Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. – 1 Corinthians 12:12

Today's Scripture Reading (April 4, 2024): 1 Corinthians 12

There are a couple of phenomena that I want to make you aware of, and the first is the sports fans living in northern climates who insist on showing up for winter games wearing little more than body paint. I am sure you have seen them. They are predominantly present during football playoff runs, inhabiting places like Buffalo (cheering for the NFL Buffalo Bills) and Edmonton (cheering for the CFL Edmonton Elks, although admittedly, playoff runs for the Elks have been few in recent years.) And the first question that we ask is why? Why would you embarrass yourself like this? Except they probably don't see it as embarrassing. For a moment, we are bound together as fans of the Green Bay Packers (Or insert your cold weather team here), and absolutely nothing else matters.

On the other end of the spectrum are those who like to LARP. If you are unaware of LARPing, the best pop culture example might be the characters of the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." Sheldon and his friends in the comedy are often seen dressing up in costumes to go to a party or Comicon (Comic Book Convention). This is known as LARPing or live-action role-playing. People LARP as they recreate historical battles, and they LARP as they explore mythical battles. And you can always tell a LARPer because they carry their sword everywhere. The question we ask LARPers is not too different from what we ask sports fans; why would you spend all of this time and money doing this?

Our reality is that we need a reason for our existence, and we will make one up if we can't find it. Not only that, but we will also find people who are willing to believe what we believe because they are also searching for a purpose. And this is how tribes develop.

Tribes develop around several LARPing experiences. Some people LARP recreationally, while others become obsessed. Several years ago, I had a series of conversations with someone who had become involved in an underground Dungeons and Dragons world, an early LARPing experience. She was obsessed. She had her costume, and you could see her walking down the street in costume on several nights of the week, heading to some D and D experience. Mild-mannered secretary during the day, she turned into this powerful spirit lord in an imaginary realm at night. And the question that raged was, is this okay? To be honest, I struggle with the answer to that. I think most Christians just said no without ever really thinking through the reason why. 

As with most things, the answer is probably a little ambiguous, but it might be that the question is wrong. As people get deeper into these pursuits, they tend to let go of other connections – and the question that we need to ask is this; "Am I okay that this has become the purpose of my life?" Or is it just possible that something is missing? And the question goes way beyond LARPing or adherents to various sporting teams.

So, we make purposeful decisions to gather together with like-minded people. Some fight against ecological issues or maybe strive to help people in war-torn environments, and in the process, they become a tribe.

As Christians, we are a tribe. A significant belief in God binds us together. We are bound together and, like most tribes, energized by belief. We are connected in a way that is almost impossible for other people outside of our tribe to understand. Like a body, we are different. But we are tied together by belief. There are eight definitive characteristics of a tribe.

1.     Definite Territory – This world is not our home; we are just passing through. We are citizens of heaven.

2.     Common Language – We try hard to minimize this characteristic, trying to make people outside of the tribe feel comfortable, but it is still there. Words like Grace, Salvation, Sanctification, Holiness, Christ, Messiah, and many more are just the beginnings of the language of our tribe.

3.     We are of the Same Blood. We recognize that we have all been adopted into God's family. We are the adopted children of Abraham. Although a little different, we share the blood of the extended family with the children of Isaac (Israel) and Ishmael (Islamic Nations).

4.     Endogamy. A sixty-four dollar word that means that we tend to marry each other. If we can't find those spouses in Christian gathering places, we can enter the various Christian dating sites.

5.     Common Culture – It always amazes me that, regardless of where I go, we are singing the same songs. The familiar songs we sing are evidence of our shared culture.

6.     Common Religion – Religion probably doesn't require a comment. But there are more beliefs we share than where we differ.

7.     Common Name – We are Christian. Whatever other name we might bear, we are all Followers of Christ.

8.     Political Organization – This is a little weaker in some places. Still, we often bear the same political agenda, which frequently includes a belief about hot-button issues like abortion and the definition of Marriage.

If we seem different from other groups, there is a good reason: we are a Tribe. Welcome to the body of Christ.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13