We Can’t All be Elbows

By Paige Ferrari
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Student, Bachelor of Arts in Communications

a girl holding up her elbow

When someone mentions this idea of vocational ministry, the first thing that pops into my head is a pastor of a church, not much else (maybe a missionary or two get thrown into that mix). But the variety is limited.

We definitely need people to be brought up for pastoral roles and feel empowered enough to push the borders of the Gospel in places that it hasn’t been heard.

But what about the rest of us? What about the more obscure talents and skills—the ones that are less straight forward? What about those of us who don’t preach from a pulpit or cross country boundaries?

Find Your Purpose

I came to Grand Canyon University to find my purpose. That’s what I was sold on! I believed that by gaining an education here, I would find my way in a purpose-driven life.

But I found something much greater than that.

I found a purpose within a larger purpose. I realized that the people next to me in my classes were all created for one reason. The Kingdom. That is the reason we breathe, we toil, we laugh and we celebrate: The Kingdom.

So I took a few more classes and I began to learn my knack for media and writing. And then, frankly, I was slightly disappointed in this revelation. I learned how to make websites, but what’s the big deal when the greater purpose of the Kingdom is at stake?

That’s when my skills took me overseas.

Media and Ministry

I found myself redesigning a website for a ministry in Ireland, in addition to other hands-on ministry work. But my main purpose there was to use my skills to help this ministry expand. Through an up-to-date website, this ministry could be more effective in how they ran their day-to-day operations and reach more youth with the Gospel.

It was in that office that I realized we can’t all be the same.

For 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, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5)

Each member within the body serves a different purpose. Elbows, for example, serve a distinct purpose. But if the whole body was elbows, then it wouldn’t serve its purpose in its entirety. We can’t all be elbows.

We need Christians who create media to help reach a culture that is stuck looking at a screen. We need Christians to take part in advertising to help mold positive messages. We need Christians who specialize in social media to help change the patterns of online bullying. We need Christians to focus on public relations to help companies maintain integrity.

We can’t all be elbows, but we are all part of the body.

Read more about the importance of communication in our everyday lives by checking out this popular blog category. Learn more about a job-focused education at GCU by visiting our website.

More about Paige:

Paige Ferrari is a senior at GCU studying Communications and serves in the Spiritual Life department as part of the Global Outreach Team. Although she’s from Southern California, Paige finds herself falling in love with the people, culture and lifestyle of Phoenix, and hopes to permanently move here after graduation. She is a passionate writer, reader and coffee connoisseur; she is always looking for some creative words over a cup of coffee.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.

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