I GREW UP PLAYING FOOTBALL MY WHOLE LIFE.
LIKE, MY WHOLE LIFE.
FROM THE TIME I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD
UP UNTIL MY LAST COLLEGIATE GAME
WHEN I WAS 20 YEARS OLD.
I LOVED AND LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SPORT.
SOME OF MY BEST YEARS WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL WHERE WE WON
DOZENS OF GAMES AND TWO STATE TITLES.
MY PERSONAL POSITION WAS CORNERBACK.
MY JOB AND RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO STOP THE WIDE RECEIVER
FROM CATCHING THE BALL.
AFTER YEARS OF TRYING OTHER POSITIONS ON THE FIELD,
I FOUND THIS ONE TO BE THE MOST COMFORTABLE.
THE MOST NATURAL. IT CAME EASY TO ME IN A SENSE.
I FELT AT HOME.
BUT I GOTTA BE HONEST WITH YOU.
THERE WAS ALWAYS ONE POSITION ON THE FIELD
THAT I ENVIED THE MOST.
IF I HAD IT MY WAY, I WOULD HAVE PLAYED THIS POSITION INSTEAD.
THE POSITION I ENVIED THE MOST
WAS QUARTERBACK! WHY?
BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THE QUARTERBACK.
YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO BE FOOTBALL SAVVY
TO KNOW WHAT THE QUARTERBACK POSITION IS.
THE QUARTERBACK ON THE TEAM GETS A TON OF CREDIT
AND IS ALWAYS POPULAR.
I WANTED TO BE THE GUY
WHO THREW THE GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN
AND WAS LIFTED UP BY ALL MY BOYS AND THEY CHANTED MY NAME.
MARQUISE! MARQUISE!
THAT'S WHAT I WANTED.
BUT THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKED OUT,
BECAUSE WE HAD A GUY WHO WAS REALLY GOOD AT THAT POSITION.
HIS NAME WAS MIKE AND HE WAS A BEAST AT QUARTERBACK.
NO ONE READ THE FIELD AND THREW THE BALL LIKE MIKE.
IN FACT, MIKE WAS GIFTED FOR THAT POSITION.
AND ALTHOUGH IT CAME WITH LESS NOTORIETY,
I WAS GIFTED TO PLAY MY POSITION AS A CORNERBACK.
YOU SEE, OUR WHOLE TEAM WAS FULL OF PEOPLE
WHO PLAYED THEIR SPECIFIC POSITION.
AND EVERY POSITION
CAME WITH A SET OF SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
THAT REQUIRED GUYS WITH A SPECIFIC SKILL SET.
AND HERE'S WHY I MENTION THAT, AND YOU SEE IT COMING,
THE SAME IS TRUE AMONGST BELIEVERS IN THE CHURCH.
BUT INSTEAD OF ILLUSTRATING THIS IDEA WITH TEAM LANGUAGE,
PAUL USES THE TERM "BODY".
AND JUST LIKE A TEAM HAS MANY POSITIONS,
A BODY HAS MANY MEMBERS.
AND EVERY MEMBER IS CRUCIAL FOR THE SUCCESS
AND HEALTH OF THE WHOLE BODY.
NO ONE BODY PART IS GREATER THAN THE NEXT.
NO MATTER HOW MUCH NOTORIETY IT MAY GET.
PAUL SAYS IT THIS WAY, "FOR BY THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME
"I SAY TO EVERYONE AMONG YOU
"NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE OUGHT TO THINK,
"BUT TO THINK WITH SOBER JUDGMENT,
"EACH ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF FAITH
"THAT GOD HAS ASSIGNED.
"FOR AS IN ONE BODY WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS,
"AND THE MEMBERS DO NOT ALL HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION,
"SO WE, THOUGH MANY, ARE ONE BODY IN CHRIST,
"AND INDIVIDUALLY MEMBERS ONE OF ANOTHER."
PAUL SAYS WE DON'T ALL HAVE THE SAME FUNCTION.
WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS BUT WE ARE ONE BODY.
AS BELIEVERS, I THINK WE OFTEN GET TOO CAUGHT UP
IN OTHER PEOPLE'S GIFTING
AND WHAT WE'D RATHER BE GOOD AT,
INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON WHAT GOD HAS GIFTED US WITH
AND HOW WE ALL WORK TO USE THOSE DIFFERENT GIFTS
TO BRING HIM GLORY.
YOU SEE, FOR ME, THE QUICKER I CAME TO THE REALIZATION
THAT I'LL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS MIKE AT QUARTERBACK,
I STARTED TO EXCEL IN WHAT I WAS GIFTED IN.
AND WHEN I PLAYED MY PART,
AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE TEAM PLAYED THEIRS,
IT LED TO SUCCESS.
TODAY I WANT TO CLOSE WITH A QUESTION
THAT I WANT YOU TO WRESTLE WITH.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE'S A GIFT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU,
THAT YOU'VE ALLOWED TO LIE DORMANT
BECAUSE IT SEEMS SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT?