THE CARPENTER’S TOOLBELT
Text: Romans 12:4-5
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
Wow, the body of Christ...the Church. A mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Hard to understand, and (sometimes) hard to accept. But the hard, biblical truth is, the Church is the Body of Christ, His Bride.
Have you even known someone in the locate church, who just won’t cooperate? That one who is hard to get along with. The one who always has a negative attitude or sour spirit. The temptation is to think the church would be better off without them. And yet, if they are born-again, they too are the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, a child of God, and heir of salvation (1 Corithians 6:19; Romans 8:17).
Here’s a more difficult truth...the church has need of THEM, as much as THEY have need of the local church.
1 Corinthians 12:21 "The eye cannot say to the hand "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!"
I think this little anonymous parable about the tools of a carpenter’s belt will help explain this biblical principle in a clear, yet simple way...just the way Jesus’ parables do.
The Carpenter’s Toolbelt.
Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt informed him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, "If I have to leave this carpenter’s shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He’s insignificant and makes a very small impression." (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).
Little brother Gimlet arose and said, "All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him."
Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, "If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there’s no depth to what he does."
To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, "Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep."
Brother Saw complained, saying, "Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he’s always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right."
Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, "Brother Sandpaper doesn’t belong here either. He’s rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way."
In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter of Nazareth walked in. He had come to perform his day’s work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools.
When the day’s work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He use, no other tool could have done the work better. And the final product would be used to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ!
You and I are God’s "tools". While we have our flaws, each of us has a purpose, ability, and a task to perform. Won’t you accept the value of the other tools, and let God use you today?
