“I wonder how many nails were required to build my house?” I guess only an old construction guy like myself would even think of such a question. But it’s not like I could go through the house and count them—nails are hidden. When you begin seeing nails in your walls, it means a problem exists. Yet, just because nails are unseen does not lessen their vital function. Imagine if some strange phenomena happened and suddenly all the nails in your house dissolved. Of course, your house would fall apart into a pile of scrap wood.
This thought grew out of studying Ephesian 4:16 where Paul relates an analogy of the human body to the Body of Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. People often focus on the equipping gifts, apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (v11), at the beginning of this paragraph and miss this phrase supporting ligament. Ligaments are fibrous tissues, which connect bone to bone, keeping joints together. A ligament’s function in the body corresponds to what nails do in a house. They hold the parts together. Professional athletes constantly face the possibility of tearing a ligament that sidelines them or ends their career. Paul uses this to illustrate the importance of every part of the body doing its work whether seen or unseen.
He admonished the church at Corinth about overemphasizing one gift or function above another. The Message Bible captures the essence of what he was saying. The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t (1 Corin 12: 25, 26).
No one will come into your house and say, “Nice nails”, or look at you and comment, “Great ligaments in our legs.” Both lie below the surface out of sight performing their function. The Body of Christ requires those who will function in the background quietly performing their role not requiring recognition to do their work. The Bible contains numerous examples of nameless believers who served in important roles. Who lowered the basket down the city wall of Damascus allowing Paul to escape the Jews plots to kill him? Who were the men who carried a paralyzed man on his bed, tore up the roof, and lowered him down in front of Jesus? Who was the man carrying a water jug that would prepare a place for Jesus’ last Passover? Who were the amanuenses or secretaries who transcribed onto parchment the books of the New Testament dictated to them by the Apostles?
I’ve encountered many people who wanted to minister in the church, however they also desired a formal position with a title and public recognition. The question we should ask ourselves is, “Am I willing to serve the Lord in an unseen role or one in which I receive no recognition?” A good example comes through the Book of Hebrews. Who wrote it? Scholars argue over this. Yet, bottom line, we do not know. Out of that, this question once came to my mind. Would I be willing to write a bestselling book on the Bible but remain anonymous and see only God receive glory? Believers should be willing to perform good deeds without anyone else ever knowing it.
Your ministry may be unseen and never given recognition. God has used many nails and ligaments holding my ministry together through the years. Some were no more than a memory of a Christian’s life and the witness they provided when facing difficult times. Some were the prayers of people with no position in the church. Some were individuals we did not know and never met, who sent us an encouraging note at just the right time. The strongest nail in my life has been my wife. She never desired a visible role in our work. However, she held me together more times, than I could even remember. Without her unseen ministry, I would not even be writing this article. Pastor’s wives do not need to be in the lime light to serve the Lord. They may be the nail for their husband’s ministry.
Some people enjoy visible public ministry. However, others Christians are satisfied to remain unseen and do the work the LORD has given them. Neither seen nor unseen is more or less important than the other. Both are essential for completing the work of Christ. No purpose exist for an arm if the ligaments don’t function allowing it to move. You can own a stack of the finest grade of lumber for building a house but without nails, you cannot put them together. For those who are nails or ligaments—you are important. Just keep doing what God called you to do. For those performing visible ministries, don’t overlook the unseen people who make it possible for you to function effectively in the Body of Christ. By the way, the average three bedroom house has 40,790 nails [Habitat].
SUSTAINING WORD FOR THE WEEK: The Body of Christ grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work whether seen our unseen and remember God sees both.