieces and parts of his body came with the spiritual gifts to fulfill our respective roles (see Romans 12.4-8). Isn't that good to know? In the church of our Lord, you don't have to be like me and I don't have to be like you. We aren't supposed to have the same gifs, talents, abilities, etc. How dull and boring that would be! Not to mention, we would not accomplish much for God. What makes us all the same is the mind that controls all the body's functions and actions. We read in Ephesians 5 that Christ is the head of the body. We are encouraged to think like He thinks (Philippians 2.5), which would surely cause us to want to act under his direction as members of his body.
You may have one specific talent. Just one thing at which you are really good. Or you may truly be multi-purpose, able to fill many roles and places. Either way, you need to remember that God designed you that way! And you are no more or less important than any other spoon in the drawer....I mean, any other member of Christ's body.
Whether you are a mother-of-pearl caviar spoon or a plain old plastic spoon, use who you are and what he has given you by living out your place in the body of Christ!
