Batman
so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
Insight
Batman was always my favorite growing up, but there was one day, specifically, that solidified our bond forever. I grew up with two brothers – Robert, who is 4 years older than me, and Nate, who is 10 years older. I played more with Robert because of our ages and many other factors. But this also meant we fought all the time. Such is the beauty of brotherhood.
There’s this one day I’ll never forget. It started off like any other for me and Robert. Two brothers fighting, the older brother chasing the younger one around the couches, trying to catch him and impose his strength to teach a lesson. The younger brother is running for his life, holding his favorite batman action figure.
Then, a stare down happens from opposite sides of the living room with only a couch separating us. In a desperate attempt to save my life, I say a quick prayer and heave my best friend, the infamous Dark Knight, in the direction of my brother in hopes that he will save me like he had countless other times.
Through pure skill (okay, maybe luck), the pointed top of Batman’s head lands squarely between my brother’s eyes. I feel successful. I feel accomplished. I feel like I had finally won. Then something happens. My brother is still standing, and he is MAD. I’m confused. David just needed one stone. This should have worked. Then, out of my brother’s mouth comes a 4-letter word not fit for a devotion at a decibel level louder than the music in our gatherings. I think I am toast. But then the moment that changes everything…my dad walks through the door and exclaims “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY????”
This was victory. This was the dream. I had thrown something, and it had hit my brother in the face, but all my dad knew was the 4-letter word my brother said. Moments later, I was sitting on the couch reveling in my success and in my brother’s well-deserved suffering. Nothing could ruin this moment.
While I love that story, and will tell it proudly every time, this has also become a normal posture in our culture. We find ourselves reveling in the failures and sufferings of others. We find ourselves walking through life harboring tension with one another. We may even become mad, upset, and jealous about the successes of others.
The idea of being FOR one another sometimes seems so far-fetched, and in many circles, unwise.
But throughout scripture, we are pointed to something more. When Paul is speaking to the church of Corinth in the verse above, he reminds us that we are created for unity. He reminds us of our call to exude concern for one another, to suffer with those who suffer, and to celebrate with those who are honored.
This can be so difficult sometimes. Unity is not easy. But it is our call. We’re not to be just okay with unity, but we are to seek it out. We are to lay our lives down for it. We are to clothe ourselves in humility, gentleness, and patience like we were reminded of by Katie in the devotion yesterday. This is all for the sake of unity. All for the sake of this beautiful, but challenging call we have been invited into.
Our culture encourages us to write off those who don’t think like us and to argue at every turn, while pursuing those who will affirm our beliefs. But what if we lived by something different? What if we lived our lives pursuing unity in the body at any cost, pursuing one another and seeking first to understand? What would that mean for us and the movement of the Church? What if we took the time to make other people’s concerns our concerns?
Let’s mourn with those who mourn. Let’s celebrate the successes of others, our only hope to elevate and encourage one another. This is the call of Christ. This is the invitation we all have. Let’s get off our couch where we are reveling in the suffering of others, and let’s engage instead. Let’s live our lives being FOR and WITH one another.
Reflection
Who do you currently have tension with that you need to have a conversation with? Put it on your calendar to intentionally enter the pursuit of unity with this person.
Are you harboring any feelings of jealousy toward someone else’s successes? How can you choose to lay down jealousy and celebrate what God is doing in and through them?
Whose concerns do you need to make your own? How and when can you reach out to them?
Prayer
Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for pursuing us to such an extent we can’t even imagine. Thank you for seeing all of our flaws, failures, and mistakes and still wanting to be with us through all of it. As we are reminded of our call to unity, please give us the wisdom to know how to pursue it in our individual lives and as the Church. Please give us the courage to lay down our lives for the sake of others, for the sake of unity, as the united body of followers of your son, Jesus. Amen.
Rolin Williamson, Pastor of Worship, wrote today’s devotional.
