Small Members
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I was attempting to drill several holes in a round steel ring. I don’t work with metals often. Therefore, most of my tools and equipment are geared toward woodworking. I only needed to drill about six holes of a one-inch diameter around the circumference of this ring, and I didn’t want the added expense of buying a special bit for this small job. So, I had an old hole saw that was designed for wood but had seen its better days and I thought I might as well send it on to tool heaven in a blaze of glory by using it on the metal.
Three holes down and it was going okay; not great but the job was getting done. The bit kept grabbing and trying to jump around. On the fourth hole, I lost control. The drill jumped and hit the middle of my left thumb. I dropped the drill and grabbed my left hand with my right, looking down at the profuse amount of blood flowing from the gapping split in my fingernail, I forgot about my work and started giving all my attention to my now throbbing thumb.
I found the nearest rag I could and wrapped it around my thumb. Whether or not to seek medical attention was my next decision. I’m not an expert but my first thought was there wasn’t much a doctor could do about it. You’re not going to stitch a fingernail back together. Still, I decided to head over to the nearest Urgent Care and let them take a look. As I suspected there weren’t a lot of options. Two different physicians had a look, both puzzled as to the best route for a remedy. Both independently decided that the best thing to do was to see if they could clean it up and force the nail back down and glue it in place and let nature take its course.
So, that is what they did. They also put a splint on it in hopes that making it immobile would keep the nail from coming up again right away. Needless to say, it hurt. What I realized after I went home and started my day over again was how much I rely on my left thumb for stuff. Unbuttoning my jeans, squeezing toothpaste onto my toothbrush, getting anything out of my left pocket, and many other simple matters became either impossible or a painful chore to do.
My left thumb is a minor player in my physical activity. Or so I thought. It is a more important member than I realized. It wasn’t until I couldn’t use it, or use it and suffer the pain of using it, that I realized how much that little guy does for me.
I think that is often the way it is in church life. There are “little members” who add much more to the church’s life than we are aware of until they are gone or unable to do their work anymore. I don’t think that is a reason for bitterness or resentment on their part. After all, we should all do what we do for God’s glory and not man’s praise or recognition. Still, it is good for us to take stock of this truth: We are all members of the body, each working together to glorify Christ and proclaim the Good News; and each member is vital to the full, efficient, and powerful functioning of the body.
