On Your Left
One of the last scenes is the moment we have all waited for - “Avengers, Assemble.” But before all of the heroes are reunited, Cap stands with a broken shield to face Thanos and his army. We soon hear a muffled voice in Cap’s earpiece, only to soon hear Sam say the infamous, “On your left.” As Sam and the rest of the Avengers appear, I know we all felt so much in that moment (personally, I experienced a case of chill bumps like no other). Why? Because we knew there was no way all of our favorite heroes put together could be defeated.
And what a Gospel illustration. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s make it clear that while undoubtedly everyone has their favorite(s), there is no way just one, or even a group of a few, of those heroes could’ve saved the day. The time travel success wouldn’t have been possible without Antman’s quantum realm experience, the Avengers wouldn’t still be a thing if Nat hadn’t kept them together, the ship would’ve rained down and ended it all without Carol, and we all know what Tony’s snap did (or do we?). We could go on with what each individual contributed. So point made: it took what each of them had to offer.
Recently, I’ve been studying the Christian Church; specifically, I’ve looked at how the Church is supposed to function as a group of people united through the work of the Holy Spirit. In Francis Chan’s book, Forgotten God, he says,
“The church is intended to be a beautiful place of community. A place where wealth is shared and when one suffers, everyone suffers. A place where when one rejoices, everyone rejoices. A place where everyone experiences real love and acceptance in the midst of great honesty about our brokenness. Yet most of the time this is not even close to how we would describe our churches.”
How the Church is meant to be so united that everyone rejoices and suffers together is, in fact, calling us to stand as one functional body. So often, and I say this as someone who is also completely guilty, we opt for a shallow version of the Bride of Christ. Instead of fully relying on Christ, we choose to rely on new programs, new forms of worship, and new members to deem ourselves successful as His Church...when all He calls us to do is exist and act as His Bride. It is not until we release our safety net of acting out of our own strength that we will be able to fully experience the Holy Spirit’s powerful work within His Church. There is a piece in a recent issue of the Deeply Rooted magazine titled “One Body, Many Parts” by Sarah Scott Pape. In it, she states,
“We are, and will continue to be, unique, but we will all be dressed in robes of white covered by the blood of the Lamb. What we must recognize and embrace is that we, along with our different talents, backgrounds, and ethnicities, compromise the Body of Christ. Though we all have different functions, we all belong to the same unit - with unity in the midst of the diversity.”
The Church, as in the entire makeup of Christians, is to function as a whole. However, not on its own. The Holy Spirit is meant to empower each part, or person, with gifts and talents to better and further the Church as a whole. It is Christ in us where we find the strength to endure and the will to love. What a truly devastating realization it is to think about people who claim to be Christians, but lack the Spirit’s movement in their life. Perhaps my biggest regret in life is spending so many years being completely out of tune with the Holy Spirit. Sure, I knew God and had a relationship with Jesus. But the Trinity comes in not one, not two, but three. In fact, Jesus describes and acknowledges the advantage of having the Holy Spirit, or Helper in John 14-16. I highly suggest stopping here to read these passages of scripture before you continue reading this post. Knowing the scripture is far more important and takes priority. In John 16:7, Jesus stresses the advantage of us having the Holy Spirit,
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.”
Think of it this way. Throughout the Old Testament, the people of Israel longed for the presence of God. David danced for the presence of God. Enemies of Israel feared them because of God’s presence among them. In the New Testament, Jesus arrives and lives out life with His disciples. Jesus was the walking presence of God. But, He came in human form. If you wanted to be in His presence, you had to go to Him. Now, the Holy Spirit has been sent to live inside of us. This means the presence of God that groups of people longed for in the Old Testament and the presence of God that groups of people sought after to just touch in the New Testament is now dwelling inside of the people of God. Just the thought of this should fill us with so much joy that we might could just out dance David.
As Christians, we should embrace the Spirit’s movement inside of us. He is there to guide us and transform us. By welcoming the Helper’s work in us, we are also serving the Church as working members of its body. As previously mentioned, we are each given gifts and talents. The Holy Spirit can work within us to develop these talents to be used for the Kingdom of God. The grand beauty of it all is that we are each given different gifts. Some can speak in front of crowds, some can teach children, some can exhort through words, some can sing, and so on. We are meant to contribute our unique gifts, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. Again, I would highly recommend stopping to read the entire chapter. But specifically, verse 12 in this chapter says,
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”
We are meant to give through the unique way God has wired us to serve. We are also meant to be one body, working with other believers to be so united that we function as the one Bride of Christ. God has so graciously given us other Chrisitians to walk alongside. Our walk does not have to be done alone, but rather with openness and love, can be done with our brothers and sisters. We are one church, one body, and one Bride.
So, I encourage you now to think back to the Avengers reference. Just as the task at hand could not have been done alone, the same is with the task we have been given. The Church must realize that it is not a crowd of individuals walking alone, but rather it is one body, one team, working to fight spiritual warfare together. I think back to the “on your left” line and the overwhelming amount of emotions it brought to know Cap had all his pals by his side. Even after disputes and tragedies, his friends had his back. He didn’t have to fight alone - and not one single Christian should have to either.
I pray that after reading this, it provides some sort of encouragement. Truthfully, I hope it convicts and calls you to action. What would it truly mean to act as one body of Christ? How could we better use our gifts for the betterment of the Church? Are we serving beside our brothers and sisters to lean on each other at all times? Start a small group, do a Bible reading plan with friends, have prayer time with other believers, disciple younger brothers and sisters. The list could go on, but the point is that we must take action to see a radical change among the Church. It is time we move past the habit of attending a service once a week. We must, as hard as it can be, put aside disagreements that separate members of the body of Christ. Choose to put yourself in situations and unite with fellow believers that encourage you to become an active working member of the Church. Find brothers and sisters that push you past any comfort zone and make you want to seek Christ more and more. Let us become one body, one team, one Church, one Bride.
On your left.
Sources:
Forgotten God by Francis Chan
Deeply Rooted article “One Body, Many Parts” written by Sarah Scott Pape
Scripture from ESV Crossway Bibles
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