The Parable of Mr. Potato Head

Did you ever have a Mr. Potato Head growing up? I recently reunited with my old spud-friend through a mutual acquaintance, my son Nathan. One day we were walking through the store and Nathan somehow managed to navigate the complex maze of aisles to lead us to the toy section. He must have an internal GPS sensor which always leads him to the loot. As his eyes glazed over with each and every toy we passed, he soon set his sights on Mr. Potato Head. "What's that?!" he asked. After explaining to him what it was he asked, "Can I get one for me and one for Brookie?" Now before you get too emotional over his benevolent attitude, what's cleverly disguised as generosity, is actually Nathan's carefully conceived strategy to tilt the parental buying power in his favor (Nah, I'm sure he's just watching out for his sister). Generally we don't impulse-buy so I told Nathan we can count the money he has in his piggy bank when we get home.

(Mr. Potato Head sporting his western garb; photo courtesy of Flickr.com)

He didn't have quite enough money saved up but I reminded him that his birthday was coming in a couple weeks and maybe he would get it then. Sure enough, December 14th rolled around and he was overjoyed to unwrap the 'Mr. Potato Head - Family Edition' comprised of a Daddy, Mommy, and little Baby Potato Heads. Grandma also got him the pirate accessory set which comes complete with peg leg, eye patch, hook, sword, and parrot. He and Brookie play with it a lot. They like to put the arms where the ears go and the ears where the nose goes. They've really gotten quite creative.

As I watch the kids play with their Mr. Potato Head family, I can't help but think of Romans 12:4-6. In this passage, Paul writes "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. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us ... let him use it in proportion to his faith."

Just like Mr. Potato Head has interchangeable arms, legs, eyes, ears, and nose, figuratively, so does the body of Christ which is made up of unique members like you and me. God has blessed us each with special talents and abilities. Some may have the gift of teaching, some the gift of hospitality, some are leaders, while others are encouragers. Furthermore, in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus used the "Parable of the Talents" to encourage us to put the gifts He's given us to good work. He wants us to use these talents to further His kingdom, not to just sit idle. If you are curious about what your special gift might be, here's a helpful survey you can take online to help you find out.

In closing, here's a short music video I created to help illustrate the unique members of our congregation at Grace Family Church in Richardson, TX. The central theme of this video is that "We are all One in Jesus Christ" and the video's soundtrack by Switchfoot is really quite appropriate. The video ends with John 17:11 , "... Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name ... so that they may be One as We Are One."

Stay the course, finish the race ... AB

(Next Week: The Parable of the Soccer Mom)