1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Jim Lowe reflects on the differences between bees and wasps.

Jim Lowe

Last summer I was sitting outside at a restaurant with my family enjoying a nice meal. As we started eating, this wasp came along and it wouldn't go. After a few minutes it started trying to land on my daughter's food and she was screaming. The man on the table next to me gave me a folded up newspaper to try and kill it, but the wasp wouldn't go away. Then suddenly, it went. We all breathed a sigh of relief. But two minutes later, he came back with three friends who seemed to target my daughter from different sides. She had a meltdown, the restaurant very quickly got us a table to sit inside and now my daughter is terrified of eating outside at restaurants, just in case a wasp comes along.

It made me think: what is the point of wasps? All they do is attack people and cause a nuisance. We seem to love bees in England, but hate wasps. So I've done a quick comparisons of general facts between wasps and bees:

Bees:
1. Work for a common purpose - the good of the hive
2. Work as a team
3. Won't sting unless threatened
4. Nest/hive lasts for years
5. When the queen dies, they work to raise a new queen
6. Produce honey - a product which many benefit from

Wasps:
1. Work for a queen
2. Often work in solitude
3. Sting even when not provoked
4. Nests only last for 6-11 months
5. When the queen dies, they eat each other and fight - then live in solitude
6. Produce fear in humans

Looking at these facts, it seems wasps are after personal gain and bees seek team work and unity. Through bees' team work and unity, their impact goes beyond just them.

But wasps' nests just end up destroying themselves.

In life we can meet many people who are like wasps, or like bees. We meet the people who just want to get what they can and don't mind the people they hurt along the way. I'm sure we've all met them, at school, work, church, or even in our own family. The type of people who try to take all the credit, stab you in the back to get ahead and never want to help unless they can gain something from it.

But then we have the people who are bees: they care, try to bring the best out of those around them and they work for a greater cause.

I wonder, what would you be, if you were really honest: are you more of a bee or a wasp? Maybe a bit of both?

In 1 Corinthians 12:12 Paul writes: 'Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body-whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.'

This is amazing. It doesn't matter about your racial background, or your social standing. When you choose to become a Christian, you become part of Christ's body, working towards His agenda to show the world His love and passion for everyone.

But sometimes when doing this we can get stuck in the attitude that we are better than others. It might be that we think we have a better theology, better way of doing things, that we are better equipped than others, or more gifted. Maybe we even think that our denomination is better than others.

The problem is that when this happens, we can become like wasps. We focus on ourselves and not on working together for the greater cause, the cause that is bigger than us.

Every Christian has an important role to play. We all have something that we are called to do for Christ. In this passage in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, Paul really emphasises this point.

'Even the parts of the body which seem insignificant have an important role to play.' (1 Corinthians 12:23)

When every part of my body is doing its job well, from my heart, to my brains, to my little toe, that's when I function at my best. But when one part isn't doing its job, however insignificant it might seem, it affects the whole body. When I hurt my little toe, it affects the way I walk, even though in the grand scheme of things it can seem insignificant compared to the heart. But the little toe still has a role to play with helping us with our balance and being able to play 'this little piggy' when you're a kid.

As Christians it is important that we realise that we all need each other. We are all part of one body. When we realise this, we all pull in the same direction. We all follow the same cause (Jesus). Like bees, we end up with a hive that continues for generations and produces things that are good for the world around us. We are not like wasps, who start with good intentions but end up fighting.

This principle can go beyond Church. In life we have a choice, will we seek the best for everyone around us, whether that's family, at work, school, or our sports team? Will we choose to value everyone and work together for the cause and not worry about individual recognition? Or will we choose to be wasps and look out for our own interests? But we need to remember that wasps often end up angry, lonely creatures.

Do you want to be a bee or a wasp?