The Body-Guest post by Danny

Hey guys, this post is by my good friend Danny, and I encourage you to take a look and tell us what you think. Remember, I'm all about keeping the conversation open, and though we may not all agree, it's refreshing to see such a great article! read on...

 

The Body

Can a hand grasp tools apart from the body?

Can a leg move forward separated from its body?

Can a face hear, see, taste, or smell without the body?

 

Only in science fiction can the answer be yes. And the body of Christ, that is all people that profess a relationship with Jesus, is no different. This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:

 

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 MSG

 

You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair? The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles prophets teachers miracle workers healers helpers organizers those who pray in tongues. But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.

 

Most use this passage as an argument for being part of a church, getting involved with corporate worship on a regular basis. And not for a second would I deem that argument as wrong or invalid. But, the reason I'm quoting from The Message version, is the way it emphasizes our individual importance as members of the body. We are all unique and different, but equally necessary for proper functioning and that's not just limited to the inside of the four walls surrounding you while you worship on Sundays (or whichever day you do).

 

You see, the impetus for writing about the body of believers was my realization this morning about just how spiritually draining the workplace can be. It's something I've heard before, but not something I've fully realized. It hasn't changed my ethos, or caused me to doubt the veracity of God's Word, but it has caused me to be more pessimistic, to be a little more loose in the tongue, to focus on negativity and learning how to be selfish and proud instead of humble and self-sacrificing.

 

Can you see the connection yet? Would it surprise you to know that I'm in church very nearly every Sunday, and that I'm involved with the video ministry team, directing a 2 man camera crew at least once a month? If you answered "no", then you're already way ahead of me. See, I never cut myself off from the church, thinking too often that it was enough to fulfill my needs as a part of the body. And yet, here I am, writing about my realization that there is more to it than that; that life has caused a slow erosion of my spiritual self because I'm not actively holding on to and engaging with fellow believers on a regular basis.

 

Today, I feel much more like my old self. After a full week away from those sources of spiritual erosion, I feel optimistic again, even happy, despite a lack of change in my circumstances. And it occurs to me, that I need to guard against thay erosion by embracing the body even more tightly.