For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
I remember having a conversation with a younger brother once. I distinctly recall asking him a very strange question. It went something like this. “Are you a dismembered limb?” Naturally, I didn’t give him any context. So I referenced the above passage. We were talking about becoming a member of a church.
I think about all these christians who are not involved in a church. They say, oh, I serve outside the church… or they say, I go to church on Sundays. But I don’t think they know what I’m talking about. Or if they do, they’re just playing dumb. I regularly ask friends whether they have been serving the church. Maybe they think it’s a legalistic question. But if you want to know how someone is doing spiritually, you ask them about ministry. Dig around a bit and you’ll find all sorts of interesting landmines. But back to the point, there is no dispensable member in the church. Every member of the church is INDISPENSABLE. You, yes, you. Do you realize that the church needs you? But I suck at ministry, you say. How about a little bit of scripture for you?
What do you think about that? Hopefully, you can take His word on it. What is next from there?
We are to care for one another. But don’t imagine that saying hi and making polite banter with the person sitting on the pew near you is enough. That’s called politeness and we can be plenty polite to people we don’t care for at all… I’ve worked long enough in customer service to know. Rather, I want us to picture the church as a family. our family. Because in Christ, we are all in God’s family.
Application
- Become a member of a local congregation (family).
- Love each other (your family is still your family, no matter what they may or may not do).
- Be gracious (bestow honor on the less honorable, modesty on the unpresentable).