The Body.

The STOP conference was amazing. I was so moved.

And yet somehow, I feel so stuck.

The whole time I kept thinking "Yeah...but what can I do? What can I contribute?"

I can't bust into a massage parlor and free all the girls and convict all the pimps and such.

I am not musically inclined, nor do I have the resources to create an inspiring film that can do nothing less than move the hearts of individuals to act.

I don't have the ability to create an amazing design that is put on t-shirts, buttons, bags, flyers, and programs that catches people's eye, captures the heart of the message, and raises questions from those unaware of what's going on.

And in the middle of watching 'call + response' last night, I realized:

You don't have to. You have your own gifts that you can contribute. You aren't incompetent like you feel right now. You are just different from them.

And it was one of those simple truths that hit me: the body of Christ is actually a beautiful thing crafted by the hands of a beautiful God with a beautiful plan.

Justin Dillon said something else that hit me: to move forward, you have to be able to accept you don't know what you're doing, but you know why you're doing it. He said that he went into this film project not knowing what he was doing, that he wasn't a filmmaker, but he took what he did for a living, something else he was passionate about [music] and his willingness to do something about this issue turned into this effective film project because he knew WHY he was doing it and that he had to OBEY and FOLLOW his calling.

But if we were all musicians. All filmmakers. All artists. All writers. All speakers. All photographers. You name it. If we all had the same gift and same passion in this context, quite honestly, where would we go? And what is the beauty in that?

It's like everyone being drafted to be the pitcher for the baseball team. You are only filling one position and really have no 'team' because there's no diversity. You need basemen. You need outfielders. You even need the catcher. That's why they're a TEAM: they come together with their abilities to do these things and, in coming together, they make up one body of sorts that works together to play baseball, win games, etc.

We are all created with different gifts, talents, passions, and abilities. But we bring those separate gifts and talents to the table of issues like sex trafficking and slavery and become passionate about that. We help each other. We do our 'jobs' essentially, take one thing we're passionate about or naturally interested in or good at, and we combine it with something to be passionate about supporting. Changing. Eliminating.

No one can do it alone. It's a team effort. Sex trafficking, or any issue, cannot be eliminated with a bunch of pitchers. You need basemen. You need outfielders. You need a freaking catcher.

In the life of a Christian, it's the same way: the body of Christ is not a prototype that only allows pitchers to be a part of it. It's a body. There are different parts that all serve a purpose and are ALL necessary. One is not more important than the other.

So the question I thought about shifted from "Wow, why can I do something like that? What can I possibly do that could be the effective?" to "What am I good at that I can contribute to this body of passionate people? What gift do I have that I can combine with my outrage against this injustice?"

And through all of that I saw a glimpse of God's design. Not in specifics, but in the general way he has crafted us to serve a purpose through some gift, talent, passion, or ability he has given us. And we are called to bring them together to work and function wholly and completely.

I don't know what I'm doing. But I know why I'm doing it.