Antico Pizza in Atlanta
How did you spent your Memorial Day? My husband and I had dinner at Antico, an Italian pizza place I’ve been wanting to try for a while now. It was very simple inside. We ordered our pizza and beverages at the counter and then we were directed to the kitchen where they had large family style farm table seating. Multiple parties would share one table.
The staff worked like a fine tuned machine, everyone doing their task, and they turned out pizza after pizza with what appeared to be little effort on any one person’s part. Each individual did what they were assigned and they did it well. We had hardly taken a seat when our pizza arrived. To say it was amazing would be an understatement. The flavors came alive in our mouths. Just writing about it makes me want another piece of pizza.
I was shocked by how quickly the pizzas came out. As group after group filed into the kitchen, they, too, received their pizzas just after taking a seat. Curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to time the process. I timed from the moment one man picked up a dough ball until another man placed the pizza on a jellyroll pan to serve it. It took 3:07 from start to finish. Now I don’t know about you, but that blew my mind. How is that possible?
First of all, they use Refactory Sorrento Stone ovens shipped straight from Italy that generate 900 degree heat throughout the oven. They have a system down for making the pizza that dates back to the 1800s. Every man has his job and he does his job and he does it well. The result, a fabulous feast for the taste buds in a short amount of time.
Staff at Anitco Pizza
We can learn a lot from watching the process. It was like watching 1 Corinthians 12 in action. 1 Corinthians 12:12-15 says,
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body– whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free– and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.”
We all have gifts and talents given to us by the Lord, some from birth and some over time. When we use those talents and gifts for the Lord, things happen. The Body of Christ operates as a fine tuned machine. No one person has to do everything. We were never created to be a solo act. We were created to do what God designed us to do, our part [Ephesians 2:10]. When we do our part and the rest of the Body does their part, we see a move of God that is indescribable and blesses all who are present. This is true whether we’re talking about serving in the mission field, fighting the cause of human sex trafficking in America or sharing the Gospel with those in our sphere of influence. We were never intended to do it all.
1 Corinthians 3:16 says,
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”
In any given situation we may be the one who plants the seed or the one who waters it, depending on how God directs us, but the ultimate results are up to God. I don’t know about you, but that is very freeing to me to know the results are on His shoulders and not mine.
As I speak and write to raise awareness about the issue of sex trafficking, I know I’m doing what God called me to do, but I also know the eradication of modern day slavery isn’t on my shoulders. I was never called to do it alone. I also know when everyone who is called into the fight does what God intended for them to do, then we will work together at our task as effectively as the staff of Antico and the results will be amazing.
What gifts and talents has God given you? What has He called you to do with regard to missions? The war against sex trafficking? With regard to evangelism? Remember, He hasn’t called you to do everything, just your part.
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