Life might be less complicated if we each received our own Lego kit at birth. Yes, I realize there is a choking hazard for children under three. But when you are old enough, you can learn a lot from Legos. I have learned that:

There is strength in numbers. When the bricks stick together, great things can be accomplished.

Disaster happens. But the pieces can be put back together again.

Every brick has a purpose. Some are made for a specific spot. Most can adapt almost anywhere. But every one will fit somewhere.

Playtime is important. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you are building, as long as you’re having fun.

Color doesn’t matter. A blue brick will fit in the same space as a red brick.

Size doesn’t matter. When stepped on in the dark, a 2 x 2 Lego brick causes the same amount of pain as a 2 x 8 brick.

No one is indispensable. If one brick is unavailable, another can take its place.

All Lego men are created equal (1.5625 inches tall). What they become is limited only by imagination.

It doesn’t always turn out as planned. Sometimes it turns out better. If it doesn’t, you can always try again.

I thought about each of these statements as it relates to the church. Some of the statements apply more than others.

For example, unity is a biblical concept. When Christians stick together, great things can be accomplished.

And it is an important biblical truth that every Christian has a purpose. As Paul describes it in 1Corinthians 12 using the analogy of a human body, some of us are eyes, some are hands, still others are feet, but we all have a purpose and a role.

While it is technically true that “no one is indispensable”, the teaching of scripture is that each one of us is needed and the body suffers greatly if we don’t do our part (1Cor. 12:20-22)

The greatest comparison between Legos and Christianity, though, is that we are indeed a building shaped by God’s own hand.  And every Christian is a part of that building–not a plastic building block, but a “living stone”:

“As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 2:4-5)

–by Steve Klusmeyer