What a Box of Crayons Can Teach Us — 1 Corinthians 8–13

Come, Follow Me: New Testament 2023 (August 28–September 3)

The ultimate back-to-school supply for me was the Crayola Standard Crayons with Built-In Sharpener, Assorted Colors, Box of 64 Crayons. Seeing all the beautiful colors lined up together was truly joy in a box (and still is). Each color contributes to the making of art with no color being less than the other.

That’s the message of Paul this week. Each person in the church is unique, with personalized spiritual gifts that contribute to the making of a unified church, centered on Jesus Christ. We are united, but not uniform.  

We are united in our love of Jesus. We share a commitment to be peacemakers and to do good. “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Cor 12:26,27).

But church membership is not meant to be uniform. Diversity is divine. If not, why would God have created rainbows? Why would we be given unique blessings at birth? Why would we have personalized Patriarchal blessings? Why would there be “diversities of gifts, but the same spirit” (I Cor: 12:4)? Paul’s analogy of the church with the body is profound. “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?” (I Cor 12: 15-17). 

The next time you’re in church, consider how each person contributes to the spirit of the ward. Use the “more excellent way” of charity to identify how many colors of the crayon box you can discover!