One Body, Many Parts

I felt like I should read from 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27 NIV:

[12] "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. [13] 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. [14] Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. "

[27] "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

I was cognizant of the theme of relationship once again being front and center in these verses. Paul could have used the analogy of an army, where each person has a job or task to do, but rather he used an analogy of the body, where each part, each member is connected to all others. The focus is on connectedness not the job or task, or even role.

The first and primary consideration is relationship to all others. It is this connection that makes everything else work, and the separate roles possible. Any part of our body, when separated from the rest of the body is unable to function properly, or even live. So it is with us as members of the Body of Christ. It is our connection/relationship to Christ and to each other that brings us life and enables us to fulfill our role or purpose. It is not the other way around.

Once again, it is relationships, not rules that define us. It is true that we are given tasks to do, purposes to fulfill, but only in the context of the body, which is established and maintained through relationships.

As in the body, there are many roles in the Body of Christ and some seem more important than others, yet there is an interdependence that is essential for anything to happen, and with that interdependence a reliance on all others. Some times members of the Body of Crust get an over-inflated notion of their own importance, or think that they don't need the rest of the body, yet when we look at this analogy fully we see that these attitudes are wrong. For example, a pastor is not more important than a church member, in fact in the shepherd/sheep paradigm, the sheep is of greater value to its owner. We are all parts of the same body, and we all have the same importance in God's eyes.

So let us cultivate in our hearts and minds this relational reality of one Body of Christ, with many parts. Let us strive to enrich and enliven our relationships with the Lord and each other for that is of primary importance.